Despite technological advancements by leaps and bounds in filmmaking, it remains one of the most human resource intensive businesses. It requires all jobs from creative thinkers, actors, director, etc. to highly technical jobs like lighting, rigging, props, etc. All of this is an intense pipeline that could definitely benefit from powerful collaboration tools for film makers.
Pre-Production made easy through collaboration tools for film makers
Pre-production is where the entire concept is birthed. It starts with:
- a simple brainstorming session
- evolving into a story
- Script
- Budgets
- Blocking
- Hiring
- Rehearsals
- Logistics
All this is figured out and planned before filming can even begin. Folderit can simplify this entire process.
Take all the stakeholders such as director, producer, writers, and any others with creative input to share a file titled ‘brainstorm’. Using Folderit’s permission management system that allows users or user groups to get varying levels of permissions, you can allocate all these stakeholders full collaborative access to the brainstorming material. This can even be done using Microsoft Office 365 (separate Microsoft subscription required) as Folderit supports it natively.
Once the brainstorming session concludes, the writers can start on a script. At this stage only the writers get access to the script, while the other stakeholders have read-only access, writers can set up versioning to switch back and forth between versions, Folderit also keeps an audit trail to keep track of who accessed which file and when. Once the script is ready, it can use Folderit’s approval system to first go to the head of writing, and after that approval it can go to the director for their approval.
A script is supposed to be kept secret, thanks to Folderit’s 256-bit bank level encryption, no unauthorized eyes will ever lay eyes on that script without your approval. This is especially critical for super-secret movie projects. Any time a script needs to be transferred to anyone, it is done so using SSL encryption, ensuring nobody can interject in your project.
The appropriate leads can prepare for production based on the successful completion of the script.
Production Simplified
Actors, director, producers, set, catering, et al. get to work in the production stage. Since Folderit is so secure, all the pertinent people can be granted read-only access to the script that they can access from any web-enabled device, be it their laptops in their trailers, or on their phones on set.
The workload, the call sheets, and every other important detail can be put in the relevant folder and shared with the right personnel. Folderit can be configured to generate notifications for anyone on call to ensure everyone is kept updated with the progress.
Given that Folderit lets you upload a single file sized up to 90GB, you can easily upload dailies (the day’s progress) to share with stakeholders/studio execs/partners. Given that modern cameras can record raw 8K videos, you will need that space to share progress every day. You can even get their feedback as comments on shared content.
It sometimes occurs, mid-shooting that certain aspects of the script aren’t working and must be modified. The best part about permission access is that sitting right there, the writers can make any changes they want and all will automatically be updated, without having to go through tonnes of wasted paper.
Post-Production
Once production wraps, the process moves down the pipeline and the recorded content goes on to the editors and VFX teams (depending on the type of film) to finally assemble. Folderit can set it up such that one team works on their shots and pass them along to the next stage, all the whil, the director continues to supervise through view-only access and ensures that things go according to plan.
Once the movie is ready, you can set a retention timer on all the activities that took place that they cease to exist after a certain period of time (like rejected shots).
Conclusion
Folderit can help turn a complicated communication pipeline into a simplified operation. Folderit is a solution that scales just as well for indie projects as it does for big budget blockbusters. The entire purpose of deploying a collaboration tool for film making is that the process remains uninterrupted by the tool, allowing filmmakers to be able to tell their stories as best as possible.
