Time is money on any shoot. David K. Irving explains the balance between budget and schedule and how directors plan both to finish a film or video.
There exists a balance between the funds and schedule required to produce a film or video project. One usually equates a budget with the distribution of money, but since time plays such an important factor in film production, the two are inescapably linked. Therefore, budget here refers to these two precious resources, time and money.
The majority of the budget is allocated during principal photography. The amount of time one can shoot is based on the funds available, and the funds required depend on the nature of the shoot. A low budget show must shoot quickly, and a star driven scifi epic comes with a steep price tag.
In the early pre-production phase of a film, upon reading the screenplay, the producer guestimates the cost of production based on the elements in the script. An experienced producer is often spot on, or at least in the ballpark.
Whether a director is actively involved in months of fundraising or hired mere weeks before principal photography, he or she must understand and approve the budget and schedule of the production. The responsibility for coming in on budget and on time is ultimately that of the director. Budgets and schedules fall under the purview of the production manager and assistant director, but all departments, especially directorial, contribute to shaping the budget and schedule. The final figures and dates are the result of collaboration between all department heads.
Determining the most efficient manner to shoot, which in turn creates an accurate budget, is based on logic and common sense. Factors such as weather, human foibles and the variables related to availability can foil even the best-laid plans. So a production budget and schedule are in a state of flux until the assistant director shouts out on the last day, “That’s a wrap!”
Just as the screenplay is the blueprint or plan for how to shoot the movie, the budget is the blueprint or plan for how the funds will be spent to realize the film. After all, it is the “entertainment business,” so a producer needs a business plan, and part of that plan is the budget.
A budget is divided into two sections, above-the-line and below-the-line. Above-the-line refers to costs associated with hiring the principals: director, producer(s), writer(s) and actors. It also includes the cost of purchasing and/or developing the screenplay. Everything else – the costs associated with the manufacturing of the picture – is below-the-line. Moneys allocated to the principals are paid out in flat fees while salaries for all others are paid out weekly.
The script and schedule dictate the below-the-line. The producer or production manager makes an educated guess based on experience and knowledge of current prices. The screenplay dictates the number of scenes to be shot, the number of actors to be employed, the nature of the locations, and the parameters of the art department. A period film has needs different from those of a contemporary show. An action picture demands stunts not required in a romantic comedy. Horror films take advantage of atmospheric sets and night photography, while a comedy is often bright and colorful.
Directors contribute concepts that affect the budget, such as the look or style of the picture, a coverage plan, film stocks, and numbers of extras, etc. They then ask if the picture is best served by practical locations or sets or a combination of the two. Practical locations need to be secured, traveled to, redressed and are often confining. They are also less expensive than building sets. Sets shot on a sound stage are easily controlled, require less travel, and afford a crew plenty of room for dressing, lighting and camera moves. Sound stages are sound proof. And, they are expensive.
Veteran directors can promote an efficient budget (and schedule) by discerning approximately how much can be shot in any given situation. The basic routine is to call the cast and crew at a specific time, rehearse and light for the first scene, shoot it and then move on. Each new set or location requires transition time, especially if the company has to pick up and move any significant distance. All the time setting up, traveling, cabling in and wrapping out is time the director is not shooting. Experience allows directors to calculate how much shooting can be accomplished in a given day.
Often a budget is created, then a schedule; then the budget reallocated, then the schedule adjusted, so on and so forth. As the schedule begins to materialize, so too does an accurate budget. A director likes to complete the picture on time and on budget. Although this concept has little to do with the quality of the film, the stakes are so high in the film business that a reputation for fiscal responsibility is an asset.
A film production is protected from financial disaster in a number of ways. These include the contingency fund, insurance, completion bond, as well as script modification.
A contingency fund is a sum of money, approximately ten percent of the budget added to the overall production budget in case of cost overruns and production problems. This padding to the budget allows for fluctuations during production. Some production managers go so far as to add a contingency figure to each budget category, in addition to an overall contingency. This money, which in essence is used to cover unexpected expenses, is inevitably spent during production. An expression in movie budgeting circles is that often money is robbed from Peter to pay Paul. This means that shuffling funds from one area of the budget, whether it be contingency funds or moneys assigned to create the score, to another, is merely a case of ensuring the production does not slow or shut down, and that as much money as possible goes up on the screen.
Every production has an insurance package. Everything is buffered as much as possible against potential disaster including the health and well being of all personnel, protection for the equipment from theft and damage, and a guarantee the negative will survive the laboratory.
A director appreciates that the script is in part currency. An expensive sequence can be shot with less coverage than originally planned, and the money saved redistributed to areas of the budget that balloon beyond expectation.
There is a rule in the film industry that one page of screenplay equals one minute of screen time. Although not precise, it’s a fine way to generalize the schedule. If the screenplay is 120 pages long with a thirty day shooting schedule, then the director must average four pages a day. Some days the schedule will call for one-page to be shot, and other days the director can bang out seven pages. The schedule will ultimately be based on these figures.
The budget dictates the number of shooting days. This calculation reaps a stop date for principal photography. A low budget show must shoot quickly, perhaps six-day weeks for three to four weeks. A mid-sized budget might afford the director a six-week shoot. The larger the budget, the more time to shoot. From this shooting schedule a formula is applied to determine the number of pages to be shot each day.
The budget is important, but it is also critical to remember that no one ever went to a movie because they heard it came in on time and under budget.
David K. Irving is a film director, writer, producer, and an Associate Professor in film production at New York University. He has written and directed dozens of documentaries, and his feature directing credits include Night of the Cyclone, C.H.U.D. II, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Sleeping Beauty and Rumpelstiltskin.
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