Film making

Film making: The process of making a film, from an initial story idea or commission, through
scriptwriting, shooting, editing, directing and distribution to an audience. Film making
takes place all over the world in a huge range of economic, social, and political contexts,
and using a variety of technologies and techniques. Typically, it involves a large number of
people, and takes from a few months to several years to complete this process, although it
may take longer if there are production issues, and the record for the longest production
time for a major motion picture is The Thief and the Cobbler's it took 28 years development.

STAGES :-

Film production occurs in five stages

1- Development
2- Pre-production
3- Production
4- Post-Production
5- Sales and distribution

 1- Development

In this stage, the project's producer finds a story, which may come from a book, play, another film, a true story, original idea, etc. Next, a screenwriter writes a screenplay over a period of several months. The screenwriter may rewrite it several times to improve dramatization, clarity, structure, characters, dialogue, and overall style. However, producers often skip the previous steps and develop submitted screenplays which investors, studios, and other interested parties assess through a process called script coverage
The producer and screenwriter prepare a film pitch, or treatment, and present it to potential financiers. If the pitch is successful, the film receives a "Green light" meaning someone offers financial backing typically a major film studio, film council, or independent investor. The parties involved negotiate a deal and sign contracts. Once all parties have met and the deal has been set, the film may proceed into the pre-production period. By this stage, the film should have a clearly defined marketing strategy and target audience.

 2- Pre-production

In pre-production, every step of actually creating the film is carefully designed and planned. The producer hires a crew. The nature of the film, and the budget, determine the size and type of crew used during filmmaking. The director is primarily responsible for the storytelling, creative decisions and acting of the film. The assistant director manages the shooting schedule and logistics of the production, among other tasks. The location manager finds and manages film locations. The director of photography (DoP) is the cinematographer who supervises the photography of the entire film. The director of audiography (DoA) is the audiographer who supervises the audiography of the entire film.
The composer creates new music for the film. (usually not until post-production)
The production designer creates the visual conception of the film, working with the art director.
The art director manages the art department, which makes production sets
The costume designer creates the clothing for the characters in the film working closely with the actors, as well as other departments.
The make up and hair designer works closely with the costume designer in addition to create a certain look for a character.
The storyboard artist creates visual images to help the director and production designer communicate their ideas to the production team.
The choreographer creates and coordinates the movement and dance

 3- Production

In production, the video/film is created and shot. More crew will be recruited at this stage, such as the property master, script supervisor, assistant directors, stills photographer, picture editor, and sound editors.
A typical day's shooting begins with the crew coming on the set/location by their call time. Actors usually have their own separate call times. Since set construction, dressing and lighting can take many hours or even days, they are often set up in advance.
While the crew prepare their equipment, the actors are wardrobed in their costumes and attend the hair and make-up departments.
The assistant director calls "picture is up!" to inform everyone that a take is about to be recorded, and then "quiet, everyone!" Once everyone is ready to shoot, he calls "roll sound" (if the take involves sound), and the production sound mixer will start their equipment, record a verbal slate of the take's information, and announce "sound speed" when they are ready. The AD follows with "roll camera", answered by "speed!" by the camera operator once the camera is recording. The clapper, who is already in front of the camera with the clapperboard, calls "marker!" and slaps it shut. If the take involves extras or background action, the AD will cue them "action background!" and last is the director, telling the actors "action!".
A take is over when the director calls "cut!", and camera and sound stop recording. The script supervisor will note any continuity issues and the sound and camera teams log technical notes for the take on their respective report sheets. If the director decides additional takes are required, the whole process repeats. Once satisfied, the crew moves on to the next camera angle or "setup," until the whole scene is "covered." When shooting is finished for the scene, the assistant director declares a "wrap" or "moving on," and the crew will "strike," or dismantle, the set for that scene.
At the end of the day, the director approves the next day's shooting schedule and a daily progress report is sent to the production office. This includes the report sheets from continuity, sound, and camera teams. Call sheets are distributed to the cast and crew to tell them when and where to turn up the next shooting day. Later on, the director, producer, other department heads, and, sometimes, the cast, may gather to watch that day or yesterday's footage, called dailies, and review their work.
With workdays often lasting 14 or 18 hours in remote locations, film production tends to create a team spirit. When the entire film is in the can, or in the completion of the production phase, it is customary for the production office to arrange a wrap party, to thank all the cast and crew for their efforts.

 4- Post-production

Here the video/film is assembled by the video/film editor. The modern use of video in the filmmaking process has resulted in two workflow variants: one using entirely film, and the other using a mixture of film and video.
In the film work, the original camera film is developed and copied to a one-light workprint (positive) for editing with a mechanical editing machine. An edge code is recorded onto film to locate the position of picture frames.
The first job of the film editor is to build a rough cut taken from sequences (or scenes) based on individual "takes" (shots). The purpose of the rough cut is to select and order the best shots. The director usually works with the editor to ensure the envisioned shots are selected. The next step is to create a fine cut by getting all the shots to flow smoothly in a seamless story.
Once the picture is locked, the film is passed into the hands of the postproduction supervising sound editor of the sound department to build up the sound track. The voice recordings are synchronised and the final sound mix is created by the re-recording mixer. The sound mix combines dialogue, sound effects, atmos, ADR, walla, foleys and music.
The sound track and picture are combined together, resulting in a low quality answer print of the film.
In the film workflow, the cut list that describes the film-based answer print is used to cut the original color negative (OCN) and create a color timed copy called the color master positive or interpositive print. For all subsequent steps this effectively becomes the master copy. The next step is to create a one-light copy called the color duplicate negative or internegative. It is from this that many copies of the final theatrical release print are made.
In the video workflow, the edit decision list that describes the video-based answer print is used to edit the original color tape (OCT) and create a high quality color master tape.
Finally the film is previewed, normally by the target audience, and any feedback may result in further shooting or edits to the film.
There are two ways that film can be put together. One way is linear editing and the other is non-linear editing.
Linear editing uses the film as it is in a continuous strip. All of the parts of the film are already in order and need not be moved.
Conversely, non-linear editing is not subject to using the film in the order it is taped. Scenes can be moved around or even removed.

5- Sales and distribution (Distribution and exhibition)

This is the final stage, where the film is released to cinemas or, occasionally, to consumer media (DVD, VCD, VHS, Blu-ray) or direct download from a provider. The film is duplicated as required for distribution to cinemas. Press kits, posters, and other advertising materials are published and the film is advertised. film companies usually release a film with a launch party, press releases, interviews with the press, press preview screenings, and film festival screenings. Most films have a website. The film plays at selected cinemas and the DVD typically is released a few months later. The distribution rights for the film and DVD are also usually sold for worldwide distribution. The distributor and the production company share profits.

Science and Technology studies

Science and technology studies (STS) is the study of how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research and technological innovation, and how these in turn affect society, politics, and culture. STS scholars are interested in a variety of problems including the relationships between scientific and technological innovations and society, and the directions and risks of science and technology. More than two dozen universities worldwide offer baccalaureate degrees in STS; about half of these also offer doctoral or master's programs.

STS is a new and expanding subject; for example, in 2005, four major United States universities announced new STS programs.[citation needed] Like most interdisciplinary programs, it emerged from the confluence of a variety of disciplines and disciplinary sub-fields, all of which had developed an interest—typically, during the 1960s or 1970s—in viewing science and technology as socially embedded enterprises.It is part of the Critical theory family or neo-marxist interpretations.
[edit] Early developments

The key disciplinary components of STS took shape independently, beginning in the 1960s, and developed in isolation from each other well into the 1980s, although Ludwig Fleck's monograph (1935) Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact anticipated many of STS's key themes:

    - Science studies, a branch of the sociology of scientific knowledge that places scientific controversies in their social context.
    - History of technology, that examines technology in its social and historical context. Starting in the 1960s, some historians questioned technological determinism, a doctrine that can induce public passivity to technologic and scientific 'natural' development. At the same time, some historians began to develop similarly contextual approaches to the history of medicine.
    - History and philosophy of science (1960s). After the publication of Thomas Kuhn's well-known The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), which attributed changes in scientific theories to changes in underlying intellectual paradigms, programs were founded at the University of California, Berkeley and elsewhere that brought historians of science and philosophers together in unified programs.

    - Science, technology, and society In the mid- to late-1960s, student and faculty social movements in the U.S., UK, and European universities helped to launch a range of new interdisciplinary fields (such as Women's Studies) that were seen to address relevant topics that the traditional curriculum ignored. One such development was the rise of "science, technology, and society" programs, which are also—confusingly—known by the STS acronym. Drawn from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, history, political science, and sociology, scholars in these programs created undergraduate curricula devoted to exploring the issues raised by science and technology. Unlike scholars in science studies, history of technology, or the history and philosophy of science, they were and are more likely to see themselves as activists working for change rather than dispassionate, "ivory tower" researchers[citation needed]. As an example of the activist impulse, feminist scholars in this and other emerging STS areas addressed themselves to the exclusion of women from science and engineering.

    - Science, engineering, and public policy studies emerged in the 1970s from the same concerns that motivated the founders of the science, technology, and society movement: A sense that science and technology were developing in ways that were increasingly at odds with the public's best interests. The science, technology, and society movement tried to humanize those who would make tomorrow's science and technology, but this discipline took a different approach: It would train students with the professional skills needed to become players in science and technology policy. Some programs came to emphasize quantitative methodologies, and most of these were eventually absorbed into systems engineering. Others emphasized sociological and qualitative approaches, and found that their closest kin could be found among scholars in science, technology, and society departments.[citation needed]

During the 1970s and 1980s, leading universities in the U.S., UK, and Europe began drawing these various components together in new, interdisciplinary programs. For example, in the 1970s, Cornell University developed a new program that united science studies and policy-oriented scholars with historians and philosophers of science and technology. Each of these programs developed unique identities due to variation in the components that were drawn together, as well as their location within the various universities. For example, the University of Virginia's STS program united scholars drawn from a variety of fields (with particular strength in the history of technology); however, the program's teaching responsibilities—it is located within an engineering school and teaches ethics to undergraduate engineering students—means that all of its faculty share a strong interest in engineering ethics.
[edit] The "turn to technology"

A decisive moment in the development of STS was the mid-1980s addition of technology studies to the range of interests reflected in science studies programs. During that decade, two works appeared en seriatim that signaled what Steve Woolgar was to call the "turn to technology": Social Shaping of Technology (MacKenzie and Wajcman, 1985) and The Social Construction of Technological Systems (Bijker, Hughes and Pinch, 1987). MacKenzie and Wajcman primed the pump by publishing a collection of articles attesting to the influence of society on technological design. In a seminal article, Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker attached all the legitimacy of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge to this development by showing how the sociology of technology could proceed along precisely the theoretical and methodological lines established by the sociology of scientific knowledge. This was the intellectual foundation of the field they called the social construction of technology.

The "turn to technology" helped to cement an already growing awareness of underlying unity among the various emerging STS programs. More recently, there has been an associated turn to materiality, whereby the socio-technical and material co-produce each other. This is especially evident in work in STS analyzes of bio-medicine (such as Carl May, Nelly Oudshoorn, and Andrew Webster).
[edit] Professional associations

The subject has several professional associations.

Founded in 1975, the Society for Social Studies of Science, initially provided scholarly communication facilities—including a journal (Science, Technology, and Human Values) and annual meetings—that were mainly attended by science studies scholars, but the society has since grown into the most important professional association of science and technology studies scholars worldwide. The Society for Social Studies of Science members also include government and industry officials concerned with research and development as well as science and technology policy; scientists and engineers who wish to better understand the social embeddedness of their professional practice; and citizens concerned about the impact of science and technology in their lives. Proposals have been made to add the word "technology" to the association's name, thereby reflecting its stature as the leading STS professional society, but there seems to be widespread sentiment that the name is long enough as it is.

In Europe, the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST)[1] was founded in 1981 to stimulate communication, exchange and collaboration in the field of studies of science and technology.

Founded in 1958, the Society for the History of Technology initially attracted members from the history profession who had interests in the contextual history of technology. After the "turn to technology" in the mid-1980s, the society's well-regarded journal (Technology and Culture) and its annual meetings began to attract considerable interest from non-historians with technology studies interests.

Less identified with STS, but also of importance to many STS scholars in the US, are the History of Science Society, the Philosophy of Science Association, and the American Association for the History of Medicine. In addition, there are significant STS-oriented special interest groups within major disciplinary associations, including the American Anthropological Association, the American Political Science Association, and the American Sociological Association.

Computer technology

Computer technology is one of the most rapidly changing and developing fields within the world! There are so many different things that computers can do, and every year many new computer products and technological advances are announced. Here are a couple of the newest and greatest pieces of computer technology:

Newest: One of the newest types of computer technology is a new product which Bill Gates calls "Surface." This project took five years to make, and it was only known by its secret code name "Milan." The "Surface" looks like a low, blacktop coffee table, but it is sensitive to the touch. Keyboards and mouse are not needed, because "Surface" is completely controlled by hand gestures and movements. The hardware for this product is run by a special version of Microsoft's Windows Vista. "Surface" is scheduled to be released to the public in November of 2007. It is thought that this easier way of computer technology will be more accessible and user-friendly to people who struggle with keyboards and the computer mouse. In addition, "Surface" will also be helpful to retailers. T-Mobile USA has a contract with Microsoft for "Surface," and they will be able to place different cell phones on the top of the "Surface" screen. The screen will sense which different types of cell phones are there, and then pull up a list of the phones' different features.

Greatest: One of the greatest types of computer technology was the development and incorporation of digital material. The external device the scanner has been one of the most popular and useful pieces of computer technology! The scanner has changed the ways that researchers look at materials, and it has also greatly affected the world of technology. In addition, it has changed the world of education, because now different documents and images are available for teachers to use within their own classroom. Scanners and digital computer technology has also helped to preserve some important archival information, and it also has made this information accessible to the public. The world has been forever changed because of digital computer technology and the scanner.

Film making

Film making (often referred to in an academic context as film production) is the process of making a film, from an initial story idea or commission, through scriptwriting, shooting, editing, directing and distribution to an audience. Filmmaking takes place all over the world in a huge range of economic, social, and political contexts, and using a variety of technologies and techniques. Typically, it involves a large number of people, and takes from a few months to several years to complete, although it may take longer if there are production issues, and the record for the longest production time for a major motion picture is The Thief and the Cobbler's 28 years development.

Development
In this stage, the project's producer finds a story, which may come from a book, play, another film, a true story, original idea, etc. After identifying a theme or underlying message, the producer works with writers to prepare a synopsis. Next they produce a step outline, which breaks the story down into one-paragraph scenes that concentrate on dramatic structure. Then, they prepare a treatment, a 25 to 30 page description of the story, its mood, and characters. This usually has little dialogue and stage direction, but often contains drawings that help visualize key points. Another way is to produce a scriptment once a synopsis is produced.

Pre-production
In pre-production, every step of actually creating the film is carefully designed and planned. The production company is created and a production office established. The production is story-boarded and visualized with the help of illustrators and concept artists. A production budget is drawn up to plan expenditures for the film. For major productions, insurance is procured to protect against accidents.


Production
In production, the video/film is created and shot. More crew will be recruited at this stage, such as the property master, script supervisor, assistant directors, stills photographer, picture editor, and sound editors. These are just the most common roles in filmmaking; the production office will be free to create any unique blend of roles to suit the various responsibilities possible during the production of a film.

Post-production
Here the video/film is assembled by the video/film editor. The modern use of video in the film making process has resulted in two work flow variants: one using entirely film, and the other using a mixture of film and video.

In the film work, the original camera film is developed and copied to a one-light work print (positive) for editing with a mechanical editing machine. An edge code is recorded onto film to locate the position of picture frames. Since the development of non-linear editing systems such as Avid or Final Cut Pro, the film work flow is used by very few productions.

In the video work flow, the original camera negative is developed and telecined to video for editing with computer editing software. A time code is recorded onto video tape to locate the position of picture frames. Production sound is also synced up to the video picture frames during this process.

Distribution and exhibition
This is the final stage, where the film is released to cinemas or, occasionally, to consumer media (DVD, VCD, VHS, Blu-ray) or direct download from a provider. The film is duplicated as required for distribution to cinemas. Press kits, posters, and other advertising materials are published and the film is advertised. film companies usually release a film with a launch party, press releases, interviews with the press, press preview screenings, and film festival screenings. Most films have a website. The film plays at selected cinemas and the DVD typically is released a few months later. The distribution rights for the film and DVD are also usually sold for worldwide distribution. The distributor and the production company share profits.

Independent film making
Filmmaking also takes place outside of the mainstream and is commonly called independent film making. Since the introduction of DV technology, the means of production have become more democratized. Filmmakers can conceivably shoot and edit a film, create and edit the sound and music, and mix the final cut on a home computer. However, while the means of production may be democratized, financing, traditional distribution, and marketing remain difficult to accomplish outside the traditional system. In the past, most independent filmmakers have relied on film festivals to get their films noticed and sold for distribution. However, the Internet has allowed for relatively inexpensive distribution of independent films. As a result several companies have emerged to assist filmmakers in getting independent movies seen and sold via mainstream internet marketplaces, oftentimes adjacent to popular Hollywood titles. With digital self distribution, independent filmmakers who fail to garner a traditional distribution deal now have the ability to reach global audiences.

Fashion Design

Fashion Design

Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social lattitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories. Some work alone or as part of a team. They attempt to satisfy consumer desire for aesthetically designed clothing; and, because of the time required to bring a garment onto the market, must at times anticipate changing consumer tastes. Some designers in fact have a reputation which enables them to set fashion trends.

Fashion designers attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. They must consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which it will be worn. They have a wide range and combinations of materials to work with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear fall within a narrow range of conventional styles, unusual garments are usually sought for special occasions, such as evening wear or party dresses.

Some clothes are made specifically for an individual, as in the case of haute couture. Today, most clothing is designed for the mass market, especially casual and every-day wear.

Money market

Money market - Overview

The money market consists of financial institutions and dealers in money or credit who wish to either borrow or lend. Participants borrow and lend for short periods of time, typically up to thirteen months. Money market trades in short-term financial instruments commonly called "paper." This contrasts with the capital market for longer-term funding, which is supplied by bonds and equity.

The core of the money market consists of banks borrowing and lending to each other, using commercial paper, repurchase agreements and similar instruments. These instruments are often benchmarked to (i.e. priced by reference to) the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for the appropriate term and currency.

Finance companies, such as GMAC, typically fund themselves by issuing large amounts of asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) which is secured by the pledge of eligible assets into an ABCP conduit. Examples of eligible assets include auto loans, credit card receivables, residential/commercial mortgage loans, mortgage-backed securities and similar financial assets. Certain large corporations with strong credit ratings, such as General Electric, issue commercial paper on their own credit. Other large corporations arrange for banks to issue commercial paper on their behalf via commercial paper lines.

In the United States, federal, state and local governments all issue paper to meet funding needs. States and local governments issue municipal paper, while the US Treasury issues Treasury bills to fund the US public debt.

    - Trading companies often purchase bankers' acceptances to be tendered for payment to overseas suppliers.
    - Retail and institutional money market funds
    - Banks
    - Central banks
    - Cash management programs
    - Arbitrage ABCP conduits, which seek to buy higher yielding paper, while themselves selling cheaper paper.
    - Merchant Banks

Foreign exchange market

The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a worldwide decentralized over-the-counter financial market for the trading of currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends. The foreign exchange market determines the relative values of different currencies.[1]

The primary purpose of the forex is to assist international trade and investment, by allowing businesses to convert one currency to another currency. For example, it permits a US business to import British goods and pay Pound Sterling, even though the business's income is in US dollars. It also supports speculation, and facilitates the carry trade, in which investors borrow low-yielding currencies and lend (invest in) high-yielding currencies, and which (it has been claimed) may lead to loss of competitiveness in some countries.[2]

In a typical foreign exchange transaction, a party purchases a quantity of one currency by paying a quantity of another currency. The modern foreign exchange market began forming during the 1970s when countries gradually switched to floating exchange rates from the previous exchange rate regime, which remained fixed as per the Bretton Woods system.

The foreign exchange market is unique because of

    * its huge trading volume, leading to high liquidity;
    * its geographical dispersion;
    * its continuous operation: 24 hours a day except weekends, i.e. trading from 20:15 GMT on Sunday until 22:00 GMT Friday;
    * the variety of factors that affect exchange rates;
    * the low margins of relative profit compared with other markets of fixed income; and
    * the use of leverage to enhance profit margins with respect to account size.

As such, it has been referred to as the market closest to the ideal of perfect competition, notwithstanding currency intervention by central banks. According to the Bank for International Settlements,[3] as of April 2010, average daily turnover in global foreign exchange markets is estimated at $3.98 trillion, a growth of approximately 20% over the $3.21 trillion daily volume as of April 2007. Some firms specializing on foreign exchange market had put the average daily turnover in excess of US$4 trillion.[4]

The $3.98 trillion break-down is as follows:

    * $1.490 trillion in spot transactions
    * $475 billion in outright forwards
    * $1.765 trillion in foreign exchange swaps
    * $43 billion currency swaps
    * $207 billion in options and other products