The budget for a film is usually divided into four sections. The first section is the above-the-line costs, which refers to the people who guide the creative flow of the film. Such people are the screenwriter, the producer, the director, the casting director and the actors. The second section is the below the line costs. These are the direct production costs. Examples are the cost of location, travel expenses, and technical expenses. The third section in a typical film budget is post-production costs. Post-production is anything that is done after the scenes have been shot. Examples are editing, 3-d and motion graphics, Foley and audio mixing. The last section is Other. This could be anything that doesn’t fall into the first 3 categories, from insurance to unforeseen expenses.
There are several specific elements to be considered when budgeting for a film. The first thing, and one of the most expensive, is the script. If a movie isn’t from an original idea the story rights to replicate that which was already created in some form (novel, play, ect.) may be very expensive. Purchasing story rights can cost over 10 million dollars. The best screenwriters are paid over 1 million dollars to write the first three drafts of the script. Some are even offered a percentage of the gross profits upon the completion and release of the movie.
You can see that before production costs are even included, developing a major motion picture is extremely expensive. There are many tactics that filmmakers use to minimize the costs of a movie. One strategy they use is to eliminate night scenes so there will be no need of expensive lighting equipment. They often avoid commercial areas, or film action scenes on early Sunday morning, when traffic is the lightest. There are several things to consider when budgeting for a film. This is just an idea of what filmmakers take into consideration.
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