Samual Jamie Rogers
COMM 2660
2012.2.16
Assignment 1—Pre-Production
I’ll admit it: I enjoy movies. I enjoy being entertained by movies, especially at the theater on the big screen. I will also be the first to admit that when it comes to what’s going on behind the camera, I am nearly clueless to the structure, processes, and responsibilities of those that make a film production possible. Sure, I know who Spielberg, Lucas, Cameron, and other “big names” of the film industry are. I have watched their movies and, for the most part, I have been entertained by them. As for what they do, how they do it, and who their supporting casts are, I am severely lacking knowledge, to say the least. Fortunately for me, COMM 2660-Introduction to Digital Motion Picture Production is a required course for my degree and has been an opportunity to increase my film-related knowledge. Specifically, my focus will be on the pre-production role of a producer.
Filmmaker Ken Burns said, "You take on the topic not because you know something about it, but because you don't know something about it. It has a kind of siren call; it interests you” (Aldrich, 2009). There couldn’t be a better summary of my current position in learning about film production. Burns is one of the most well-known documentarians of the last 30 years, as he has produced over 20 documentaries and mini-series ("Ken Burns - IMDb," n.d.) covering historical events that include the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, Prohibition, and the establishment of America’s national parks.
In his recently released documentary, Prohibition, Ken Burns not only played the role of producer, but he was also the executive producer and director of the 3-part mini-series ("Prohibition (2011) - Full cast and crew," n.d.). However, it is not uncommon for Burns to take on many different roles in his documentaries—imdb.com lists him as a director, executive producer/producer, and cinematographer for many of the projects he has been involved with. In fact, in what many consider his most influential historical documentary ("About Ken Burns | Ken Burns | PBS," n.d.), Burns took on the aforementioned roles as well as co-writer and music director for the television mini-series The Civil War. Ironically the film took six years to complete—2 years longer than the war lasted ("The Civil War (1990) - Trivia - IMDb," n.d.). According to pbs.org, The Civil War was “the highest rated series in the history of American Public Television and attracted an audience of 40 million during its premiere in September 1990” ("About Ken Burns | Ken Burns | PBS," n.d.).
To better understand the role of a producer I turned to a website that has a tendency to simplify complex things into easily digestible pieces for someone like myself to understand—howstuffworks.com. The website lists many of the responsibilities of a producer in just the facet of pre-production:
· Find material from a book or script.
· Get the script into good enough shape to attract a director (and studio, if this is not a studio-initiated production).
· Secure financing for the film, if it is not being made for a studio.
· Choose the director and other parts of the creative team.
· Cast the actors, working with the director.
· Determine locations and budget.
· Decide on cinematographer and special effects.
· Hire a production team including crew and producers.
· Develop a shooting schedule.
· Create a detailed plan of action for production (Dannenfeldt, 2008).
Based on their responsibilities, it could be argued that the producer shoulders more of a load to the success of a movie than the director. It is the collaboration between film directors and producers that may have the greatest influence on whether or not they create a successful product. Ken Burns has collaborated with many of the same people on his projects including Geoffrey C. Ward who has written or co-written numerous documentary films, including The Civil War, Baseball, and The West ("Geoffrey C. Ward - IMDb," n.d.) and their most recent documentary, Prohibition. Pbs.org also lists others that have worked closely with and collaborated with Burns, either through their production company Florentine Films, or as part of other crews on various films, including cinematographer Buddy Squires, director/producer Lynn Novick, and actor/narrator Peter Coyote ("Peter Coyote - IMDb," n.d.).
Ken Burns’ documentary mini-series are most commonly known to be broadcast on PBS channels, but in light of new digital technology, the first portion of Prohibition was released on Apple’s iTunes more than a week before its debut on television. This made the documentary available to download early to users of iOS devices such as the iPad and iPhone (Rawson, 2011). PBS also made Burns’ The Civil War available in 2011 to stream to iOS devices via a free downloadable app (Hodgkins, 2011). Taking advantage of the newest trends in digital technology allowed Burns’ documentaries to be available instantly via iTunes for millions of people. Currently, most of Burns’ documentaries are available for purchase in iTunes.
There is little doubt that Ken Burns is one of the most successful producers and story-tellers of our time. Many would argue that he is every bit as good as a Spielberg, Lucas, or Cameron. Although I’m only in my infancy when it comes to knowledge of pre-production, the information I’ve been able to find about Burns and his works have given me a new appreciation for historical documentaries. I look forward to learning more about and being entertained, both, as the semester continues and beyond. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Burns’ films, "More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source” ("About Ken Burns | Ken Burns | PBS," n.d.). I would dare say that that statement could not be transferred to any other filmmaker in the industry. Do Americans get the majority of their entertainment from any individual filmmaker? Well, unless a person watches movies exclusively about extra-terrestrials, galaxies long ago and far away, and big blue aliens, then maybe.
"History is mostly about stories, and I think it connects us to the eras — not just the accumulation of facts, but sometimes the accumulation of really contradictory feelings,” Burns said. “A story is the way we distill experience. And stories will always be the way we do it (Aldrich, 2009).
References
About Ken Burns | Ken Burns | PBS. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/about/kenburns.html
Aldrich, I. (2009, September/October). Where do history and storytelling meet? Yankee, 73, 98-99.
Dannenfeldt, D. (2008, April 24). HowStuffWorks "Responsibilities of a Movie Producer" HowStuffWorks "Entertainment" Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-producer2.htm
Geoffrey C. Ward - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0911552/
Hodgkins, K. (2011, March 25). Civil War to stream for free on iOS and iTunes. TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.tuaw.com/2011/03/25/civil-war-to-stream-for-free-on-ios-and-itunes/
Ken Burns . About the Filmmakers . Buddy Squires | PBS. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/filmmakers/squires.html
Ken Burns . About the Filmmakers . Lynn Novick | PBS. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/filmmakers/novick.html
Ken Burns - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122741/
Peter Coyote - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001075/
"Prohibition" (2011) - Full cast and crew. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950799/fullcredits
Rawson, C. (2011, September 21). Ken Burns documentary 'Prohibition' will debut on iPad and iPhone. TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.tuaw.com/2011/09/21/ken-burns-documentary-prohibition-will-debut-on-ipad-and-iphon/
The Civil War (1990) - Trivia - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098769/trivia
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