As Punjabi locals, lovers, and advocates, film production in this special part of the world has been an honor. Yet, not one without its trials and tribulations. Punjabi film production is the manifestation of meticulous planning and collaboration behind the scenes and editing screens. Through success and failures, we’ve refined this process into a well-coordinated film production team that masterfully brings stories to life.
So once again, on paper form this time, we ask you to join us on a journey – this time, through the collaborative process of film production in Punjab.
Research, research, research and development
Any strong storytelling begins with learning everything there is to know about the context in which that story took place. The first phase involves our writers crawling websites and history books, downloading many images and PDFs, using some form of PDF to Excel converter, collating the data into a timeline and framework, and painting the metaphorical backdrop of the narrative.
OKJatt’s film scripts come from our talented internal writers, while our project producer gathers film rights for books and plays if necessary. When a first draft is complete, a rough synopsis is produced, which is the guiding force the producer uses to gain interest and funds. With a script ready, it’s pre-production time.
Pre-production: locations, rights and schedule
At this stage, our film scouts begin sourcing idyllic film locations. It’s one of the most desired jobs in the world, traveling around to find the most picturesque or derelict locations, but it has its own challenges. Scouts need to assess the climate of the locations, gain access to private property, work with film facilitators, or lodge film rights for public locations.
Producers and directors are selecting the cast, while set designers are working hard at building the sets and props that bring the narrative to life. When all of these factors start coming together, the producer works on the film schedule, starting broad and refining the specific timeline closer to production.
Production: Lights, camera, action
During production, the director and assistant director take the reins. The assistant director coordinates the different teams and schedules to make a seamless shooting production, while the director manages the complexities of each scene. Camera operators, writers, and actors are involved in this stage too, working closely with the director and each other to bring together a work of art, depending on many people and factors. Actors spend days, weeks, or even months rehearsing their roles and scenes so they can perform seamlessly on the day, making everyone’s time and resources count.
Behind the primary roles, there is a whole production team managing the lighting, protecting equipment, transporting personnel, and catering teams to nourish everyone on set. When the director is sure they have the footage needed, the team can move on to the next scene, according to the assistant director’s schedule.
Post-production: Snipping, merging, and bringing it to life
As you can imagine, the team would have shot multiple versions of the same team until they got enough shots to ensure the scene was captured well. During post-production, the editor goes through this footage, hours and hours of shots, and takes to find the scenes that will make up the film. This is why the clapperboard is used when the production team shoots a new set – so that the editor knows which takes are the best, making their job a lot easier. The editor begins to assemble the strong takes and shots into a linear film based on all of this footage.
The director works with the editor to critique takes, remove shots, and select the most effective scenes that will make for a compelling film. For larger productions, teasers are often made during this stage so that the film can be marketed before a final cut is made. A music composer and visual designer are also involved in his stage to add music and elements like text or scene fades to the screen.
Marketing: Choosing the right avenues
Marketing films is a well-discussed topic. There are traditional methods such as featuring trailers in cinemas and TV commercials. These days, films are often marketed through marketing tours, where the actors travel to different regions and have interviews with news outlets. Marketing ventures obviously depend on the budget for the film, and most will assign a certain amount to attract an audience, because this is how money is made from the film and the process can repeat.
At OKJatt, we market films on a case-by-case basis or audience-by-audience. We analyze the best channels to market our films depending on which audience each film is targeted towards and focus our efforts on these. For a wider audience, we generally create teasers and trailers that can be shown broadly. And when the target audience is more specific, we have more creative freedom to produce trailers that appeal to this audience, without communicating too much of the narrative.
Show time
These steps in the process lead us to our film – a point of pride for everyone working on the project. During distribution, we provide the film to production companies or film festivals, which is how you’ll find it on big and little screens across the world.
Our process is one that is heavy on collaboration at every step. Without a team of professionals highly skilled in their own right, none of our films would be possible. With this inside scoop into our film production process, we hope you feel a little closer and more attached to our journey and team the next time you’re watching an OKJatt production.
