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Film & Television vocabulary · Pre-Production and Scripts

Pre-production

Meaning in film & television, with examples

/ˌpriː prəˈdʌkʃn/nounCore term

In film & television, pre-production means: The planning stage before filming starts, when the script is finished, the cast is chosen, locations are found and the budget and schedule are prepared.

In Turkish: ön yapım, hazırlık süreci, pre prodüksiyon

How it is used

The usual order is development, pre-production, production (the shoot), post-production and distribution. Projects go into or are in pre-production. Typical tasks: casting, location scouting, storyboards, shot lists, rehearsals and hiring crew. Often shortened to prep.

Example sentences

  1. The series is in pre-production and will start shooting in March.

  2. Good pre-production saves money on set.

Common collocations

  • go into pre-production
  • be in pre-production
  • pre-production meeting
  • weeks of pre-production
  • post-productionAll the work done on a film after the shoot ends, including editing, visual effects, color grading, sound design, music and the final mix.
  • castingThe process of choosing actors for the roles in a film, series, play or advert.
  • storyboardA series of simple drawings, like a comic strip, showing each planned shot of a scene in order before it is filmed.
  • locationA real place outside the studio, such as a street, house or forest, where a film or TV show is shot.
  • producerThe person who makes a film or TV project happen: finding the money, hiring key people, managing the budget and schedule and seeing the project through to release.

More terms: Pre-Production and Scripts

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