3. Methodologies

a. Contracts, script adaptation and pre-testing

Contracts with the film production company: some key concepts
It is essential that you engage a specialist media lawyer to draw up your contract with the film production house of your choice. The following is a brief, thoroughly non-exhaustive list of elements you will probably want to address as a minimum in your contract with the production house.
C Ceding of intellectual property rights (including in some legal systems, moral rights) of director, entire production team, music composer and musicians, scriptwriter, actors, etc. for the entire world. You may also want to reserve the right to use their names and photographs in publicity materials and to approve the production house_s subcontracts with individual members of the production team.
C Maximum budget
C A statement that the production house alone will bear responsibility for any overspend and that any underspend will be returned
C Disbursement schedule. It is preferable to disburse in installments (usually three) following your approval of successive stages of production. The proportion of the budget in each installment will often depend on the cost of that stage of production and the ability of a production house to pre-finance.

C Time schedule and delivery date
C Name of director (and any other agreed or stipulated members of the production team, actors, etc.); length of the films and their provisional titles
C Your access to the rushes following production. You may want to reserve the right to use footage from these to complement the film if broadcast requirements necessitate.
C Statement of final cost of production; you may want to reserve the right to have the accounts audited
C The extent of your say in the shape of the film; at what stages you will approve intermediate products (script, storyboard, rushes, rough cut, final cut) or oversee production or post-production (on set at the shoot, in the edit suite); and what will constitute your approval of the final products.
C Deliverables
Two of the above merit particular mention given the nature of the project and the high stakes involved (HIV/AIDS and its consequences). Those two elements are the definition of deliverables and, most importantly, the project team_s say in the content of the film.
Deliverables
When defining the deliverables that are to be cited in the contract, bear in mind the full breadth and extent of your longer-term distribution strategy. Make sure that, once production and post-production are completed, you have all the materials you need to carry out distribution according to your plan. Depending on the technical resources immediately available to you and those available to the film-production team, it might be advisable to include in the initial contract with the production house not only delivery of a first generation BETA master of the film, but also:

C a certain number of first or second generation BETA_s that you could use to facilitate television broadcasts, make VHS copies yourself, keep as a back-up in case _ heaven forbid _ your master went astray, etc.;
C a given quantity of VHS copies of the original films;
C dubbed and/or subtitled versions (number of BETA_s, VHS copies);
C at least one first or second generation BETA of the international version that could be used to produce additional dubbed versions in the future (an international version is a copy of the film with all original sound effects but with the voices removed to allow for dubbing);

C a time-coded viewing cassette (also known as a BITC _ _burned-in time code_ _ pronounced bit-c) and time-coded script to facilitate the production of additional language versions;
C copies of archival and music licenses, which may be required by distributors or broadcasters;
C a copy of the editor_s decision list (which will identify the sections of the rushes that were used to compose the final product);
C if you shot on 35mm film, a 35mm version for showing at cinemas (and a certain number of copies);
C and whatever else you might require now or at a later date.

Bear in mind that it may prove less expensive for you to contract the production of some of these elements to another specialist company. It is, for example, usually cheaper to have copies made at a specialized duplication facility.
Project team control over the content of the film
When it comes to audio-visual materials on HIV/AIDS, quality work can save thousands of lives and make a tremendous contribution to improving the well-being of those living with the virus. Mistakes _ even small ones _ can be disastrous.
Up until this moment, the project has featured close collaboration between specialists from the worlds of HIV prevention and care and of audio-visual production. That marriage of science and art must not break down at this juncture.
Hopefully, you will already have established a close working relationship with the leaders of the film-production team, one founded in shared commitment to stopping the epidemic. You will also have taken steps to ensure that your audio-visual counterparts have been made well aware of the crucial importance of the project and the sensitive nature of communication on HIV and AIDS. That kind of relationship and understanding might well be essential, as you will be asking an artist who is probably used to working in an autonomous manner to submit to ongoing oversight and approval with regard to the substantive elements of the films.
The specific nature, mechanics and timing of this oversight and approval should be clarified in detail at the outset. You might specify, for example, that:

C The director will indeed need to accept rigid monitoring with regard to substance, but he or she will enjoy an extremely high degree of autonomy in creative and in technical, cinematographic matters to the extent that they do not adversely affects the essential messages of the work.
C Monitoring will be particularly rigorous during the drafting and exhaustive pre-testing of the scenario. The script-doctor will have to show lots of patience and be willing to rewrite several times.
C Substantive oversight and approval will also be necessary during shooting and at various moments of the editing process. During these potentially high-stress phases, the artists might be less than receptive to any kind of intervention. Try to prepare the groundwork early on by discussing specifics, pre-visioning possible conflicts, and establishing a modus operandi.
A tool for establishing a deep-rooted sense of common cause: the UNDP HIV and Development training model
If the primary members of the film-production teams served on a selection jury, you will have had an excellent opportunity to inform them about the epidemic, prevention and the role of the Scenarios project. They are now sensitized to the overriding issue and without doubt highly committed to working in close collaboration with your team to make a massive contribution to efforts to stop the epidemic.
However, there is a chance that you will also be working with filmmakers who were not members of the selection committees and with whom you have not yet established a strong sense of common cause. What to do?
We recently observed a three-day training course inspired by the UNDP HIV and Development training model here in Dakar. Conducted by the NGO Africa Consultants International, the course was attended by a team of people who are in the early stages of collaboration in a project that is to produce a film on HIV/AIDS for truck drivers and their entourage in Senegal. Present were four members of the film-production team, including the director, and several representatives of the structure that initiated and is managing the project, namely Peace Corps.
The training course left the entire group extremely well informed about HIV and its many socio-economic consequences as well as the powerful role of audio-visual materials in prevention efforts. Furthermore the experience created boundless motivation and commitment, as well as a strong team spirit.
We would recommend this kind of exercise highly, especially if you will be working with directors who were not part of the selection committees.

"I spent many years at university studying the use of images. Now, I understand clearly how I can use my knowledge and skills to save lives. Count on me to stay in touch and involved well after this particular project has come to an end. _ I have one request for the Peace Corps team: I would like to be able to call you at any time to discuss details of the script and, later on, of the film. OK?"

Pape Wangué Mbengue, director of the Peace Corps/Senegal film on HIV/AIDS for truck drivers and their entourage

Script adaptation
During the Scenarios from the Sahel contest, participants submitted their contributions in a wide variety of forms, including short stories, monologues, drawings, comic strips, poems, and songs. It is now up to the professional scriptwriter to turn those contributions into scripts for short films.
The scriptwriter is not taking a blind leap into a void. Rather, he or she can draw on a number of sources of input while carrying out script adaptation: the live, personal comments of the young author; the input of the director who may have been a member of one of the juries; documents outlining the selection criteria used by the jurors; juror comments and recommendations for each winning scenario; his or her own observations and exchanges during the selection process; and documents outlining the project's distribution objectives and strategy.
Involvement of the young author
Ideally, the script will be drafted in direct dialogue with the young author in order to maintain the highest possible level of authenticity. The feasibility of such collaboration will depend on many factors, such as logistics (geographic remoteness, access to modern means of communication), budget, school schedules, and the parents' attitude.

"I take my hat off to Scenarios from the Sahel, which has managed to reawaken and spur on the creative genius of our young people. We really didn't think they were capable of this. We have discovered our own young people. For the region's film industry, which is going through some hard times now, I think that these are up-and-coming scriptwriters who will soon come of age."

Demba Diakhaté, ABACED, member of the Senegalese pre-selection jury

The selection criteria used by the jurors
Early in the selection process, the jurors (i.e., specialists in HIV/AIDS and in audio-visual production) established the criteria that would guide them in their deliberations. Those criteria were drafted with the final film products in mind. The scriptwriter should study the selection criteria not only to be true to the jurors' intentions, but above all to glean insights and guidance that will be very useful in the course of script adaptation.
In the case of Scenarios from the Sahel, criteria included: impact (personal identification, emotiveness, ability to trigger behavior change), creativity, constructiveness (i.e., ability to foster solidarity for people living with HIV and to safeguard cohesion among all members of the HIV-prevention community), and educational qualities. Special emphasis was placed on the potential of a given scenario. Jurors underscored the fact that the scriptwriter would be able to create films based on certain selected ideas contained in a scenario (as opposed to its entirety) and that minor errors in the scenario could be edited out (inappropriate vocabulary, small misinterpretations of scientific facts on HIV, etc.).
Juror comments and recommendations for each winning scenario
This information, which is specific to each work and possibly detailed in nature, is sure to be an invaluable resource to the scriptwriter.
Both on input-seeking questionnaires and in plenary sessions, jurors were asked to take note of things such as: elements (words, actions, names) in the scenario that could prove harmful if included in a film, other recommended changes, specific passages to emphasize, the group or groups for which this particular scenario is especially appropriate, creative ideas on what a film based on the scenario might look like, and how such a film might be used in the field??
The filmmakers' observations and exchanges during the selection process
The leaders of the film-production team were present during the selection process and were able to observe and participate in discussions on the individual scenarios, the project and its objectives, and the global context of the epidemic and prevention activities. They experienced first-hand the rich exchange between artists and HIV specialists. While adapting the scenario, during shooting, and in the edit suite, they might well have flashbacks to the impassioned debates in the juries on points of particular relevance to specific passages of the film they are working on.

Documents outlining the project's distribution objectives and strategy
Be sure that the filmmakers clearly understand the distribution strategy that has been selected. If it is to focus on mass media (i.e., with limited or no opportunity for viewers to ask follow-up questions), the films will have to be self-explanatory and more in tune with the cultural sensitivities of a mass audience. If the emphasis is on the development of tools to be used by trainers and facilitators, there is probably less need for caution.
Furthermore, the film teams must understand that a series of films is being produced. It is important not to pack each and every film with as many priority messages as possible; the audience isn_t likely to retain a single one. Rather, message loads in each film should be easy for viewers to assimilate, and the project team should see to it that priority messages appear somewhere in the series of films.
Pre-testing
Pre-test the scripts until you drop. Storyboard pre-testing is a cost-effective, easy, highly participatory way to avoid major headaches later on and to ensure product quality. Pre-testing can help you to be sure that the films are not harmful or dangerous in any way, contain clear messages, are socially acceptable, optimally effective and preserve unity within the HIV-prevention community.
By investing in pre-testing, you can preclude the need to engage in expensive, time-consuming corrections down the road. Paper is far more forgiving than film _ and considerably less costly. By agreeing with the director in advance and in exhaustive detail on the script and storyboard, you are also ensuring that he or she will be optimally prepared for the shoot and that time _ and hence money _ will not be wasted. Improvisation on set is a very expensive _ and by no means foolproof _ way to make up for the inadequacies of a poor script. There really is no substitute for a thoroughly prepared and researched script and storyboard.
Pre-testing is a golden opportunity to re-mobilize many different groups and individuals who had been actively involved in previous project phases. You can train certain partners to lead pre-test sessions. Those sessions, in turn, could be carried out with youth groups, women's groups, etc., which were involved in the contest, as well as with the reunited jurors. The storyboards could be drawn by young artists who participated in the contest by submitting scenarios in the form of comic strips.
There are many fine works available on the mechanics of pre-testing, so we do not intend to enter into detail on the matter here. However, we would like to suggest a model pre-testing schedule:

a) The scriptwriter, in collaboration with the young author and the director, and drawing on all existing sources of input specific to the project and to the scenario in question, writes a first-draft script.
b) The draft script is submitted to a panel of experts (perhaps the jurors) for comment.
c) The scriptwriter draws up a second draft, incorporating the recommendations of the panel.
d) Storyboards are developed by an artist, working in collaboration with the scriptwriter and the director.
e) Exhaustive pre-testing is carried out in the field, covering as many different groups and zones as necessary to ensure that all pre-testing objectives have been achieved.
f) Pre-testing results are compiled and submitted to the scriptwriter and director.
g) The scriptwriter puts together a third draft of the scenario; any necessary alterations/additions to the storyboards are made.
h) The third draft is pre-tested (on a smaller scale than the second).
i) The results of this round of pre-testing are compiled and submitted to the scriptwriter and director.
j) The scriptwriter writes the fourth version of the script.
k) This fourth draft is submitted to the panel of experts.
l) Bearing in mind the panel's comments, the script is finalized by the scriptwriter, working in collaboration with other project representatives.

Throughout the pre-testing process, be sure to compile ideas that might be useful to those charged with drafting the Users' Guide later on.