When a project is decided on or commissioned, the process begins in earnest. Before much else, the budget is decided, the script or idea is acquired and the company decides on exactly what Palfery-Productions is going to do with it - in Development all of the final preperations are made and the higher-ranking crew members are hired.

Pre-Production is the preparation period for all of the final ensemble, seperately and in groups - the director leads the Talent in rehearsals, sets are built on soundstages or on location, the aesthetics of the production are designed and prepared, and the script is - with all of these contributing elements - finalised into a shootable format.

Known in the trade as Principal Photography, Project Production is where all of the preparations that all parties have made pay off - sets are shot on, equipment is used, the Talent act their roles and the entire thing begins to come together on the shooting schedule and - hopefully - within the budget. Production is to the Project as brick-making is to houses... its where everything that will hold it together is created.

If Production is the brick-making for a house, Post is the brick-laying. Often underestimated but easily the most important part of the process, Post-Production is where the project is built using the materials supplied by Production. Editing is, ultimately, to put the project into a sensible but enthralling sequence of shots, scores and effects.

If the project is missing anything, Secondary Photography (pickup shooting or Recapture) will occur, which is almost a step back into Production with a Post-Production perspective. This is important for two reasons - first of all it is very easy to miss things on set that are easily picked up in the editing booth and, second, commissioned projects are being made to the specification of those who have commissioned it, so often many steps backwards will be needed to define and perfect the preferred direction.