Wiktionary
n. (context cinematography English) The phase of film production during which the film is actually shot, as distinct from pre-production and post-production.
Wikipedia
thumb|300px|Film production on location in Newark, New Jersey.
Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production.
Principal photography is nearly always the most expensive phase of film production, due to actor, director, and set crew salaries, as well as the costs of certain shots, props, and on-set special effects. Its start generally marks a point of no return for the financiers, because until it is complete there is unlikely to be enough material filmed to release a final product needed to recoup costs. While it is common for a film to lose its greenlight status during pre-production – for example, because an important cast member drops out – it is extremely uncommon for financing to be withdrawn once principal photography has begun.
Feature films usually have insurance in place by the time principal photography begins. The death of a bankable star before completing all planned takes, or the loss of sets or footage can render a film impossible to complete as planned. For example, sets are notoriously flammable, and most older studios feature water towers for that reason. Furthermore, professional-quality movie cameras are normally rented as needed, and most camera houses will not allow rentals of their equipment without proof of insurance.
Once a film concludes principal photography, it is said to have wrapped, and a wrap party may be organized to celebrate. During post-production, it may become clear that certain shots or sequences are missing or incomplete and are required to complete the film, or that a certain scene is not playing as expected, or even that a particular actor's performance has not turned out as desired. In these circumstances, additional material may have to be shot. If the material has already been shot once, or is substantial, the process is referred to as a re-shoot, but if the material is new and relatively minor, it is often referred to as a pick-up.
Usage examples of "principal photography".
Right after Labour Weekend we emerge from the tunnel of Manhattan August and enter day one of Principal Photography.
On day one of Principal Photography I get a cheque for several hundred thousand dollars.
On Friday, August 18, three days after the start of principal photography, Boofuls was driven home in his limousine from M-G-M at 5:27 p.
So what Digitex has created is a producer's ultimate toy -a relatively inexpensive way of manipulating an actor or a director's vision long after principal photography's completed.
You were supposed to be on-set until principal photography's wrapped up-hit the road now and you don't get a penny, jack.
Standard practice in the modern video business: in postproduction, once the principal photography was done, the techs would lay the digital face over that of the actor who had gone through the paces on the set, who’.
Twice, the project came close to beginning principal photography in both the United States and Romania, but each time the project collapsed because of the inability of the European producers to get their act together .
Forget reconstructive surgery, there goes half the chief's stable, and on the first day of principal photography.
When a film starts principal photography it's on a very tight schedule, and every hour of work counts.
I could finish principal photography this morning right here on this goddamned dock.
It could have been fixed after the close of principal photography, with a single extra shot.
We're shooting the film in and around LA, and we'll finish principal photography December tenth.
I paid Murray five hundred against twenty-five thousand if I exercise the option, then another twenty-five at the start of principal photography.