Firstly I want to point out that I am a newbie to movie making myself. I do not want people to confuse my thoughts and views here as if they are the be all and end all of what is correct. To take such a stance would be pure arrogance, and I would be putting you wrong. There will be others with far more understanding then I on pretty much every topic I am going to touch upon here, and when they speak, they are absolutely worth listening to. Some will agree with me, others will disagree on points, and others again will entirely disagree and for me, that is the true value of these forums. It is through reading such debates myself that I have come to understand quite a few things from differing perspectives both for and against techniques, ideas, skills etc and it is those members mentions of the pros and cons of such topics that I have been able to follow their sound reasoning behind their views to come to my own decisions.
Further. I will term some things in the way that I understand them in my head and there will be others that use their own terminology, and/or "correct" terminology which I am still learning. So please be patient with me if you don't understand.
The first thing I wish to clarify for all new film makers is this. No position, skill, or person involved in movie making is more important then another. They are all hugely vital if you wish to make good film, and if one falls over, the entire film falls over. I want now to discuss some of the main roles required to make a movie.
Script
Whether you write it yourself, or have somebody else write it. A bad script, written quickly by an inexperienced writer will spell disaster for any story. NEVER pick up and attempt to film a script that you are not excited about. If anything in there sounds just ok, have it changed. Do not worry about hurt feelings, if the script is bad, change it or risk wasting a lot of time, effort, and potentially money, not to mention any future reputation you hope to make. And for god-sake, have a few people you trust read it before you commit to anything. If they say it needs improving...it does!!!
Casting of potential actors.
Do not make the mistake of picking your mate Bob to play your lead role because he is your best friend and seems really excited. This is a huge rookie mistake. Also do not cast somebody in a role just because they have a good amount of acting experience over your other picks. Pick an actor who matches the character you wish them to play. For instance lets look at Nicolas Cage. He is a good actor (arguably) and in a movie where he has to deliver some clever lines, he is somewhat believable, but as a tough guy, or as a soft genuine guy in a relationship, he can do it but he kind of sucks. In the same way, your mate Bob might be a great mate and you might have a lot of time for him, but if his natural characteristics do not match that of the character that he is to play, then casting him in that role could ruin your movie. For this reason, when I interview people for a movie part I do not give them any lines or scripts to learn. Nor do I give them any idea about the part they might play, because I want them to just be themselves. This lets me see if they naturally suit my character, or whether I would be better having them either elsewhere helping out, or not on my set at all.
Camera man/woman
I picked a woman to shoot my upcoming movie for me based on one still picture. She has never done film before, but this one picture of hers caught my eye. It was one of only 4 shots she was showing, and it was beautiful. I asked her about it and she told me that she had to wait quite a while for the light to be perfect which told me that she had the eye for the job. She spotted a beautiful scene before it was there, saw what it would be if she waited, and then took the shot at the perfect time to capture this incredible natural shot. She caught it beautifully. For me, that tells me that she understands beauty and looks for it in her own work, and will look for it in mine, which is what I am looking for. I also can tell from that one shot that out of all the angles she could have picked, she understood that the best way to capture that picture was from the exact angle she took it from. I guess I am trying to tell you that rather then pick the quickest person in with a camera, it is better to look for a camera person that is already photographing (even if only stills) the things that you are looking for in your movie. If you are lucky enough to find that person, then you will have good film. Further, the camera person must be in tune with the director, and completely understand what the director is looking for in each shot but confident enough to speak if they are able to suggest a better angle or way of taking that footage. The editor must be very much in on this also as I will discuss later.
Lastly the camera crew must know their lenses. It is no good to use one lens on every scene. A good camera crew will have a few lenses to choose from and will be seen swapping them out for a different lens for varying shots. One lens for an entire film will equal opportunities missed and potentially good footage turned into stale film. As pointed out in comments below...if you get a camera crew come forward, always ask for footage that they have shot. If they do not have any, perhaps ask them to go out and shoot some so that you can get an idea of how good their knowledge and skill actually is.
These people work under the direction of the Director of Photography.
Lighting
Sometimes/Often the camera crew cannot wait for the perfect shot. Or the right lighting to make that shot clear and precise, or catch the right mood. This is where your lighter comes in. They and the camera crew must be in constant communication, with the lighter becoming so attuned to what the camera crew is after that they can anticipate how the shot needs to be lit to match what the camera crew is going for. I look for a lighting crew that has a natural attention to the tiniest detail, and good problem solving skills.
These people work under the direction of the Director of Photography.
Sound
The perfect footage is ruined if the sound is not crisp and clean. I am talking about the capturing of spoken word. The dog barking in the background or the insect flying past the mic can ruin a good take. While all eyes are on the action the sound crew must have their ear to the scene to make sure that nothing undesirable strays in unnoticed. A good sound tech will also be very skilled with software such as adobe auditions, and able to single out stray background noise in editing and cancel it out within reason. Your sound crew are in control of what your audience hears, and if they tell you that the scene is ruined by background sounds, as painful as it may be, you are better to heed their warning and wait for a different part of the day, or take you shoot elsewhere where sound is better captured. The sound crew are also in charge of capturing those crisp, well spoken lines. They need to have a clear understanding of what mics to use for the situation. if you have a sound crew that say that they have one mic that will do the entire film, I would not advise using them.
Alcove Audio in comments below
"You have to keep in mind that production sound and audio post are two different disciplines. Your production sound mixer, boom-op and/or audio assistant do not have to know noise reduction - that's the job of the rerecording mixer (or in some cases the dialog editor/mixer).
The production sound team is responsible for the cleanest, most intelligible dialog possible. The audio post team is responsible for building and mixing a cohesive sound scape."
For a hugely in depth look into sound, and for some sound advice (pun intended) Alcove Audio, a member here, wrote some greats blogs on the topic. Well worth the read.
http://www.indietalk.com/blog.php?b=76
Wardrobe
Yes, wardrobe. Even in a small indie film, wardrobe is important. It is no good for Bob to come to shoot film in his $100 suit and tie if he is expected to look like a highly paid body guard. We can all tell the difference between a hundred and a thousand dollar suit. If the part requires the more expensive suit, hire it. If the part requires the girl to wear a cheap red dress, hire or buy it. There are a lot of great second hand clothing stores out there. If you want the clothing for a year, buy it, if you want it a few times for a few different scenes, hire it. If you have someone in charge of wardrobe it means that this important aspect of the shoot will not be overlooked. Ideally your wardrobe people will have done some fashion design and have access to a sewing machine if things need to be altered or custom made. If you see them running in to remove a stray thread every now and then, then they are clearly doing their job. Wardrobe crew will keep those clothes clean, taking them home to be washed and ironed for the next shoot. They will consider different outfits for different scenes and characters and basically assist in making each character match the part they are meant to play. Keep an eye on those shoes. The wrong pair of shoes throws the entire shot into an unbelievable mess.
Makeup/Hair
These people will have a good understanding of their craft, and a high level of skill. They will need to understand that different makeup will look different under different light and know how to blend the actor in with the scene to look appear as required. The hair stylist will keep your actors looking sharp.
Editor
This guy is in charge of how each scene turns out, and where in the movie it ends up. He tells the Director, and the Director of Photography what he can and cannot edit in to footage and works closely with them so that he understands what the scene is meant to show.
The Colorist (re Jax Rox correction in comments )
"Whilst perhaps a bit more elevated than the bare-bones 'basics' - the colourist is the guy/gal who's going to take your log-space or raw mush and make it as beautiful as you lit it on set (and in many cases more beautiful!)."
The colorist is an expert when it comes to giving your film that dark ominous look, or making a simple outdoors scene look like something shot in heaven itself. He/she is an expert in understanding how to make things look better in film and should have a huge amount of experience with color correction software. This is definitely not a skill that the average joe can learn in a few hours of playing around.
Director of Photography (direct from wiki after being pointed out by Jax Rox)
The Director of Photography, DoP or DP, is the chief of the camera and lighting crew of the film. The DoP makes decisions on lighting and framing of shots in conjunction with the film's director. Typically, the Director tells the DoP how he or she wants a shot to look, and the DoP chooses the correct lens, filter, lighting and composition to achieve the desired aesthetic effect. The DoP is the senior creative crew member after the director.
Director
Aaah the prestige of being a director. A director is in charge of progressing the story and keeping all of the others in tune. He is the composer to the orchestra and has a clear understanding of what each of the others need to do their job on a daily basis. He keeps everybody updated on what is coming next, and keeps the ball rolling smoothly to progress the film. A good director tells his crew what he needs, a great director listens to what is possible. He is not skilled in any given area but understands the jobs of all the others and what they need to do it, pushing them on when necessary and getting out of their way when needed to allow them to do it. The director has the self confidence to control the others and the humbleness to understand that his crew know more then him in relation to their specialties. He is at heart, a middleman that keeps everybody moving in the same direction. He must have patience, and the ability to talk to all crew in a way that brings out their best. He must be a good reader of people and know when to pull somebody aside and help them gently into the right head space to focus on their work. He must be the constant professional.
For a full and comprehensive look at all of the positions involved. Please follow this link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_crew
I really do feel like such a prat with this post up. I am painfully aware of how arrogant it must seem that I, a complete newbie, would have a post up outlining my understanding of such a vast topic. I am tempted to delete it, but at the same time I feel that if in posting this, my points are corrected, and I then update the post to reflect correct information then it could save a lot of newbies a lot of time. Once it is complete I certainly intend to print it out and put it into my notes book to keep me on track. I hope that others can learn as I do from the corrections coming in from the more advanced members.
Further. I will term some things in the way that I understand them in my head and there will be others that use their own terminology, and/or "correct" terminology which I am still learning. So please be patient with me if you don't understand.
The first thing I wish to clarify for all new film makers is this. No position, skill, or person involved in movie making is more important then another. They are all hugely vital if you wish to make good film, and if one falls over, the entire film falls over. I want now to discuss some of the main roles required to make a movie.
Script
Whether you write it yourself, or have somebody else write it. A bad script, written quickly by an inexperienced writer will spell disaster for any story. NEVER pick up and attempt to film a script that you are not excited about. If anything in there sounds just ok, have it changed. Do not worry about hurt feelings, if the script is bad, change it or risk wasting a lot of time, effort, and potentially money, not to mention any future reputation you hope to make. And for god-sake, have a few people you trust read it before you commit to anything. If they say it needs improving...it does!!!
Casting of potential actors.
Do not make the mistake of picking your mate Bob to play your lead role because he is your best friend and seems really excited. This is a huge rookie mistake. Also do not cast somebody in a role just because they have a good amount of acting experience over your other picks. Pick an actor who matches the character you wish them to play. For instance lets look at Nicolas Cage. He is a good actor (arguably) and in a movie where he has to deliver some clever lines, he is somewhat believable, but as a tough guy, or as a soft genuine guy in a relationship, he can do it but he kind of sucks. In the same way, your mate Bob might be a great mate and you might have a lot of time for him, but if his natural characteristics do not match that of the character that he is to play, then casting him in that role could ruin your movie. For this reason, when I interview people for a movie part I do not give them any lines or scripts to learn. Nor do I give them any idea about the part they might play, because I want them to just be themselves. This lets me see if they naturally suit my character, or whether I would be better having them either elsewhere helping out, or not on my set at all.
Camera man/woman
I picked a woman to shoot my upcoming movie for me based on one still picture. She has never done film before, but this one picture of hers caught my eye. It was one of only 4 shots she was showing, and it was beautiful. I asked her about it and she told me that she had to wait quite a while for the light to be perfect which told me that she had the eye for the job. She spotted a beautiful scene before it was there, saw what it would be if she waited, and then took the shot at the perfect time to capture this incredible natural shot. She caught it beautifully. For me, that tells me that she understands beauty and looks for it in her own work, and will look for it in mine, which is what I am looking for. I also can tell from that one shot that out of all the angles she could have picked, she understood that the best way to capture that picture was from the exact angle she took it from. I guess I am trying to tell you that rather then pick the quickest person in with a camera, it is better to look for a camera person that is already photographing (even if only stills) the things that you are looking for in your movie. If you are lucky enough to find that person, then you will have good film. Further, the camera person must be in tune with the director, and completely understand what the director is looking for in each shot but confident enough to speak if they are able to suggest a better angle or way of taking that footage. The editor must be very much in on this also as I will discuss later.
Lastly the camera crew must know their lenses. It is no good to use one lens on every scene. A good camera crew will have a few lenses to choose from and will be seen swapping them out for a different lens for varying shots. One lens for an entire film will equal opportunities missed and potentially good footage turned into stale film. As pointed out in comments below...if you get a camera crew come forward, always ask for footage that they have shot. If they do not have any, perhaps ask them to go out and shoot some so that you can get an idea of how good their knowledge and skill actually is.
These people work under the direction of the Director of Photography.
Lighting
Sometimes/Often the camera crew cannot wait for the perfect shot. Or the right lighting to make that shot clear and precise, or catch the right mood. This is where your lighter comes in. They and the camera crew must be in constant communication, with the lighter becoming so attuned to what the camera crew is after that they can anticipate how the shot needs to be lit to match what the camera crew is going for. I look for a lighting crew that has a natural attention to the tiniest detail, and good problem solving skills.
These people work under the direction of the Director of Photography.
Sound
The perfect footage is ruined if the sound is not crisp and clean. I am talking about the capturing of spoken word. The dog barking in the background or the insect flying past the mic can ruin a good take. While all eyes are on the action the sound crew must have their ear to the scene to make sure that nothing undesirable strays in unnoticed. A good sound tech will also be very skilled with software such as adobe auditions, and able to single out stray background noise in editing and cancel it out within reason. Your sound crew are in control of what your audience hears, and if they tell you that the scene is ruined by background sounds, as painful as it may be, you are better to heed their warning and wait for a different part of the day, or take you shoot elsewhere where sound is better captured. The sound crew are also in charge of capturing those crisp, well spoken lines. They need to have a clear understanding of what mics to use for the situation. if you have a sound crew that say that they have one mic that will do the entire film, I would not advise using them.
Alcove Audio in comments below
"You have to keep in mind that production sound and audio post are two different disciplines. Your production sound mixer, boom-op and/or audio assistant do not have to know noise reduction - that's the job of the rerecording mixer (or in some cases the dialog editor/mixer).
The production sound team is responsible for the cleanest, most intelligible dialog possible. The audio post team is responsible for building and mixing a cohesive sound scape."
For a hugely in depth look into sound, and for some sound advice (pun intended) Alcove Audio, a member here, wrote some greats blogs on the topic. Well worth the read.
http://www.indietalk.com/blog.php?b=76
Wardrobe
Yes, wardrobe. Even in a small indie film, wardrobe is important. It is no good for Bob to come to shoot film in his $100 suit and tie if he is expected to look like a highly paid body guard. We can all tell the difference between a hundred and a thousand dollar suit. If the part requires the more expensive suit, hire it. If the part requires the girl to wear a cheap red dress, hire or buy it. There are a lot of great second hand clothing stores out there. If you want the clothing for a year, buy it, if you want it a few times for a few different scenes, hire it. If you have someone in charge of wardrobe it means that this important aspect of the shoot will not be overlooked. Ideally your wardrobe people will have done some fashion design and have access to a sewing machine if things need to be altered or custom made. If you see them running in to remove a stray thread every now and then, then they are clearly doing their job. Wardrobe crew will keep those clothes clean, taking them home to be washed and ironed for the next shoot. They will consider different outfits for different scenes and characters and basically assist in making each character match the part they are meant to play. Keep an eye on those shoes. The wrong pair of shoes throws the entire shot into an unbelievable mess.
Makeup/Hair
These people will have a good understanding of their craft, and a high level of skill. They will need to understand that different makeup will look different under different light and know how to blend the actor in with the scene to look appear as required. The hair stylist will keep your actors looking sharp.
Editor
This guy is in charge of how each scene turns out, and where in the movie it ends up. He tells the Director, and the Director of Photography what he can and cannot edit in to footage and works closely with them so that he understands what the scene is meant to show.
The Colorist (re Jax Rox correction in comments )
"Whilst perhaps a bit more elevated than the bare-bones 'basics' - the colourist is the guy/gal who's going to take your log-space or raw mush and make it as beautiful as you lit it on set (and in many cases more beautiful!)."
The colorist is an expert when it comes to giving your film that dark ominous look, or making a simple outdoors scene look like something shot in heaven itself. He/she is an expert in understanding how to make things look better in film and should have a huge amount of experience with color correction software. This is definitely not a skill that the average joe can learn in a few hours of playing around.
Director of Photography (direct from wiki after being pointed out by Jax Rox)
The Director of Photography, DoP or DP, is the chief of the camera and lighting crew of the film. The DoP makes decisions on lighting and framing of shots in conjunction with the film's director. Typically, the Director tells the DoP how he or she wants a shot to look, and the DoP chooses the correct lens, filter, lighting and composition to achieve the desired aesthetic effect. The DoP is the senior creative crew member after the director.
Director
Aaah the prestige of being a director. A director is in charge of progressing the story and keeping all of the others in tune. He is the composer to the orchestra and has a clear understanding of what each of the others need to do their job on a daily basis. He keeps everybody updated on what is coming next, and keeps the ball rolling smoothly to progress the film. A good director tells his crew what he needs, a great director listens to what is possible. He is not skilled in any given area but understands the jobs of all the others and what they need to do it, pushing them on when necessary and getting out of their way when needed to allow them to do it. The director has the self confidence to control the others and the humbleness to understand that his crew know more then him in relation to their specialties. He is at heart, a middleman that keeps everybody moving in the same direction. He must have patience, and the ability to talk to all crew in a way that brings out their best. He must be a good reader of people and know when to pull somebody aside and help them gently into the right head space to focus on their work. He must be the constant professional.
For a full and comprehensive look at all of the positions involved. Please follow this link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_crew
I really do feel like such a prat with this post up. I am painfully aware of how arrogant it must seem that I, a complete newbie, would have a post up outlining my understanding of such a vast topic. I am tempted to delete it, but at the same time I feel that if in posting this, my points are corrected, and I then update the post to reflect correct information then it could save a lot of newbies a lot of time. Once it is complete I certainly intend to print it out and put it into my notes book to keep me on track. I hope that others can learn as I do from the corrections coming in from the more advanced members.
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I thought sound guys did all of that, and that the only thing they were not necessarily involved with was making the film score but could be if they had the musical talent.
) paying them. A great 1st AC will save you time with less takes where the focus is buzzed, a great DIT will save your but and make sure there's no data loss, a great Gaffer will help to sculpt the light within the DPs specifications to that it looks awesome, and a great Grip will make sure everyone stays safe, and get your camera moving in ways you never thought possible.
