Roles in Filmmaking
Film making (Film Production) refers to the process involved
in making a film and it involves a series of discreet steps that in the end may
result in the exhibition of a film. Each
step can require huge number of people who work collectively as well as individually
to complete the steps and it can take several months to several years to
complete Film making. For example, horror film The Blair Witch Project (1999)
was produced over 6 years (From its development in 1993 to its release in
1999).
Stages of film making include development, pre-production, production
and post-production.
Development:
Within the development stage of a film, a producer(s) selects a story (that may come from a book,
play or an original idea). The producer(s) then work with writers
to create a synopsis and a step outline (which is a thorough telling of
story that is intended to be developed into a screenplay for a film). The step
outline goes through treatment.
A screenwriter then writes
a screen play (which is piece of writing that contains the dialogues, movement,
actions and expressions of characters) over a period of several months. At this
point a film distributor
may be contacted, to discuss potential distribution of a film.
The producer(s) and screenwriter then prepare a film pitch or
treatment, which is presented to potential financial investors. If a pitch receives
a “green light”, it often means financial backing of the production of a film
has been found (generally a film studio, film council or independent
investor) and the film could continue in its development.
Pre-production:
In the pre-production stage of a film, every step on the
actual creation of a film is designed and planned carefully. Once a production
office has been established and a production company is created, the production
of a film is story boarded with the help of illustrators
and concept artists. A production budget is
also drawn up.
The producer then hires a crew
and the scale of this crew is dependent on the nature of the film (for example
mainstream films with large budgets will have crew of hundreds, while independent
films will have a skeleton crew consisting of around 10 or less people)
General crew positions include:
The Director: is responsible for the story telling, acting of the
characters and creative decisions.
The Unit production manager: is responsible for the production budget, production
schedule and report on behalf of the production office to the financiers of the
film.
The assistant director (AD): is
responsible for the shooting schedule and logistics of production. There are
many types of assistant directors each with different roles.
The casting director: is responsible
for finding actors to play characters of the script, which is generally
completed through auditions.
The location manager: is responsible
for finding and managing locations for filming in. Most films are shot in
controlled environments, such as a studio, but some scenes may require outdoor
filming.
The director of photography (DOP): is the cinematographer who is responsible
for the photography of the entire film.
The director of audiography (DOA): is
the audiographer who is responsible for the audiography of the entire film. This
role is also known as the sound designer or supervising sound editor.
The production sound mixer: are the head of entire sound
department and have many responsibilities. For example, recording and mixing of
dialogue, presence (silence) sound effects in monaural (sound coming from one
position and ambiance. They work together with the Director,
First AD, DOA,
DOP and boom
operator.
The sound designer: is responsible for
creating the aural formation of the film and work with the DOA or may take the role of DOA.
The composer: is responsible for creating new music for the film, which usually
is not performed until post-production.
The production designer: is responsible for creating the visual formation of the
film and work with the art director to do so.
The art director: is responsible for managing the art department (who
make the production sets)
The costume designer: is responsible
for creating the costumes for the characters
and they work together with the actors as well as the makeup
and hair designers.
The makeup and hair designer(s): are responsible for creating the
required look for a character and work closely with the costume designer
The storyboard artist: is
responsible for creating the visual images that aim to aid the director and production designer explain their ideas to the production
team.
The choreographer: is responsible for creating and coordinate movement and dance for the
film (generally for musicals). Some films may also have a fight choreographer,
who creates and coordinates fight scenes.
Production:
In the production stage of a film, the actual film is shot
and at this stage more members of the crew are employed, for example, more assistant directors,
script supervisor,
picture editors and sound editors.
The construction of a set, lighting and dressing can take a
lot of time to be completed, so these are typically set up beforehand.
Actors arrive at the set by their call time they are wardrobed into
their costume as well as get their hair and makeup done. The actors also rehearse the script and blocking (movement)
with the director, the sound crew and camera
crew.
American productions typically follow a particular procedure
starting the assistant director (AD) calling “picture is up” to inform everyone that
a take is about to be recorded. The AD then
calls “quiet everyone”, “roll sound” (if there is sound in the take) and at this
moment the production sound mixer will start
up their equipment and call “sound speed”. The AD then
calls “roll camera”, which is answered by the camera
operators “speed”, once the camera starts
rolling. The clapper
who is in front of the camera will call “marker” and slap the
clapperboard shut, if there are background action or extras,
the AD will call “action background”. The director then calls “action”, which may be repeated
by the AD in larger sets and once a take is
over the director will call “cut”.
The script
supervisor takes notes of continuity issues, the sound and camera
departments also take note of any technical issues.
Post production:
The post production stage of film
making is the end of film making and consists of many different processes that
are performed by many more members of the crew. Typically the post production
stage of film making takes longer than the actual shooting of a film, because it involves the complete
editing, color correction and the inclusion of music and sound to the raw copy
of a film.
Typical roles within post production
include:
The colorist: is responsible for adjusting the colors
of a film by playing with contrast, saturation and light to create the desired
effect.
The rotoscopist: is responsible for going through
each film frame to remove any wires and logos, so that no copy right issues are
charged.
The Compositor: is a visual effects artist, who is
responsible for compositing images from different sources, such as digital
effects, 3D imagery and 2D animation.
Visual FX supervisor: is responsible for all the visual effects
used in a film.
Editor: is responsible for putting all the
camera shots together once they have been filmed. The editor(s) work closely with
the director and create the overall narrative of the film using the camera
shots.
Assistant Editor:
is responsible for helping the editor with for example decision making, as this
is the last stage of film making as a result there is a lot of pressure on the
editor, thus the assistant editor is there to ease off some pressure on the
editor.
It is evident that each stage of film making require a lot of people, each focusing on a different aspect of film making, but despite them focusing on different aspects they are all indirectly collectively working to produce the same film. The research I have conducted clearly shows me that, I and my partner have a lot of shoes to fill, thus we need to be very organised and have consistent communication, so that we produce a successful short horror film. Moreover, I think the stage of film production that suits me the most would be the post production, because I like the idea of being able to create a certain effect through the use of technology, such as editing software. I also think my editing skills are quite good and I enjoy editing moving images.
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