Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

Crew
The size and diversity of modern film crews has led
to an extraordinary proliferation of job categories. Most
of these categories are in any case variations on the basic
division of labor that operates in a film crew. This
division of labor is well accounted for in the job descriptions
of department heads who are employed on most
contemporary films, as well as some of the more prominent
roles in each department. The following descriptions
are arranged in an order roughly chronological to
the film production process, beginning with the producers’
team, and progressing through preproduction,
production, and postproduction.
PRODUCERS AND THE PRODUCTION OFFICE
The producer initiates and supervises all the processes
involved in making a film. Core responsibilities include
selecting or commissioning the script, securing finance,
hiring the director and other departmental heads, monitoring
the expenditure and progress of the production to
try to ensure that the film is completed on time and
within budget, and negotiating the sale of the film to
distribution companies. Films often have more than one
producer, and the producers are sometimes given specific
job titles according to the division of duties between
them. An executive producer, in contrast to a producer,
does not have a hands-on involvement in the production
process. He or she focuses on business rather than creative
issues, and often supervises other producers. An
associate producer performs tasks delegated by a producer
or executive producer. Coproducers work as a team so
that between them they are involved in all the different
producer functions, including both creative and managerial
roles. A line producer is a manager who is intimately
involved in the day-to-day production processes.
Various supervisory staff oversee the different stages
of filmmaking to ensure that they are completed on time
and budget. The production manager works in a similar
way to the line producer to ensure the smooth running of
the production process, supervising both staff and expenditure.
The production accountant handles the finances
for the film, dealing with invoices and financial reporting
requirements. The postproduction supervisor is responsible
for overseeing the tasks that need to be completed
after the shoot has ended. A dedicated postproduction
accountant may also be employed.
The publicity department is in charge of promoting
the film. Although the most intensive marketing activity
occurs in the immediate run-up to the film’s release,
gaining exposure for the film is an ongoing process that
begins before production even starts. The publicity director
designs and oversees the publicity campaign and is
based at the studio or head office. If the production
company is also distributing the film, they will take
responsibility for commissioning and approving materials
such as posters and trailers. The unit publicist is often
present on the set and is responsible for arranging media
interviews, collecting information for press notes, and
selecting photographs to be issued to the press. The stills
photographer is present on the set to take publicity
pictures and may also take still pictures for use in the
film, or photographs that act as records to assist
continuity.
THE DIRECTOR AND TEAM
The director has the main creative responsibility for the
film. He or she is normally involved in the project from
an early stage and participates in hiring the heads of
departments, the casting process, and working with one
or more writers to perfect the script. During filming,
directors direct the actors, supervise the activities of the
crew, and decide which takes to print. Directors often
remain involved after shooting ends, working with the
editor and other postproduction personnel to ensure that
the film is completed in accordance with their design.
Because the director’s scope of responsibility is wide
and diverse, he or she normally has several assistants, each
with designated roles. During preproduction, the first
assistant director breaks the script down into shots and
prepares the shooting schedule. During production, he or
she conveys the director’s instructions to the cast and
crew, coordinating their performance in order to keep
pace with the schedule. The second assistant director is
responsible to the first assistant director. His or her many
duties may involve the preparation of call sheets and the
distribution of scripts. The second second assistant director,
or third assistant director, focuses on such floor
duties as managing the movement of extras. This can
be an enormous task, as in Gandhi (1982), which used
an estimated 300,000 extras.
The script supervisor, or continuity girl, keeps track
of the progress of filming and any deviations from the
written script. He or she also helps the director remember
the details of shots that have already been made, ensuring
that details such as hair and makeup remain the same
from one shot or scene to the next. In order to do this, a
detailed continuity report is maintained.
Specialized crew members may be employed to
assist the director in eliciting the desired performances
from the actors. They include the choreographer, who
designs any dance sequences, the dialogue coach, who
trains the actors in the creation of appropriate accents or
dialects, an animal trainer, who coaches the animal
actors, and a wrangler, who handles babies, animals,
or other participants, such as vehicles, that do not
respond to verbal instruction. A stunt coordinator is
responsible for designing stunt work and ensuring that
392 SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM