The Complete Online Filmmaking Reference - Film Distribution ...

Film crew
What does the crew do?
The crew for a very small indie production might be as small as two people. The first person is the filmmaker
(producer, director, cinematographer, etc.) and the other is the assistant (sound, script, continuity, gaffer, grip,
etc.).
If you are using anything other than available light then at least one gaffer to hold reflectors during filming is
probably necessary.
Selecting a filmmaking crew
On your first attempts at making a short you will be calling on friends and other wannabe filmmakers. If you've
been networking you should have found a few people by now.
A good source in most cities is to go to craigslist.com and place an ad for "crew" in the "gigs" section.
Don't get more people than you need while realizing that some of the people who absolutely, positively promise
they will be there just don't show up at the last minute. The promise of good food on the set and beer and pizza
after filming will do more than anything else to improve attendance.
Shortly before you actually start filming have a training session where everyone gets to try the equipment and go
through the process of filming scenes. Try to get some of the actors to show up for the training session. You
want to foster a feeling of friendliness and teamwork as early as possible.
Don't pick your crew too far in advance because people will forget and
make other commitments.
One tip I've learned is that your crew doesn't necessarily need to know
what they're doing to start with, as long as you get smart people who
understand what you are trying to accomplish and are really interested in
the film. (Another reason to have a really Great Script!)
Smart people who care will learn really fast and get really involved in doing
a good job. They will also start spotting little mistakes and making
suggestions for other ways to try things.
Listen to what people say without losing control of the set. Other people's
ideas are often very useful and give everyone a sense of ownership in
making the film the best possible. Suppress your ego and listen with an
open mind.
Sometimes you will reject suggestions. Remind everyone that you as the
filmmaker/director and author of the movie are the final authority on how
things will get done. This is your movie. If people have a problem with that
concept let them know that if you were helping them make their movie you
would let them make the final decisions.
If they still try to take over the set ask them politely to find something else to do with their time besides helping
you with your movie. If you find yourself with an actor with an attitude problem it can be a real problem.
As you productions get bigger you'll be able to start hiring professional crews. People who know what they are
doing can make a movie move much faster and enormously improve the quality of the final product.
The first person you want to get once you can afford to hire some professional crew is a good sound person. Good
sound makes a film so much clearer even if the images are marginal.
Filmmaking crew meetings
An important part of the director's job during preproduction is to lead the crew meetings where everyone will
learn their role in the filmmaking production process. The more clearly the director can make their vision of the
process to the main crew members the smoother the entire production will go.
If the production is a very low-budget one and many of the crew are inexperienced then it is very smart to have