Who do you need on set? David K. Irving walks through the key film crew departments and roles and explains how to choose people who will serve your story.
“I am dependent on the talents and idiosyncrasies, the moods and egos, the politics and personalities, of more than a hundred different people.” ~ Sidney Lumet
A functioning film production calls for a homogenous crew. Like casting, choosing a crew involves auditioning talented individuals considered a good fit for the production.
Harmony during production is directly related to the precision with which a film crew labors. Crews are for the most part steady, working efficiently for long hours. When it works well, the set hums. In the same vein as assembling an acting ensemble, directors are fond of collaborating with the same production unit picture after picture. With a production ensemble the director and crew have an established working relationship even before beginning a new project. Scorsese and Schoonmaker, Spielberg and Kaminski, Coppola and Tavoularis, Hitchcock and Herrmann – are examples of sublime collaborations.
The key departments are production, casting, cinematography, art direction and sound recording. In post, the director works with the editorial, sound and publicity departments. The department heads are the production manager, casting director, director of photography, art director, and sound mixer. In post, the department heads are the editor, composer and publicist. All these department heads in turn hire their own team.
As with any job application, crew applicants require a résumé. It is standard procedure to call and check on the performance of a crewmember from previous pictures, which helps create an idea of how that individual might contribute and assimilate with the planned production. To perform at peek capacity a director must be confident a department head will also give one hundred percent. Directors do not interview all crewmembers. It would be wise, however, to reserve the right to veto the selection of a department head. Should a producer want to strap a director with a director of photography not of his or her choosing, the director should have the authority to reject the choice, assuming it could prove an unproductive match.
The production department is responsible for disbursing the budget and managing the schedule. Should a director require additional shooting time at a location, or a specific piece of equipment, the production department functions to support the director’s vision.
The location manager and assistant director are noteworthy members of the production team. The location manager finds and secures the locations for the film during pre-production and manages and massages them during production. The location manager is also responsible for moving the production unit from one location to the next and bedding them down for the night.
Location managers are the link between the production unit and the real world. Home and business owners often jump at the opportunity to rent their space and therefore become associated with a movie company. The glamour, prestige and fee blind them to the reality of day-to-day film work. Once they witness first hand how chaotic a movie set can be, and as they become concerned about the welfare of their property, the veil of dazzle is lifted from their eyes and replaced with shock and paranoia. The location manager must anticipate and placate this shift in the point-of-view by the property owner. It would be a reasonable expense to send the homeowners away on a two-week cruise to avoid their concern and interference.
Shooting on location is fraught with sound conflicts. When a barking dog or noisy neighbors need attention, the location manager has the task of interfacing with the public. If a local airport needs to redirect its flight patterns, the location manager makes the call. Foot and car traffic immediately adjacent to the production unit, however, is controlled by the assistant directors.
If the location manager is the point person as the company forges step by step through the wilderness of movie land, the assistant director is the wagon master. The assistant director is responsible for adhering to the schedule indicated on the production board and the daily call sheet. Requiring a great deal of tact, the assistant director is part cop, part drill sergeant and part job.
The assistant director, through a system of second and third assistants, as well as production assistants, with walkie-talkies as appendages, orchestrates the minute-by-minute progression of the production. Timing the actors, lighting, grips, set dressing, and meals to fall into a reasonable and efficient pattern is a challenge. When one mixes into this need for order, with temperamental actors, long lighting setups, complicated camera moves and meal penalties, it is easy to imagine why assistant directing is a test of one’s abilities in a demanding but stimulating undertaking.
Every Auteur Needs a Dozen Beating Hearts
The production unit, or circus as it is fondly called, is divided into three concentric circles. The inner circle is where the camera resides, where sequences are shot. The second, outer ring houses the portable production support havens; makeup, hair, wardrobe, props, set dressing, grip and electric, camera truck, caterers, actor trailers and honey wagons. The second assistant director has the responsibility of bridging the inner and second circle, primarily as it pertains to the actors. The second assistant director shepherds them between the inner and secondary circle. The third circle is everything not associated with the immediate production; generators and vehicles.
Simply because they are the crewmembers who spend time with the actors just prior to arriving on set, a director is wise to befriend and consult with the second assistant director, make-up artist and hair dresser. These three members of the team can be most effective assisting the director by seeing to it the actors arrive on set in a prepared state. A catty hairdresser, a chatty make-up artist, or a second assistant director who tells an actor an off color joke just before they arrive on set, might disturb the actor’s concentration. A second who is sensitive to the transformation actors go through to perform can be worth his or her weight in gold. Ferret out a good one.
The casting director is done for the most part during pre-production. However, casting can continue during production. Whether it’s a case of an actor falling out of a production to a day player hired on the day of the shoot, a good casting director can make significant artistic contributions to a film on the spur of a moment.
A director of photography is brought on at least several weeks prior to principal photography to shape the look of the film. In addition, he or she shoots camera, wardrobe and make-up tests. The director of photography brings in a first assistant cameraman, a gaffer and a grip. These three crewmembers in turn hire their own support team. The first assistant cameraman hires a second and a clapper/loader. The gaffer hires a team of electricians, and the key grip hires a best boy and a team of as many grips required by the show. The director of photography’s crew then builds the camera, grip and electric trucks, based on an equipment list provided by the director of photography. The production manager buys the stock, which is kept in a refrigerator and transferred as needs be to the camera truck. The cinematographer is the eye of the director. The cinematographer translates what’s in the director’s head onto film. The director of photography must then shoot the film in such a way as to either match or enhance the director’s vision. If the cinematographer’s work detracts from the director’s vision, that person is wrong for the job. The best way to know how well this collaboration will play out is through discussions, examples and storyboards. The visual style of the film is determined long before a camera is turned on.
If the director is responsible for the acting, the director of photography the lighting and camera movement, the art director is responsible for everything else in the frame. Props, sets, wardrobe, makeup and special effects all fall under this department. Sometimes referred to as a production designer, the main difference between the two titles is the amount of time prior to principal photography they were hired. A production designer is brought on very early to work with the director and director of photography on the look and style of the film. An art director, also an important creative collaborator, is brought on later to affect the look and style chosen by the director.
The art director hires a costume designer, prop master, hair, make-up and set dressers. These department heads then hire their assistants. If construction is required, a team of carpenters and painters will fall in behind a construction coordinator. The art director also secures the services of a storyboard artist who is assigned to the director.
The sound mixer is a two-person team consisting of the recordist and boom operator. It is their job to send to the editing room the best quality production sound.
Before moving past production, there are a few more individuals who play an important role in the life of the crew. Just as an army moves on its stomach, so too does a caterer make a contribution to the success of the film. Good hot food, and plenty of it, goes a long way to grease the wheels of a production. It is inevitable the crew will grumble about the food. A caterer cannot please everyone. And although the director does not hire the caterer, and is probably absorbed in directing to pay much attention to diet, this department plays its role in the outcome of the picture.
Moving an army swiftly from one battle to the next is akin to the role the transportation captain plays on a movie set. A director needs the company to be in position to shoot at a location to get in as many shots as possible, or certainly at least the minimum to cover a scene. Errors on the part of the transportation captain can cause delays, which ultimately affect the director’s daily production goal.
The postproduction department heads are the editor and composer. These are both welcome participants during both pre-production and production, although they become most active after the picture has completed shooting. As major contributors to the outcome of the venture, their involvement is encouraged as soon as they are hired. It is only because most of the attention is getting the film in the can that these members of the team are relegated to post.
The editor cuts the film. Editing is the shaping and assembling of each scene in the order indicated by the screenplay. An editor’s technical goal is to stitch the film together seamlessly so the audience does not notice the editing. Artistically the editor makes the film flow to a rhythm such that the audience can enjoy and follow the story.
The screenplay, the shot material, and comments from the director during dailies guide the editor. From this information the editor usually makes a first cut of the film during principal photography. The creative influence an editor has over the final product is as profound as that of any of the department heads, for it is the editor who blends all the artistry into a final piece. In searching out the most exciting elements, all the while keeping the story in mind, an editor may make shape a sequence around a specific line of dialogue, an interesting shot, a dynamic sound cue, a beautiful tableaux, the twist of a body, the blink of an eye.
The editor has a team to help assemble the film and prepare it for projection. These include at least one assistant, a sound editor and a mixer. The editor cuts picture and dialogue. When the score has been recorded, the editor will lay in the tracks in their appropriate position. Sound effects and foley work are done by a team of sound effects editors, often contracted off site. When the picture is finished and all the tracks gathered and matched to picture, the mixers blend the sounds together onto one track.
The composer writes and creates the music for the picture. It is traditional for a film to have a score. The nature of the picture will dictate the type and amount of music. Some pictures have 50-60 minutes of a full philharmonic score; others may have only prerecorded popular songs. Kurosawa’s High and Low has a brief score of only two minutes. Another example is simply electronic sounds, as in Hitchcock’s The Birds.
What does one look for in a key crewmember? Is it collaboration? Someone who will blindly obey orders? Artist or journeyman? Some directors are most interested in working with a crew that will affect their ideas. Others want a crew eager to contribute to the process. Consider the dynamic between director and director of photography. If a director denies crew members such as the cinematographer to share their artistry, creative differences might arise. Conversely, a director hungry for input would be frustrated if the director of photography had no opinions or significant artistic contributions. Being professional means having a capacity to work with people you don’t like. So choose wisely.
David K. Irving is a film director, writer, producer, and an Associate Professor in film production at New York University. He has written and directed dozens of documentaries, and his feature directing credits include Night of the Cyclone, C.H.U.D. II, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Sleeping Beauty and Rumpelstiltskin. The director is the only one who directs actors on a movie project. Not the cinematographer nor the producer, nor any other member of the production team has that responsibility. And it is directors who must do everything they can to illicit the right performances from the actors to bring the characters to life.
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- Location scouting step by step
- Film directing: getting good performances
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