Post 17: Job Roles Research

I carried out some research to do with jobs in the filming industry in order to get a better understanding of the jobs my group and I will have to carry out when filming. Learning about these jobs will allow us to work coherently as a team.
The following headings show several different departments involved in film making; I found the information from the following website:

www.skillset.org/film/jobs/

Direction
Within the direction department, there are many jobs, the most obvious being director. The director is in charge of the creative vision and overall style of a feature film, guiding the crew and actors. Although it’s not just the director that makes up this department, they have help from the first, second and third assistant directors and a runner.

Camera
Camera crews normally involve people who are the most highly skilled practitioners in the entire film crew. These people work with very delicate and expensive equipment. Within a camera department, there are many different jobs such as Camera Operator, 1^st Assistant Camera, 2^nd Assistant Camera, Steadicam Operator and many more. All of these people put in preparation and hard work in order to film the action.

Lighting
The lighting in any film is a very important aspect. Often in dramas a wide range of lighting is set up in order to help create different moods as well as the perception of different times of day. Some of the lighting is essential in helping enhance how a character is portrayed. Jobs within the lighting department consist of Director of Photography, best boy and sparks.

Production Sound
The sound within a film is extremely important as the dialogue conveys a lot of the storyline and emotion of the characters. Ensuring the dialogue is clear is very complex, as the sound department need to get rid of any unwanted noise and place the microphones in the best possible positions. Some jobs within the sound department include the following, Production Sound Mixer, Boom Operator and the Sound Assistant.

Art Department
The art department set the scene for films. This department is normally the largest on any film crew and a great deal of work and imagination goes into constructing the appropriate backdrops to any story. Some jobs involved in this department include Production Designer, Art Director, Set Decorator, Storyboard Artist and many others.

All of the above departments are crucial when making a film, with each department collaborating and working in conjunction with the other. We will ensure when we film that each group member has a particular role and that we communicate effectively with one another to help guarantee a good final outcome.

The lighting department will work closely with the camera department in order to make sure the shots being captured have the right feel and emotion the director wants to communicate. The camera department will also work with the sound department as the Boom operator will want to know the best position to place the boom in order to catch the dialogue without being in shot.

In our group, the main job roles we will need to fulfil would be Lighting, Camera Operator, Boom Operator, Director and possibly a Production Designer. These are essentially the roles of each head of department and will ensure all aspects of filmmaking requirements are met.

There may be a few difficulties when dividing up the jobs within our group and getting them completed. One difficulty is that there are only four people in the group and a lot more job roles than four. This is where we will need to work together at dividing them up fairly so no one gets given more jobs than anyone else. Along with this we can divide the jobs up according to people’s individual strength so that we are working efficiently together and everyone in the group knows what their role is. With good communication and cooperation we will be able to create a successful short film.

In the group, just like all the others, I had a variety of roles. When filming outside the house when Alan gets arrested I was the camera operator, whereas when filming the office scene I was boom operator. Being able to have a variety of roles allowed me to enhance skills I already had and work to my strengths in the group cooperating well with the team.