Production Roles

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ACTOR

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This individual acts, or plays a role in an artistic production. The term commonly refers to someone working in movies, television, live theatre, or radio.

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ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

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Assists and collaborates with the director in the performance of his/her duties, may physically direct secondary scenes, extras shots, and substitute for the director in his/her absence on the primary shooting.

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BEST BOY

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In a film crew there are two kinds of best boy; Best Boy Electric and Best Boy Grip. In the simplest forms, they are assistants to their department heads, the Gaffer and the Key Grip, respectively.

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BOOM OPERATOR

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This individual is the assistant of the sound engineer or “sound mixer.” Their main responsibility is placing the microphone near the action, but away from the camera frame. They usually use a boom pole with a microphone attached to the end.

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CAMERA OPERATOR

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This individual is the head of the camera crew, and uses the camera as coached by the director. They must ensure the action is correctly filmed in the frame, and react to the proceedings take place.

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CINEMATORGRAPHER

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This role is also know as director of photography. They regulate lighting for every scene, performs some frame shots, chooses the lenses to be used, decide on film stock and guarantee that the visual appearance of the project follows to the directors vision.

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CLAPPER LOADER

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This individual's primary task is to operate the clapper board at the beginning of each take and to load the raw film stock into camera magazines.

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COSTUME DESIGNER

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This individual makes all the clothing and costumes worn by all the actors on screen, as well as designing, planning, and organising the construction of the garments down to the fabric, colours, and sizes. They greatly contribute to the mise-en-scene.

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DIRECTOR

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This individual oversees the artistic and dramatic aspects of a film. The role typically includes: defining the overall artistic vision of the film; controlling the content and flow of the film’s plot; directing the performances of actors; organising and selecting locations; managing technical details (lighting, cameras, soundtrack); any other activity linked to their artistic vision.

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DOLLY GRIP

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The individual who places and moves the dolly track were it is required, and then pushes and pulls the dolly along that track while filming. The dolly is a cart that the tripod and camera rest on, allowing the camera to move without bumps and visual interruptions.

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ADR Supervisor (Automated Dialogue Replacement)

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This individual records or replaces voices for a motion picture. This individual re-records lines spoken during filming in order to improve audio quality or reflect dialogue changes.

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EDITOR

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This individual works with the director to edit the footage. The have a lot of creative freedom, however the director makes the final decisions. This role begins through principle photography as it is an extremely long process.

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FOCUS PULLER

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This individual is responsible for keeping the camera’s focus right during a shoot. This is very technically difficult as the margin of error is only 3-6mm, and they usually pull the focus without looking at the camera.

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FOLEY ARTIST

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This is a highly specialised role where they record many of the sound effects. They fabricate sounds that can’t be correctly recorded while filming. Foley sounds are vital for a professional-sounding soundtrack.

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GAFFER

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This individual is the head electrician at the production set. They manage the lighting, making sure the levels are appropriate for the desired effect. They are assisted by the best boy, and may have a crew of electricians. This individual takes directions from the cinematographer.

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KEY GRIP

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This individual is the head grip on the production set. They manage the construction and equipment used in filming. They can be found building scaffolding, or tracks for lighting or camera equipment to move across. They are assisted by the best boy, or specialist equipment operators.

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LIGHTING TECHNICIAN

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This role is involved with setting up and controlling lighting equipment. They study the script to determine lighting effects, and take directions from the gaffer.

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PRODUCTION DESIGNER

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This individual is responsible for the visual appearance of a production. They design, plan, organise, and arrange set design, equipment availability, as well as the on screen appearance a production will have.

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PRODUCTION MANAGER

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This individual deals with day-to-day production decisions, and organises the technical needs of the production. This ranges from arranging accommodation for the cast and crew, budget schedules and business arrangements.

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PUBLICIST

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This individual raises public awareness of the production, and ultimately increases viewers and sales of it and its merchandise. Their main task is to stimulate demand for a media product through advertising and promotion.

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SCREENWRITER

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This individual writes the screenplay for a media text such as films, television programs, comics or video games. The screenplay or script is a blueprint for producing a motion picture.

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SOUND DESIGNER

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This individual is responsible for some original aspect of the film’s audio track. They oversee all aspects of a film’s audio track, from the dialogue and sound effects recording to the re-recording of the final track.

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SOUND EDITOR

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In radio, film, and television, this individual is responsible for mixing, adjusting and fixing the soundtrack. Usually they have a major decision-making and a creative role.

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STORYBOARDER

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This individual creates illustrations that are displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualising an animated or live-action film. Often the drawings include arrows or instructions that indicate camera movement.

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PRE-PRODUCTION

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During this production stage all the elements involved in a media text are prepared. This includes storyboarding, script writing, shot lists, costume design, casting and rehearsals and finalising preparations. This stage occurs before full-scale production begins.

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PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY

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During this production stage the movie is actually filmed. At this stage everything is prepared, the actors on set and the cameras are rolling. This is usually the most expensive phase of film production and generally marks a point of no return for the financiers.

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POST-PRODUCTION

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During this production stage the footage is put together to complete the film. This includes editing the footage, adding foley sounds, writing and recording soundtrack music, and adding visual special effects. This stage occurs at the end of production.