Making a film can seem... daunting.
After you have a screenplay and have done your pre-production, you still have to film the thing.
And you’re gonna need help.
Orson Welles once said, “A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker
needs an army.”
But he also co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Citizen Kane.
So which is it?
Do you need hundreds of people, or a couple of disciplined artists doing everything?
Well, It depends on your movie.
Every successful film production has the same kinds of jobs, but the scale can vary a lot.
Every story has different needs.
And maybe the best place to start sizing up the needs of your project is in the inner
workings of a film set, where the actual filming takes place.
And then of course there are the people – the crew that work on and off set during principal
photography, when most of the movie is being filmed.
I'm Lily Gladstone, and this is Crash Course Film Production.
[Intro Music Plays]
Some people refer to different positions in a film crew as “above the line” or “below the line.”
This idea is a holdover from the studio days, when budgets on paper had a literal line between
different jobs.
The people “above the line,” like writers, directors, producers, and certain actors,
negotiated payment before shooting began.
And those “below the line” were paid a rate for every day they worked.
If we’re sticking with Orson Welles’ analogy, everyone “below the line” is a filmmaker’s army.
The General of that army is the Unit Production Manager, or UPM.
Usually, the director picks key creative roles to support the vision of the film, like the
production designer and cinematographer
But the UPM is responsible for hiring everyone else and managing all the moving parts of a production.
They oversee pre-production, from picking locations to planning out the shooting schedule.
And sometimes they’re on set when a scene is being filmed.
But not always.
They might be checking in with the Art Department to make sure sets are ready for the next day’s
shoot, or visiting the Production Office to work with someone like the production accountant,
who makes sure everyone gets paid.
The UPM is also the point of contact for any local authorities and companies the production
is working with.
Now, the person running a film set is the head of the Production Department: the 1st
Assistant Director, or 1st AD.
They work with the director to schedule the details of each day’s shoot and communicate
what every department needs to do.
Plus, they’re responsible for keeping everyone safe.
If you’ve ever visited a film set and saw someone you thought was the director, it
was probably the 1st AD.
They’re the ones “calling the roll” to tell people to do specific things at specific
moments – shouting things like “roll sound,” “roll camera,” and sometimes even “Action!”
While the 1st AD is always on set, the 2nd Assistant Director, or 2nd AD, is usually
at base camp, which is just off set.
Base camp is the behind-the-scenes of the behind-the-scenes.
It’s usually where the crew eats lunch, where the bathrooms are, and where the department
and actor trailers are.
The 2nd AD is the main point of contact between the set and the actors when they’re not acting.
They make the daily call sheet, which is the document that tells everyone in the cast and
crew where they need to be, when, and who they report to the next day.
When a scene has extras, or background talent, the 2nd AD may go on set to work with these actors.
They also oversee the rest of the production hierarchy – any other ADs, and Production Assistants.
We call them P.A.s.
PAs are the lowest rung on this ladder, but they’re still super important.
There’s a pretty good chance that everyone on a set has been a PA at some point.
Their main job is anticipating needs and communicating between departments, like by making sure everyone
hears all the 1st AD’s calls.
So, the production team is the glue that holds the film set and all the crew together.
And there are a bunch of departments.
Let’s start with the Camera Department.
The person responsible for the look of the film is the Director of Photography, or DP,
also called the cinematographer.
They work with the director to translate the script into a shot list, which is a plan for
how to visually convey every single scene.
The 1st AD uses the shot list to plan the daily schedule.
On an independent film, the cinematographer might also be the camera operator.
But, usually, the cinematographer directs the camera crew, which includes operators
and camera assistants, or ACs.
While ACs aren’t actually framing shots and operating the camera, the First AC helps
focus the camera, so they’re sometimes known as the Focus Puller.
ACs also maintain equipment and keep camera notes for continuity.
Cinematographers need to understand story, cameras, and lighting to pack a visual punch.
So they work with the Gaffer, also known as the Chief Lighting Technician.
They’re the head of the Electric Department, and design and implement the lighting of each scene.
The Gaffer’s second-in-command is called the Best Boy or Best Boy Electric – no matter
their gender.
Both the titles “Gaffer” and “Best Boy” have been around since at least the 1930s,
but it’s unclear how the names came to mean “head electricians.”
On smaller crews, the Electric Department might be just a Gaffer and a Best Boy.
But on larger crews, these two might organize dozens of electricians and lots of equipment.
And you can’t talk about Electric without talking about the Grip Department.
These departments are close buddies, and are sometimes called G&E.
While Electric oversees lighting and getting power to the set, Grip oversees all the rigging for lights.
That includes all stands for lights as well as flags, silks, and nets, which are fabric
used to control or block light.
Grip also handles specialized rigging for other departments too, like cranes, dollies,
and dolly track, which help with specific camera movements.The Key Grip leads the team,
and their number two is the Best Boy Grip, who carries out the Key Grip’s plans for rigging.
G&E is often the largest department on set during filming.
But the smallest department is only one person: the Script Supervisor, or “scripty,” who’s
in charge of – you guessed it – the script.
Here at Crash Course, we call them "Supes."
They make sure the actors stay true to the writer’s dialogue.
So if you ever hear an actor call “line,” they probably forgot what to say and are asking
the Script Supervisor for help.
This department is also called Continuity because the “scripty” is responsible for
thinking ahead to how the editor will cut everything together.
To hear all the words being said, the script supervisor needs to work with the Sound Department.
The head is the Sound Recordist, or Sound Mixer, whose job is to hear everything.
They’re usually just off-set, monitoring sound in a slightly quieter place.
They manage the boom operator, who’s on set and trying to get the microphone as close
as possible to the actors’ mouths without being in the shot.
Now, all the departments we’ve talked about so far are involved in capturing the film.
But there are a bunch that work both on and off set to create the world that’s being captured.
The Art Department, for instance, designs, builds, or transforms sets, finds and creates
props, and dresses each location to match the director’s vision for each scene.
Their fearless leader is the Production Designer, who works with the director in pre-production
to create the look of the world.
Then, the Art Director organizes everyone else and makes the Production Designer’s
plans real.
Everything in the mise-en-scène is found or made by the Art Department.
So the more complex a film is, the larger the team tends to be.
Similarly, the Wardrobe Department is responsible for channeling the themes of the film, time
period, setting, and character traits into the clothing of each character in each scene.
Even if it looks like someone doesn’t have any costume changes, they probably have different
versions of the same outfit – like a bloody shirt, or ripped pants – depending on what
happens in the film.
The Costume Designer is responsible for pre-production planning.
While everything on set and in the wardrobe trailer is overseen by the Costume Supervisor.
Set costumers dress and undress actors before and after shooting, paying close attention
to continuity between scenes.
And to complement Wardrobe, there’s Hair and MakeUp, or HMU, which tend to get lumped
together as one department.
Of all the crew, Wardrobe and HMU spend the most one-on-one time with actors, and play
an important role in making them feel safe and confident while doing their work.
A film with a very small cast might have one person who does all the makeup and hair styling,
while larger casts might have an HMU artist for each lead actor.
Most makeup artists can make people look really good or bad or rough, depending on what a
scene calls for.
And if a film needs a lot of specialized makeup, like scars for a war or full-on monster faces,
then you call a Special Effects MakeUp Artist.
They’re the bridge between HMU and the Special Effects Department, which is led by the Special
Effects Supervisor.
Special Effects is in charge of every on-set effect, from creating artificial snow or rain,
to orchestrating a car crash or an epic explosion.
I’ve mentioned safety before, but it’s worth repeating over and over again.
Especially when we’re talking about special effects or stunts, which are cast and choreographed
by the Stunt Coordinator.
Before potentially-dangerous scenes, the 1st AD will repeat all the general safety instructions on set.
Then, either the Special Effects Supervisor or Stunt Coordinator will talk through what
should happen, and what everyone should do if something goes wrong.
Most crews will have at least one trained Set Medic, like an EMT.
Or a special team might be brought in, if a potentially dangerous scene is being filmed.
Now, we’ve talked about almost everyone you might find on a set.
But where the set is changes throughout a film – thanks to the Locations Department.
In pre-production, the scout will search for places to film, based on the script and practicality.
Once the director and producers approve of the locations, the department keys will go
on a “tech scout” to make sure they can do their work, too.
What we see on-screen is actually just one small part of the location!
The location manager and location assistants plan where everything will go, from the set
that will appear on camera to all the trailers in base camp.
They’re first to arrive and last to leave.
The second people to arrive are usually drivers in the Transportation Department, which is
overseen by the Transportation Manager.
They get all the large equipment and trailers to the set, and shuttle cast and crew
back and forth.
Obviously, the more people you have, the bigger the team you’ll need.
And, speaking of big teams, the one job that should never be forgotten, is actually two jobs.
And it’s feeding all these people! Catering companies are contracted by the UPM
to cook 1 to 3 meals per day.
And the Craft Service person is the crew member that manages a station of snacks and drinks
on set.
Both the person and station can be affectionately called “Crafty.”
During a difficult day of shooting, “Crafty” might be the only thing keeping you going.
The power of a granola bar and a friendly face should never be underestimated!
Like, ever.
Seriously, feed your cast and crew.
And make sure you're paying attention to allergy and dietary restrictions.
No one is doing that to be high maintenance.
Crewing a film set is demanding work, but it’s work that attracts people who really
love it.
We could easily make a 90-minute video about all these talented people… but, y’know,
scale!
Today we discussed scalability and how the needs of a film dictate the size of a film crew.
We learned about the different departments and jobs on a set and how they interact.
And next time, we’ll start diving into these roles in more detail, starting with that piece
of equipment at the center of every set: the camera.
Crash Course Film Production is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.
You can head over to their channel to check out a playlist of their latest shows, like
PBS Infinite Series, Deep Look, and Brain Craft.
This episode of Crash Course was filmed in the Doctor Cheryl C. Kinney Crash Course Studio
with the help of these nice people and our amazing graphics team is Thought Cafe.