Assignment 2B-Job Roles in the Film Industry Research

-By Canel Osman 12ACL

KEY CREATIVE TEAM  

Producer 

The Producer's managerial job role is to initiate, coordinate, supervise, and controls matters of the film production. Such as raising funding, hiring key personnel, contacting and arranging for distributors. The Producer is involved throughout all phases of the film process from development to completion of a project. A producer is  responsible for all the aspects of a film's production. Producers tend to be the first person to become involved in a project, even before the writer. Producers have overall control on every aspect of a film's production. They bring together and approve the selection of the whole production team. Their primary responsibility is to look after the environment in which the creative talents of the cast and crew are part of. The producer deals with all the practical and political aspects of keeping a project running smoothly, so that the director and the rest of the team can concentrate on the creative aspects. Producers are therefore ultimately accountable for the success of the finished film.

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

Executive Producer

Executive Producers are responsible for the overall quality of the production. An executive producer tends to invest in the project or someone who has helped with the funding of the project. The role of the Executive Producer is to supervise the work of the producer on behalf of the studio. Executive producer’s job is technical as they work along side with the financers and distributers to ensure things run smoothly and that the film is completed on time, within the budget. Also that the production is up to technical standards. An Executive Producer is part of all the production stages as they need to monitor the production throughout to ensure everything is running on time and on budget.

SCRIPT DEPARTMENT

Script Editor

Script Editor’s job is to provide a critical overview of the screenwriting process. They use analytical skills to help the screenwriter with problems and help to strengthen and develop the screenplay. The Script Writer’s job role is creative as they have to edit and improve the script and understand what works well with the storyline and the character’s dialogue. Script Editors tend to work in the pre production process so the script is finalized and ready to hand to the cast and everyone else in the production. However if a problem occurs with the script the script will be changed during the production process if necessary.

The Script Editor has many responsibilities, which include casting new script writers, developing storyline and film ideas with writers, ensuring that scripts are suitable for the production. The script editor will work closely with the writer at each draft of their script, giving the writer feedback on the quality of their work, suggesting improvements that can be made whilst also ensuring that practical issues like show continuity and correct running time are adhered to. Unlike the writers, script editors will usually be full-time members of the production team, working closely with the producer

LOCATION DEPARTMENT

An Assistant Location Manager assists the location manager and is on-set before, during, and after the filming process, which means they tend to part of the whole production process. An Assistant Location Manger’s general responsibilities include arriving first at the location to allow the set dressers onto the set. Assistant Location Managers have to maintain the cleanliness of the location areas during filming and fielding complaints from neighbors.

Assistant Location Managers work along side with Location Managers, Unit Managers and Location Assistants on feature films. Assistant Location Manager's are responsible with scouting for additional locations. This involves researching where specific locations may be found, organizing appointments to view locations and decide if its suitable for the film, driving to locations, meeting the owners, the residents or caretakers, and taking photographs to record back to the Location Manager and other related staff. Assistant Location managers are part of the preproduction, and production process. During preproduction, Assistant Location Manager's have to take note of which days are suitable to use the location's) before hand in case a particular event such as football matches, public holidays etc may may disrupt the shooting schedule. ALM have to monitor the locations along side with the Location Manager and discuss the daily requirements for parking parking, traffic control, etc., with local Councils and Police. In the Production process they are on set most of the time, organizing  between the crew and the location owners about any special requirements.  At the end of each shooting day, they help  to clear any rubbish, and to tidy up to leave the location in the necessary condition to avoid any misunderstandings. 

CAMERA DEPARTMENT

The Director of Photography (also known as the Cinematographer) is the head of the camera and lighting department of the film. The Director of Photography makes the main decisions regarding the lighting and framing of scenes with the film's director. Directors of Photography are key Heads of Department on film productions. A DoP's job role is one of the major creative roles. They are specifically requested by the Director, and must be approved by the all the financiers, and the studio. During the production process a Director of Photography work closely with the Director and Production Designer to ensure the film has the visual aspect that works best for the production. The Director's of Photography reads the screenplay to understand what they would need to do in order to get the visual aspects to the Director's standards. To do this they meet with the Director to discuss the visual style of the film. A Director of Photography are responsible for preparing a list of all required camera equipment, including lights, film stock, camera, cranes and all accessories etc.

SOUND DEPARTMENT

Production Sound Mixer (Sound Recordist) The production sound mixer is head of the sound department on set, they are responsible for recording all sound during the filming process. Their job involves the choice of microphones, operation of a sound recording device. As they are the head of the Sound Department, the Sound Mixer is also accountable for recording all the sound during filming. A Production Sound Mixer meet with the Director before filming to understand the director's vision and the budget. The Sound Mixer also is responsible to hire a Boom Operator and Sound Assistants. The Sound Recoridist's other duties consist of planning the technical setup for the location or set, to selecting and arranging microphones, to ordering and hiring equipment, to troubleshooting as the filming develops, to operating the mixing desk. The Production Sound Mixer is hired during pre-production. As their job role is to record all sound during the filming process, their job is a production one.

Research of Job Roles in the Film IndustryPre-Production Job Role

In the film industry an example of a job role in a film's pre-production is the director. Charlie Chaplin as well as being a well known actor, he was also known as a successful director.  Before Chaplin's notable success on the big screen he worked with a children's dance troupe. Chaplin's character "The Tramp" relied on pantomime and quirky movements to become an iconic comical figure of the silent-film era. Chaplin then went on to become a director, making films like The Kid, City Lights, Twenty Minutes of Love and Modern Times and many others. Charlie Chaplin after his acting debut he realized that wanted the films the he starred in to be done in his own visual creation. In an interview Chaplin states "The directors I worked with did not appreciate my telling them how to do their jobs. (rolls eyes). So I asked Sennett if I could direct a picture. My timing was perfect since his distributors were clamoring for more hilarious Chaplin film shorts.”.

By researching David O Russell  and Charlie Chaplin who are two different director's of different time and genre enabled me to understand this job role in the film industry more carefully. I was able to understand how difficult it can be to become a director. Even though both directors are from different film era's, director's in the film industry still do the same things. Such as working long hours, working throughout the whole production process to organizing and planning the film set.

Research of Job Roles in the Film Industry

Production Job Role Hugh Jackman is a well known Actor but is also known for his notable work as a

producer. After Hugh Jackman graduated, he pursued drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, immediately after he was offered a starring role in the ABC-TV prison drama Correlli (1995) This lead to rising success to Jackman producing several films such as The Wolverine, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Deception and An Aussie Goes Bolly. In particular Hugh Jackman’s production of The Wolverine was one of his most favorable. In an interview discussing about his film The Wolverine Jackman stated “ My enthusiasm for this was massive. My desire to make a movie that is really central to the character that had been set up in the comic book” As well as being the main role Jackman appears to have a passion for the character Wolverine, and wants to bring him to life by not only portraying Wolverine but being in control as a producer to ensure this.

By doing research on Hugh Jackman I was able to discover how much determination and passion you must have for a production for a producer to do their job to the best of their ability. As Hugh Jackman has a personal connection with his most notable role as Wolverine, this made me realize how personal a film production can be to a producer. I also realized that having years of experience with a particular film franchise can help with creating the vision of the film to match standards. Especially if in this case a film is based on a popular comic book.

Research of Job Roles in the Film IndustryPost-Production Job Role

Tim Squyres an American film editor who is known for his films such as Life of Pi, Taking Woodstock, Rachel Getting Married, The Inner Life of Martin Frost, Lust, Medium (TV Series) and Hulk.As a teenager, Academy Award-nominated editor Tim Squyres originally wanted to become an astronomer. Squyres began as an undergraduate physics major at New York's Cornell University in 1977. Squyres eventually abandoned physics for psychology, but it was an introductory film course that stirred his true ambition. Squyres eventually became a teaching assistant for the school's filmmaking course. He use to edit student films at New York University. Tim's first feature film came in 1987 when he worked as supervising sound editor on Yurek Bogayevicz's Anna. Which lead him to do more sound editing work. In 1991, Squyres doubled as supervising sound editor and assistant editor on Nancy Sovaca's Dog Fight, starring River Phoenix and Lili Taylor. Eventually this lead him to do more successful films such as Life of Pi and Hulk.

By studying into Tim Squyres’ job role in the industry this enabled me to understand how much of a creative job role editing is. As an editor’s job role helps to determine the quality of the final project the pressure as an editor gets to achieve a high standard edit is immense. Also by researching into different job roles in film as well as the Editor, I’ve learned how difficult it can be to become successful in the film industry and how hard it can be to get work. A final thing I learned about researching into an editor’s job role is that everything needs a lot of preparation and planning beforehand. Working on schedule with a budget can be difficult to keep on track, especially so in a competitive profession like film. This applies for most of the job roles in the film industry as well as the job of an Editor.