film crew

  filming production roles

A film crew is a group of people hired by a film company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. Crew are distinguished from cast, the actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for characters in the film.

Production and general

These crew members keep the production orderly.

Film producer: Responsible for tracking expenses versus budget, hiring and paying cast and crew and making sure production stays on schedule. Guild: Producers Guild of America ( http://www.producersguild.org/pg/ )
Film director: Responsible for overall content and artistic vision of the film. Guild: D.G.A. Directors Guild of America ( http://www.dga.org/ )
Assistant director: Guild: D.G.A. Directors Guild of America ( http://www.dga.org/ )
Line producer: Producer with day-to-day responsibility for a film. The line producer is responsible for keeping the production on schedule and within budget.
Unit manager: Works under senior producer to handle administrative and management aspects of the film.
Script supervisor/continuity person (formerly script girl): Keeps track of what parts of the script have been filmed and makes notes of any deviations between what was actually filmed and what appeared in the script. Ensures that consistency is maintained from shot to shot.
Production designer: Person responsible for the visual appearance of a production.
Art director: Oversees artists and craftspeople who build the sets.

Camera and lighting

Cinematographer or director of photography: Guilds: A.S.C. American Society of Cinematographers, B.S.C. British Society of Cinematographers
Camera operator: Works under Cinematographer to set up and choeograph shots. Physically operates the camera during shots.
Focus puller (First assistant camera): Responsible for keeping camera in focus during a take. Assists camera operator.
Clapper loader (Second assistant camera), formerly clap boy: Operates clapboard at beginning of each take and loads film stock into film magazines. Assists first assistant camera.
Gaffer: Chief electrician
Best boy: Assistant to gaffer
Key grip: Supervisor of the grips. Grips are responsible for jobs such as setting up equipment and moving props.
Light technician: Sets up and controls lighting equipment

Production sound

Production sound mixer: Head of sound department on the set. Responsible for recording all sound on a set.
Boom operator: Assistant to production sound mixer. Responsible for microphone placement and movement during a take.
Recording mixer :

Postproduction picture

Film editor: Guilds: A.C.E. American Cinema Editors
Chyron operator: Creates titles and/or text graphics. (Chryon is a brand name for a character generator.)
Color timer: Works in film lab to adjust the film color balance.

Postproduction sound

In the traditional Hollywood system

Dialogue editor: Responsible for balancing, assembling and editing all the dialog in the soundtrack.
Sound effects editor: Responsible for balancing, assembling and editing all the sound effects in the soundtrack.

Northern California system

Sound designer: Responsible for all aspects of a film's audio track. (See Walter Murch, Skywalker Sound.)

Common to both systems

Music supervisor: Works with composer, mixers and editors to create and integrate the film's music. Also known as musical director.
Music editor
Foley artist: Creates and records sound effects.
Re-recording mixer: Mixes together all the final sound elements, including dialog, music and sound effects.

Film Crew