Filmmaking – Roles Involved

Source: www.pxhere.com

As the film industry has boomed across the globe through the past years in terms of both, revenue and job creation, both being interdependent on each other, more and more people are willing to make their career in filmmaking. Filmmaking is a team art that involves the creation of a motion picture, with a group of individuals, specialised in separate departments such as direction, cinematography, editing, action, art direction etc. All these elements are bound together, to produce the result that we today see as films.

Filmmaking takes place in stages, and thus, to understand the importance and role of each professional involved in the process, a brief knowledge about them is necessary.

The 5 stages of filmmaking:          

1. Development: The first stage starts with the producer conceiving an idea for a film or with a writer forming a story. It involves minimum crew, as the overall thought and its feasibility is worked upon and not the details. It can be considered as the planning stage where the background is finalised along with the logistical requirements.
2. Pre-production: It involved setting up a production office, and hiring a crew. The crew is the group of professionals who produce the film, excluding the Producer, the Story writer and the actors, including the director, screenwriter, director of photography (cinematographer), unit production managers, costume designers etc. The budgets, script, shoot location, shoot schedule as well as the actors, are finalised in this stage.
3. Production: Shooting begins in this stage. It is a short-lived process but of the utmost importance to the film. It is the busiest phase as an additional crew is also hired to supplement the main crew, to ensure efficiency, timely completion, the continuation of script, management of the appearance of the actors etc.
4. Post-production: The major role player in this stage is the editor. The scenes shot are assembled and edited, sounds and visual effects are added until the fragments are bound as one. After this stage, the movie is ready to be viewed.
5. Distribution: The movie is now distributed, or released in theatres, or a streaming service, or on TV. This stage is of immense importance to the producers as a film equipped with good cinema and story, can perform well in terms of return on investment, only if it is promoted well.

Roles involved in filmmaking:

Producer

Generally, all the movies seen today have a long list of producers in their cast, but it is seldom known what their contribution, in particular, is to the film. The roles and responsibilities of a producer involve a plethora of important tasks relating to budgeting, casting, timely completion etc. Their classification into different heads has led to the emergence of producers of mainly four kinds. They are –

Executive producers, along with financing a major part of the budget of the film, also arrange for additional finance. They also supervise the other producers to ensure fulfilment of their roles.

Producers are those which oversee every stage of the process, from start to finish, and work alongside the director.

Creative producers, assist the director in creative matters. They finalise the cast, supervise scripting sessions and their revision, and coordinate between all creative departments including cinema and editing.

Line producers, or unit production managers, manage the day to day tasks such as ensuring the availability of line items in the budget, managing the other members of the crew, ensuring no deviation from the schedule etc.

Director

The director, as the name suggests, directs everything. He is the most important among all as he brings together all fragments (departments) into one, by directing them towards his vision, to knit their individual art into a bigger picture that we see as the feature film. Along with technical knowledge about other departments, he also should have an emotional connection to the movie, its working and its script, as he takes most creative decisions too.

The director assembles the crew of the movie which includes the cinematographer, screenwriter, editor, the producers other than the executive producer(s) etc. He then communicates his vision to his crew, as the feel and looks of the movie influences how it’ll be shot, the sound and the visual effects required, even the actors that’ll be fit for the part. During the production process, the director directs everyone on set and communicates constantly with everybody. He has to make sure that the shoot is done and completed as planned, and that all the departments are in constant touch with each other. Along with that, the departments should know what is expected of them to keep his vision alive. During the post-production process, the director reviews the rough drafts that have been made by the editors during the shoot. He makes suggestions regarding shots to be added or removed, addition of audio or visual effects that could add more meaning etc. After reviewing the edits, when the director is satisfied he gives the final signoff. The movie is ready to be released.

Story writer

The story writer conceives the idea of the story, the plot, its characters and other elements. He is given the credit for forming the story and sometimes also a treatment, but the main script is not written by him. A treatment here refers to a summary of the whole story idea, written from the viewpoint of the story writer. Thus, he is the first one to come up with the essence of the film. In the casting, he’s given his due credit by ‘story by’.

Screenwriter

Screenwriter, or the screenplay writer, is the one who actually writes the script. The script is detailed as compared to the outline of a story, as it is written in a particular format, containing dialogues, elaborate scenes with specific placements and gestures by the characters. The script of a movie is very similar to a play, only that it also specifies the type of shots for each scene focusing a lot more on how they will appear on the screen. Thus, they have a great impact on the look as well as the depth of the movie. The screenplay is also a major influence on the engagement of the audience with the movie. The due credits of the screenwriter are given to him by ‘screenplay by’.

Cinematographer

The cinematographer, also called Director of Photography (DoP), is responsible for filming the movie. The vision might be of the director’s, but the actual look depends on how well shot the scenes are. The look of the scenes do not just determine the aesthetic of the movie, but are also very important to support the tone and theme of the script. The colour palette, the locations and set up, the lighting etc., is worked upon by the cinematographer along with the producer. According to such decisions, the equipment and additional crew like lightmen, cameramen etc., are hired. Throughout the pre-production and production, the DoP and the director work closely with each other. Unlike popular belief, the work of the cinematographer doesn’t end with the shoot. Scenes already shot require colour grading, visual effects etc., which are added in the post-production process, in which he assists the editor.

<<Also Read: Cinematography – The language of a filmmaker>>

Editor

The role of the editor is to deliver the final product i.e. the movie. The job of an editor goes beyond assembling the shots together. He has to watch and log shots, make cuts at the right points, choose shots that can be used and discard those which can’t, add audio and visual effects, correct the colour etc. Thus, he has to take very detailed decisions according to whatever works the best. Such decisions cannot be taken in advance, and thus, an editor, many a time before actually delivering the project, uses the trial and error approach. And finally goes with whatever that brings out the desired emotional impact. The role of an editor is important as without editing the film would only remain in parts. Editing establishes the story, tweaks the faults made in other stages. It enhances the look of the film ten folds. Thus, throughout the process, the editor has to remain in close contact with the director and the cinematographer, as he is the one who finally translates their vision into reality.

Thus, the film is much more than we see on the screen. What goes in the background, is much more intricate and takes a lot of effort and skill to reach us in the way it does. A beautiful movie, reaching our hearts, etched in our memory, is the bigger picture made by an amalgamation of a wide variety of art. And therefore, it’s time we know what goes on the backstage too, along with what is easily visible to the eye.

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