Professional job roles
- The Director is the driving creative force in a film's production, and acts as the crucial link between the production, technical and creative teams. Directors are responsible for creatively translating the film's written script into actual images and sounds on the screen - he or she must visualize and define the style and structure of the film, then act as both a storyteller and team leader to bring this vision to reality. Directors' main duties include casting, script editing, shot composition, shot selection and editing. While the practical aspects of filmmaking, such as finance and marketing, are left to the producer, Directors must also always be aware of the constraints of the film's budget and schedule. In some cases, Directors assume multiple roles such as director/producer or director/writer. Being a Director requires great creative vision, dedication and commitment. Directors are ultimately responsible for a film's artistic and commercial success or failure.
- A Producer sets the situation for the production of a television show or movie.A film Producer initiates, coordinates, supervises and controls all aspects of a production, from fundraising and hiring key personnel, to arranging for distributors. The Producer sees the project through to the end, from development to completion. Traditionally, the film Producer is considered the chief of staff while the director is in charge of the line. This "staff and line" organization mirrors that of most large corporations and the military. Under this arrangement, the Producer has overall control of the project and can terminate the director, but the director actually makes the film. It's the Producer who really authors a film. The Producer raises the money that pays for the film to be made, and is responsible for anything affecting the budget of the film. The Producer hires the director and the crew, manages the film through production and secures distribution for it when it is finished. In short, most of the time, it's the Producer who does the work to make a film happen. Good Producers are constantly on the lookout for material. Scripts, books, plays, news items, anything and everything these days can be turned into a movie. For every film they get made, a good Producer will have up to ten other scripts "in development". Some go for a wide spread of projects, others prefer to concentrate on one type of film that they can make their own.
- Production Designers are major heads of department on film crews, and are responsible for the entire art department. They play a crucial role in helping directors to achieve the film's visual requirements, and in providing producers with carefully calculated schedules which offer viable ways of making films within agreed budgets and specified periods of time. Filming locations may range from an orderly Victorian parlor, to a late-night café, to the interior of an alien spaceship. The look of a set or location is vital in drawing the audience into the story, and is an essential element in making a film convincing and evocative. A great deal of work and imagination goes into constructing an appropriate backdrop to any story, and into selecting or constructing appropriate locations and/or sets.
- Film Editors assemble footage of feature films, television shows, documentaries, and industrial into a seamless end product. They manipulate plot, score, sound, and graphics to refine the overall story into a continuous and enjoyable whole. On some films, the film Editor is chosen before cast members and script doctors; people in Hollywood recognize that the skills of a good film Editor can save a middling film. In the same way directors use certain actors they appreciate over and over again, they also use film Editors they know and are comfortable with. Martin Scorcese, Spike Lee, and Robert Wise are a few of the directors who work with the same Editors over and over again. Such relationships lend stability to a film Editor’s life; otherwise, they must be prepared to submit video resume after video resume, in the struggle to get work.
