Film Department Glossary

A film crew is a group of people hired by a film company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. The crew is divided into departments, each of which specialises in a specific aspect of the production.

Crew are distinguished from cast, the actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for characters in the film. Crew are also separate from producers, who own a portion of either the film company or the film's intellectual property rights.

Production

Production is generally not considered a department as such, but rather a collection of functional groups. These include the front office staff such as the production manager, production coordinator and their assistants, accounting staff, various assistant directors, and sometimes the locations manager and their assistants. The director is considered to be a separate entity, not within the departmental structure.

Production manager (PM) – supervises the physical aspects of the production (not the creative aspects) including personnel, technology, budget and scheduling. It is the PM's responsibility to make sure the filming stays on schedule and within its budget. The PM also helps with the day-to-day budget by managing operating costs such as salaries, production costs and everyday equipment rental costs. The PM often works under the supervision of a line producer and directly supervises the production coordinator

Unit manager – fulfills the same role as the production manager, but for secondary unit shooting. In some functional structures, the unit manager subsumes the role of the transport coordinator

Production coordinator (PC) – is the information nexus of the production organising all the logistics from hiring crew, renting equipment and booking talent, to making sure the star has only green M&Ms in their trailer. The PC is an often underappreciated, but an integral part of film production

Director – oversees the creative aspects of a film including controlling the content and flow of the film's plot, directing the performances of actors, organising and selecting the locations in which the film will be shot, and managing technical details such as positioning of cameras, use of lighting, and timing and content of the film's soundtrack. Though the director wields a great deal of power, they are ultimately subordinate to the film's producer(s). Some directors, especially more established ones, take on many of the roles of a producer, and the distinction between the two roles is sometimes blurred

First assistant director (1AD) – assists the production manager and director. He or she is in charge of overseeing day-to-day management of cast and crew scheduling, equipment, script and set. The 1AD may also be responsible for directing background action for major shots or the entirety of relatively minor shots, at the director's discretion

Second assistant director (2AD) – chief assistant of the 1AD and helps to carry out those tasks delegated to the 1AD. The 2AD may also direct background action and extras, in addition to helping the 1AD with scheduling, booking, script supervision etc. In Canadian and British functional structures there are 3ADs and even trainee ADs; in the American system there are 2nd 2ADs

Production assistant (PA) – assists the first assistant director with set operations. Production assistants, almost always referred to as PAs, also assist in the production office with general tasks.

Script supervisor or continuity person – keeps track of the parts of the script that have been filmed, and makes notes of any deviations between what was actually filmed and what appeared in the script, to ensure consistency is maintained from shot to shot. The script supervisor works very closely with the director on set

Production accountant – assists the production manager and line producer in keeping track of the film's budget. The production accountant, together with his or her various assistants, are often considered to be a separate department

Location manager – assists the director and production designer in finding, securing and coordinating filming locations. Locations is often a separate department

Publicist – promotes the film by issuing media releases and overseeing advertisements

Art

Members of the art department can often number in the hundreds in a major feature film. Usually it is considered to include several sub-departments: the art department proper, with its art director, set designers and draughtsmen; sets, under the set decorator; props, under the propsmaster; construction, headed by the construction coordinator; scenic, headed by the key scenic artist; and special effects (or simply SFX).

Production designer – responsible for creating the physical, visual appearance of the film (settings, costumes, properties and character make-up, all taken as a unit). The production designer works closely with the director and the cinematographer to achieve the look of the film. The term was created in 1939, in respect for the amount and level of design work accomplished single-handedly by William Cameron Menzies on the film, Gone with the Wind. Previously, and often subsequently, people with the same responsibility had been called art directors

Art

The sub-department called (confusingly) the art department consists of people who design the sets and create the graphic art.

Art director – reports to the production designer, and oversees artists and craftspeople such as the set designer and set decorator, who carry out the production design

Set designer – draftsperson, often an architect, who actually realises the structures or interior spaces called for by the production designer

Assistant art director – first, second and third assistant art directors carry out the instructions of the art director. Their work often involves measuring locations, creating graphics and paper props, collecting information for the production designer and drawing sets. Sometimes a set designer is also the first assistant art director. In this capacity, they manage the work flow and act as the head of the drawing office

Set decorator – in charge of decorating the film set, which includes the furnishings and all the other objects that will be seen in the film. They work closely with the production designer and coordinate with the art director. In recognition of the set decorator's importance, the Academy Award for art direction is given jointly to the production designer and set decorator

Buyer – number-two person in the set department, below the set decorator. The buyer locates, and then purchases or rents the set dressing

Lead man (rhymes with 'seed') – head of the sets crew, often called the swing gang

Set dressers – apply and remove the dressing (furniture, drapery, carpets and everything else one would find in a location, even doorknobs and wall sockets). Most of the swing gang's work takes place before and after the shooting crew arrives, but one set dresser remains with the shooting crew and is known as the on-set dresser

Props

Property master or propsmaster – in charge of finding and managing all the props that appear in the film. The propsmaster usually has several assistants

Props builder – builds the props that are used for the film. Props builders are often technicians skilled in construction, plastics casting, machining and electronics

Armourer – specialised props technician who deals with firearms. In most jurisdictions this requires special training and licences

Construction

Construction coordinator – oversees the construction of all sets. The coordinator orders materials, schedules the work and supervises the often sizeable construction crew of carpenters, painters and labourers. In some jurisdictions the construction coordinator is called the construction manager

Head carpenter – foreman of a gang of carpenters and labourers

Scenic

Key scenic artist – responsible for the surface treatments of the sets. This includes special paint treatments such as ageing and gilding, as well as simulating the appearance of wood, stone, brick, metal, stained glass ? anything called for by the production designer. The key scenic artist supervises the crew of painters and is often a master craftsperson

Greens

Greensman – specialised set dresser dealing with the artistic arrangement of plant material, sometimes real and sometimes artifical. Depending on the scope of the greens work in a film, the greensman may report to the set decorator or may report directly to the production designer

Hair and make-up

Make-up artists – beauticians who apply make-up to anyone appearing on screen. They concentrate on the area above the chest (the face, top of the head, fingers, hands, arms and elbows). Their role is to manipulate an actor's on-screen appearance to make them look more youthful, larger, older or in some cases, monstrous. There are also body make-up artists who concentrate on the body rather than the head

Hairdressers or hair stylists – responsible for maintaining and styling the hair of anyone appearing on screen. They work in conjunction with the make-up artists

Wardrobe

Costume designer – responsible for all clothing and costumes worn by the actors on screen, as well as designing, planning and organising the construction of garments down to the fabric, colours and sizes. The costume designer works closely with the director to understand and interpret character, and liaises with the production designer to achieve an overall look for the film

Set costumer – costume designer's assistant. In addition to helping with the design of the costumes, the set costumer is responsible for storing and maintaining the costumes, and assists the actors with them

Camera

Director of photography (DOP) – chief of the camera and lighting crew of the film. The DOP makes decisions on lighting and framing of scenes with the film's director. Typically, the director tells the DOP how they want the film to look and the DOP then chooses the correct aperture, filter and lighting to achieve the desired effect

Cinematographer – this term has been a point of contention for some time. It is usually synonymous with director of photography, though some professionals insist that it only applies when the DOP and camera operator are the same person

Camera operator – uses the camera at the direction of the cinematographer, DOP or the film director to capture the scenes on film. Generally, a cinematographer or DOP does not operate the camera, but sometimes these jobs may be combined

First assistant camera operator (1AC) or focus puller – keeps the camera in focus as it is shooting. Since the 1AC is not looking through the camera and cannot see the results of their focusing in real time, this job is considered to be extremely technically difficult. It is also the 1AC's responsibility to maintain the camera for the duration of the filming period, apply or remove any necessary or unnecessary accessories (such as matte boxes, lens changes, filters, external viewing monitors, video assist devices etc), reload the camera (whether with film or video tape), and oversee the second assistant camera operator and any other members of the camera assist team (including designated loaders and camera PAs)

Second assistant camera operator (2AC) or clap boy – operates the clipperboard at the beginning of each take and loads raw film stock into the camera magazines between takes, if there is no additional specifically designated film loader. The 2AC is also oversees the meticulously kept notebooks that record when film stock is received, used and sent to the lab for processing. Additionally, the 2AC oversees organisation of camera equipment and its transport from one shooting location to another

Loader – designated film loader. They transfer motion picture film from the manufacturer's light-tight canisters to the camera magazines for attachment to the camera by the 1AC. After exposure during filming the loader then removes the film from the magazines and places it back into the light-tight cans for transport to the laboratory. It is the responsibility of the loader to manage the inventory of film and communicate with the 1AC on film use and remaining stock throughout the day. On small production crews this job is often combined with the 2AC. With the prevalance of digital photography, this position is often eliminated

Camera production assistant or camera intern – usually a volunteer or trainee in the camera department, the camera PA assists the crew with menial details while learning the trade of the camera assistant, operator or cinematographer

Digital imaging technician (DIT) – coordinates the internal workings of the camera on digital photography productions. Under the direction of the cinematographer or DOP, the DIT makes adjustments to the multitude of variables available in most professional digital cameras to creatively or technically manipulate the resulting image

Production sound

Production sound mixer – head of the sound department, responsible for recording all sound on set. This requires choice and deployment of microphones, choice of recording media and mixing of audio signals in real time

Boom operator – assistant to the production sound mixer, responsible for microphone placement and movement during each take. The boom operator uses a boom, a special piece of equipment that allows precise control of the microphone at a much greater distance from the actors. In France, the boom operator is known as a perchman

Grip

Grips – trained lighting and rigging technicians. The main responsibility of grips is to work closely with the electrical department to put in the lighting set-ups necessary for a shot. On the sound stage they are responsible for moving and adjusting major set pieces, when something needs to be moved, to get a camera into position

Key grip – chief grip on a set and the head of the set operations department. The key grip works with the DOP to help to set up the set, and achieve the correct lighting and blocking

Best boy grip – chief assistant to the key grip

Dolly grip – operates the camera dolly. They place, level and move the dolly track, then push and pull the dolly, usually with a camera operator and camera assistant as riders

Electrical

Gaffer – head of the electrical department, responsible for the design and execution of the lighting plan for a production. Sometimes credited as chief lighting technician

Best boy electric – chief assistant to the gaffer

Light technician – involved with setting up and controlling lighting equipment

Editorial

Film editor – assembles shots into a coherent film, with the help of the director

Chyron operator – creates titles and/or text graphics. Chryon is a brand name for a character generator

Color timer – works in a film lab to adjust the color of the film

Negative cutter – cuts and splices the negatives, as directed by the film editor, and then provides the assembled negative reels to the lab, in order for prints (positives for projection) to be made

Visual effects

Visual effects supervisor – in charge of the visual effects department. Visual effects refer to post-production alterations to the film's images. They are not to be confused with special effects, which are done during production (on set)

Sound and music

Sound designer or supervising sound editor – in charge of the post-production sound of the film. Sometimes this may involve great creative licence, and other times it may simply mean working with the director and editor to balance the sound to their liking

Dialogue editor – assembles and edits all the dialog in the soundtrack

Sound editor – assembles and edits all the sound effects in the soundtrack

Re-recording mixer – balances all the sounds prepared by the dialogue, music and effects editors, and finalises the film's audio track

Music supervisor or music director – works with the composer, mixers and editors to create and integrate the film's music

Composer – writes the musical score for the film

Foley artist – creates and records many of the sound effects for the film