A miscellaneous unit includes a makeup staff, a costume staff, hairdressers, and drivers who transport cast and crew.During shooting, the producer is represented by a unit called the producer’s crew. Central here is the line producer, who manages daily organizational business, such as arranging for meals and accommodations. A production accountant (or production auditor) monitors expenditures, a production secretary coordinates telephone communications among units and with the producer, and production assistants (or PAs) run errands. Newcomers to the film industry often start out working as production assistants.
Categories » ‘Cinematography’
miscellaneous unit: makeup staff, a costume staff, hairdressers, and drivers
visual-effects supervisor
A visual-effects unit, overseen by the visual-effects supervisor, is charged with preparing and executing process shots, miniatures, matte work, computer-generated graphics, and other technical shots. During the planning phase, the director and the production designer will have determined what effects will be needed, and the supervisor consults with the director and the cinematographer on an ongoing basis. The visual-effects unit can number hundreds of workers, from puppet- and model-makers to specialists in digital compositing.
production recordist (the sound mixer)
Parallel to the photography unit is the sound unit. This is headed by the production recordist (also called the sound mixer). The recordist’s principal responsibility is to record dialogue during shooting. Typically the recordist will use a portable tape recorder, several sorts of microphones, and a console to balance and combine the inputs. The recordist will also attempt to tape some ambient sound when no actors are speaking. These bits of room tone will later be inserted to fill pauses in the dialogue. The recordist’s staff includes the following:
• The boom operator, who manipulates the boom microphone and conceals radio microphones on the actors
• The third man, who places other microphones, lays sound cables, and is in charge of controlling ambient sound
Some productions also have a sound designer, who enters the process during the preparation phase and who plans a sonic style appropriate for the entire film.