1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios, 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works and I heart Radio and I love 5 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: all things tech and a lot of you guys probably know. 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: I live in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States of America, 7 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: and my hometown has become something of a second Hollywood. 8 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: In fact, there are a lot of times when there's 9 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: actually more film production going on in my home state 10 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: than in California, and the reason for that is largely 11 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: economic in nature, Georgia has created tons of tax incentives 12 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: for film and television projects that make it cheaper to 13 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: shoot here in Georgia than in other places, and the 14 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: fact that we have a major airport, which is in 15 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: fact the world's busiest airport, probably doesn't hurt either. Practically 16 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: every week I pass at least one film crew in 17 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,759 Speaker 1: production somewhere in the city. Uh. In fact, just between 18 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: my house and work, there are a lot of different 19 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: locations that have been used for various film shoots. I 20 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: rarely know what film they're working on because they typically 21 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: use codes to designate the projects and they aren't obvious 22 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: references to the film, but I do know that right 23 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:25,040 Speaker 1: across from my own house, I've had movies like Goose Bumps, 24 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: Hunger Games, Baby Driver, and Bad Boys three Shoot there. 25 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: You can even see my house in the background of 26 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: a couple of those movies. But anyway, that got me 27 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: to thinking about the terminology of film and film sets 28 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: and how that relates to technology. And you could argue 29 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: this is a little tangential, but I really love digging 30 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: into this and kind of demystifying what all those roles do, 31 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: because you if you ever sit through the credits of 32 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: a film and actually paid any attention at all to them, 33 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: you've probably seen some job titles that might have been 34 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: a little confusing, like key grip or gaffer or the 35 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: famous best Boy. Maybe you've wondered about the difference between 36 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 1: producers and executive producers or directors, and there are lots 37 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: of phrases and words used on set that could be 38 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: a little bit confusing. I'll do another episode in the 39 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,839 Speaker 1: future about some of the terminology that film folks use, 40 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: but today we're really going to explore the origin of 41 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: the names for various roles the cast and crew of films. 42 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: Now to give you the bad news early. In many cases, 43 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: the origin for those words hasn't really been well documented. 44 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: There are a lot of theories, for example, where best 45 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: boy comes from, but those theories range from plausible to 46 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: what is more likely a best guest or maybe wishful thinking. 47 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: So let's take a look at the terms to describe 48 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: the people who work on films. Some of this is 49 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: gonna be really simple stuff. Some of it you probably 50 00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: already know, and some of it might be new to you. 51 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: So here we go. Let's start with the executive producer 52 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: or executive producer's role. Now, if you were to compare 53 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 1: a movie with a company, you could say the executive 54 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,959 Speaker 1: producer is like the CEO of the company. It's the 55 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,959 Speaker 1: job of the executive producer to hire or more likely 56 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: oversee the hiring of producers, directors, and the talent that's 57 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: going to star in a film. Uh, they might be 58 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,079 Speaker 1: more connected to the film and serve other roles. It's 59 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,639 Speaker 1: possible for an executive producer to also do something else, 60 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: maybe direct the film, maybe a writer. In the case 61 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: of some of the Marvel films, you occasionally see some 62 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: of the actors listed as executive producers. On the other hand, 63 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: you could have executive producers that never visit a set 64 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: at all, that have no connection to a movie once 65 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: it starts shooting. Rather, they're managing multiple projects back in 66 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: the home office of the movie studio. They also are 67 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: often in charge of getting funding for a film. Now, 68 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: on an independent film, an executive producer might be funding 69 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: the film largely through their own assets. They might be 70 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: personally funding that movie. But in other cases you might 71 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: have executive producers who are whining and dining potential investors 72 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 1: to fund the production of a film. They're usually in 73 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: charge of making sure that the money needed to pay 74 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: for the production is available, and they're also the ones 75 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: you do not want to take off if you have 76 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:33,679 Speaker 1: to go and tell people that your film is going 77 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: over budget, because that means you're gonna have to ask 78 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: for more money than The executive producers are the ones 79 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: in charge of it, and they might have some pretty 80 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 1: tough questions for you as to why your film is 81 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: costing more than it was projected. Now, not all films 82 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: have executive producers. Some only list producers in their titles, 83 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: and they can do many of the same roles that 84 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: executive producers follow. However, producers tend to be on set. 85 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: They don't always appear on set, but a lot of 86 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: them do work day to day on set supervising the 87 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: production of the film, making sure things are going well 88 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: and that nothing unexpected as happening that could impact the 89 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: timing of the film or, because time is money, the 90 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 1: budget of the film. All department heads in a film 91 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: production ultimately report up to the producer, and the producer 92 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: also works with the director to try and make the 93 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: director's vision a reality, or in some cases, the producer 94 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: will work with the director in order to talk that 95 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: director out of an idea that could be too expensive 96 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,359 Speaker 1: or too difficult to pull off. The producer also is 97 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: in charge of making sure other departments are operating within 98 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: that budget that's set for the film on that day 99 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: to day basis, and the producer is involved through the 100 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: entire process all the way from pre production before any 101 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,840 Speaker 1: film is shot at all, to the distribution of the 102 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: movie to theaters. Some film projects are really really big 103 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: and require multiple producers, particularly if there are different crews 104 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: that are filming in separate parts of the world, so 105 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: you can have co producers who are all of the 106 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,479 Speaker 1: same level. They are sharing producer credit, so it's not 107 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: like one producer is over the others, but they're all 108 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,840 Speaker 1: overseeing different parts of a production. You can also have 109 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 1: an associate producer or line manager. These are sort of 110 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: the next in command, kind of the lieutenants of the producers. 111 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: They oversee specific tasks, usually designated by the producer, so 112 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 1: they they If you don't like the lieutenant analogy, you 113 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 1: can think of them as a vice president of a company. 114 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: So they might oversee a secondary film crew that's capturing 115 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: footage that's going to be inserted into the film. You know, 116 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: a film crew that's going to be focusing on stuff 117 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 1: that doesn't require the director or any of the main 118 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: talent of the movie to be in it. A line 119 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: producer tends to be the person specifically supervising the budget 120 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: of a film, so they're very much taking a close 121 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: look at the numbers. You can also have task manager 122 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: producer who are in charge of specific parts of a project, 123 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: and then you also have coordinating producers producers. Their job 124 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: is to make sure everyone involved in the production of 125 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: a film remains instep and informed of what's going on, 126 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: so that no one is left behind. If something changes 127 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: or there needs to be a shift in scheduling or 128 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: anything like that. A production manager, for example, is in 129 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: charge of supervising the production budget to the various departments, 130 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: and that includes scheduling of crew and equipment and covering 131 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: crew salaries. They report their needs to the line producer, 132 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: who then make sure that those needs are met or 133 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: comes up with a really good reason why they can't 134 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: do that. There are also production secretaries. These are people 135 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: who assist with paperwork and administration needs. And there are 136 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: production designers who work with the director to get a 137 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: sense of what will be needed to achieve the director's 138 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: artistic vision. And at the bottom of the production hierarchy, 139 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: you have production assistance who perform basic tasks for the 140 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: production side, such as distributing hand radios to the various 141 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: departments or running errands for the production staff. Um they 142 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: don't tend to run errands for anybody else. They're specifically 143 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: meant for the production staff side. So you can think 144 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: of the the sides of a film being the production side, 145 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: which is talking, you know, all the stuff that's necessary 146 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: to make sure everybody else has what they need to 147 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: make the movie. You have the the creative side, which 148 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: would be like the director and all the talent, and 149 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: then you have all the crew who are doing the 150 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: actual physical work to support that. So you kind of 151 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: have like these three columns in a way. Now I've 152 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,839 Speaker 1: mentioned the director a couple of times, but what does 153 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: the director actually do. Well, that's the person who is 154 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: the lead creative artist on set. So ideally the director 155 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: sets the vision for the film. Was the film going 156 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 1: to look like, what is the tone going to be? 157 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: What sort of reaction is the film supposed to evoke 158 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: from the audience. So ideally, if someone is watching the film, 159 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: how should they feel from scene to scene? You know, 160 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:12,679 Speaker 1: if it's a horror movie, you need to feel uneasy 161 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 1: and fear and tension. If it's a comedy, you need 162 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: some tension offset by laughter which relieves that tension. These 163 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: sort of ideas. So the director is the person who 164 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: says this is my goal, here's how I'm going to 165 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: achieve my goal, and then has to communicate that out 166 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: to other departments in order to make that a reality. 167 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: They're also in charge of directing the talent to get 168 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: the performance the director has in mind. Talent is the 169 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: word used to describe all the actors in a in 170 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: a film. Um, it's also the word that tends to 171 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: be used to describe me as a podcaster, and I 172 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: find it funny to be referred to as the quote 173 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: unquote talent, but that's just an industry term. So the 174 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:55,719 Speaker 1: directors are in charge of making sure the actors are 175 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: giving the performance that the director had in mind in 176 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: order to create the movie that they want to make. UM. 177 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,559 Speaker 1: They work closely with the heads of the other creative 178 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: departments to achieve this specific vision, and they might work 179 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: very closely with the writer in some cases calling for 180 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: script revisions. If the director feels that they need to 181 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: move in a in a different way to achieve the 182 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: overall goal, they might say, well, our goal is to 183 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 1: creep out the audience because this is a horror movie. 184 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,199 Speaker 1: But this scene is messing things up because it's it's 185 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: changing up the pacing, it's I want to keep increasing tension, 186 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: and this one kind of relieves the tension in a 187 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: in a point where I don't want that to happen. 188 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: Let's do a rewrite that can happen. The director will 189 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: frequently work well beyond the filming stage and even have 190 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: a hand in the editing department. That's a pretty big 191 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: departure from how directors work in live stage theater. Typically, 192 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: if you're talking about stage production, you know, a play 193 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: or a musical or something like that, the director will 194 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: step way once the show opens. So the director is 195 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: heavily involved with a theatrical show all the way up 196 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: until opening night and then tends to step back, and 197 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: at that point the management of the show largely falls 198 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,839 Speaker 1: to the stage manager. But with a film, even after 199 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: all the performances have been completed, after everything's been captured 200 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 1: on film or digital video, directors will often play a 201 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: part because so much of a movie can be shaped 202 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 1: in the editing department. And I'll talk about editing more 203 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: at the end of this episode. Now you've probably also 204 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,319 Speaker 1: seen credits for things like assistant director, often shortened to 205 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: a D. You might have seen first a D and 206 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: second a D. Now, these aren't assistants to the director. 207 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: They're not like running off to grab coffee or anything. 208 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: They're rather very important members of the creative team. And 209 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: typically it's the first assistant director's job to take a 210 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: shooting script, break it down into scenes, and then create 211 00:11:57,200 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: a shooting schedule in an attempt to build the most 212 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: efficient production approach as possible, which is why films are 213 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: typically shot out of sequence, which means they're not filmed 214 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: in the same chronological order as the scenes play out 215 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: when you watch the finished movie. So you could go 216 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 1: and watch a movie and you might see an opening 217 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: scene that was actually shot months after the final scene 218 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: of the movie. Uh. You know, it doesn't play out 219 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: that way when you watch it, but that's how it 220 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: was produced. During filming, the first assistant director determines the 221 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 1: shooting order, and again, the goal is mostly to figure 222 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 1: out what's the most efficient means for us to make 223 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: this movie because time is money, So one way the 224 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:40,880 Speaker 1: first a D might do this is to take note 225 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 1: of all the locations needed in the script and try 226 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: to group similar scenes, like scenes they're set in the 227 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:51,199 Speaker 1: same location together so that over the course of several days, 228 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 1: the crew and talent can knock those scenes off the 229 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 1: shoot list, and once it's done, assuming that they have 230 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 1: their confident that they're done with that location, they can 231 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: reich that's set and uh and not have to worry 232 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: about again, and that gives other crew members time to 233 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: build and dress the other sets that are going to 234 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: be needed. In upcoming scenes and have that way to 235 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: go as soon as the first group is done. Now, 236 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: this isn't always possible. Sometimes two scenes in the same 237 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: set rely on drastically different set dressing. For example, if 238 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: you have a big action movie in which characters are 239 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: in one location before something catastrophic happens, like a massive explosion, 240 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,319 Speaker 1: and then you might revisit that scene later in the movie, well, 241 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,439 Speaker 1: obviously that's going to look dramatically different, so you may 242 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: not shoot those two sequences back to back. You may 243 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,079 Speaker 1: have a break between while you're changing out the set. Now, 244 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: the first a d also helps manage the schedule for 245 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 1: the talent, the crew, and the equipment needed each day. 246 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,079 Speaker 1: You're gonna hear this said over and over again because 247 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: this is a huge endeavor. If you're talking even for 248 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: a small film, it's a big it's a big issue. 249 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 1: But for really big movies, you need a lot of 250 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: people working together to organize all this stuff because you're 251 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: just looking at a massive number of people, a large 252 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: amount of equipment, potentially tons of props and costume pieces. 253 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: So it's a it's a big endeavor, and when it 254 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: comes to time to shoot the big action scene, everyone 255 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:18,080 Speaker 1: needs to know who needs to show up and win. Now, 256 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 1: the second assistant director works with the first a D 257 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: to achieve those goals, and it often falls to the 258 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: second a D to create what are known as call sheets, 259 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: and a call sheet is a list of all the 260 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: people needed on any given day of shooting. So you 261 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: check the call sheet and if your name is on there, 262 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: you know that you need to show up that day. 263 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: And typically you have a call time as well, what 264 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: time you need to be on set ready to go 265 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: and uh, that's when you are called to do your job. Now, 266 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: I mentioned that the director is the lead creative artist 267 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: on a project, but usually big films will have other 268 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: important department heads that could have just as big a role, 269 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: sometimes an even bigger role on the final look and 270 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: feel of a film. Them their job is to do 271 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: what takes to achieve the goal that the director has 272 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: set out, but they can create their own stamp on 273 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: a film's feel. So if you follow the industry, you 274 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: will see names of people who haven't necessarily directed films, 275 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: but have taken one of these positions. You know, in 276 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: lots of films, you know they've headed up at department 277 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: and they've developed a reputation and you can see their 278 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: impact from the different movies they've worked on. A big 279 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: one of those would be the director of photography. It's 280 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: the director of photography, which usually is UH shortened to 281 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: either d O P or even more frequently DP. It's 282 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 1: the director of photography's job to oversee the overall visual 283 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: look of the film. So they take the director's idea 284 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: of what the movie needs to be, like what what 285 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 1: what does it need to convey? And they take the 286 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: script and they determine what is going to be needed 287 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: to create the best representation of the director's vision on 288 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: the film or digital video that's actually shot on set. 289 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: So they might recommend which cameras should be used, which 290 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: lenses should be installed on those cameras, how the shots 291 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: should be framed, which scenes maybe should have camera movement 292 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: in them. They'll work with a team to design all 293 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 1: of these things. UH. They will determine how cameras should move. 294 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 1: If a camera is deemed like this, this is a 295 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: scene that needs to have some kinetic motion to it. 296 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: We need we need to have the camera itself the 297 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: point of view changing as this scene unfolds. They have 298 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: to figure out how does that work? How should that 299 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: actually come across. They're also the head of the camera crew, 300 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: and they work with another person called the gaffer, who 301 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: is sort of the head of the electrical and lighting crew. 302 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: In fact, before I go to a break, let me 303 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 1: explain a gaffer's job and the most probable origin for 304 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: the name gaffer. Now, the gaffer is the chief lighting 305 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: technician and chief electrician on a film set. The gaffer 306 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 1: works very closely with the director of photography to come 307 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: up with a lighting plan for each scene. Because the 308 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: director of photography knows where the camera should be placed, 309 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: with the angle and what is important in the scene, 310 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: so the gaffer has to figure out with that how 311 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: to light the scenes so that the important stuff gets 312 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: the focus of the audience. The goal of the gaffer 313 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,240 Speaker 1: is to take all this information of camera framing and 314 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,400 Speaker 1: movement and then make the lighting so that the actual 315 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: effect is possible. Now, the name gaffer is one of 316 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: those that still has a little mystery to it. In 317 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:45,439 Speaker 1: UK slang, gaffer is used for godfather or sometimes grandfather, 318 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: and it's often a term that's just used as a 319 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 1: general way of saying old man. But that's probably not 320 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: why it's used in film a lot of people argue 321 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,439 Speaker 1: that the name actually comes from lamp lighters back in 322 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: the old gas lamp days, where they would have to 323 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 1: go from lamp to lamp in the streets of a 324 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: city such as London and turned the lamps on went 325 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 1: started getting dark, and turned the lamps off when it 326 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,679 Speaker 1: started to get bright again. And to do that they 327 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,120 Speaker 1: would use these poles that would have a hook at 328 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:24,640 Speaker 1: the end to be able to either light or extinguish 329 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 1: a lamp, and those poles were called gaffs, So they 330 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,360 Speaker 1: used gaff poles. You could say that the person using 331 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:35,400 Speaker 1: it was a gaffer. And a lot of those lamp 332 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:40,639 Speaker 1: lighters apparently also worked in theaters in England. They would 333 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: light the lights in the theater so that when the 334 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,679 Speaker 1: audience comes inside to your indoor theater, they can actually 335 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:49,400 Speaker 1: see what's going on. And because the gaffer is the 336 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,439 Speaker 1: head lighting technician, the name was transferred over to the 337 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: film world and they typically oversee the entire electrical department. 338 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 1: Now I've got some more terms to cover as soon 339 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: as we come back, but first let's take a quick break. 340 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 1: And before I continued down the road with lighting, let's 341 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: jump back to photography for a second, so director of 342 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: Photography is ahead of the department, but there are a 343 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 1: lot of other jobs in that group. There are the 344 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: camera operators who physically control and operate cameras during the 345 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: filming process. Uh. The camera operators work very closely with 346 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,920 Speaker 1: the director of photography, essentially kind of following the director 347 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: of Photography's instructions to make sure cameras are where they're 348 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,959 Speaker 1: supposed to be and they move the way they're supposed to. 349 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: Some sets employ specialty operators, such as aerial camera operators. 350 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,160 Speaker 1: This might be someone who controls a camera that's mounted 351 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: on an airplane or in a helicopter, or it might 352 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,360 Speaker 1: be someone controlling a drone with a camera on it. 353 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: And you also have other camera operators like jib arm 354 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: or crane camera operators. As the name suggests, they control 355 00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: a camera that's mounted on the end of a movable 356 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,480 Speaker 1: arm to get shots from typically high elevation, to get 357 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:06,919 Speaker 1: sort of these sweeping, established, establishing shots in a film 358 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 1: that typically is used on on jibs or cranes. Then 359 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: there's steadicam operators. I did an episode about steadicams. I'm 360 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 1: pretty sure, but it was a long time ago. But 361 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 1: just to go over what that is. These are rigs 362 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,880 Speaker 1: that allow operators to capture smooth handheld camera shots. They 363 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,400 Speaker 1: free up a director to capture images that otherwise would 364 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,359 Speaker 1: have been really difficult or maybe even impossible to get so. 365 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,160 Speaker 1: Before the steadicam, the solution to moving a camera through 366 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 1: a scene, like actually physically having the camera move through 367 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: action was typically you were using if you're moving around 368 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: the horizontal plane, you would lay down tracks and you 369 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: would mount the camera on a moving platform called a 370 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: dolly that would physically be moved by members of the crew. 371 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,199 Speaker 1: The dolly would allow cameras to get this sort of 372 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: smooth lateral motion, but it meant you were restricted to 373 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,439 Speaker 1: the path of the tracks, and moreover, you had to 374 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,480 Speaker 1: make sure the tracks weren't really visible on camera, or 375 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 1: it kind of ruined the illusion of fantasy. Now. In fact, 376 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: there's a movie I can tell you to watch if 377 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,640 Speaker 1: you want to catch a little glimpse of this, Terry 378 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 1: Gilliam's movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. There's this sequence 379 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: in which the main character of the film is supposed 380 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,679 Speaker 1: to be executed, and the camera starts with a shot 381 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: of Baron Munchausen as he stands at the execution block, 382 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: and the camera starts to pull back, and it keeps 383 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: pulling back further and further and further through dozens of 384 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 1: ranks of soldiers, one after another. It seems almost impossible 385 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: how far back this camera pulls until it's at the 386 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: gates of the city itself, looking through all these people 387 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: at the execution block. It's a really impressive shot. But 388 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,640 Speaker 1: if you pay attention, you actually see that the actors 389 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: in that scene are moving in from the sides as 390 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: the camera moves backward. And the reason they're doing that 391 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 1: is to you not just make it look really impressive, 392 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: but also to obscure the fact that there are Dolly 393 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: tracks on the ground. And if you look at the 394 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: ground as the camera's pulling back, occasionally you'll catch a 395 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: glimpse of those Dolly tracks. Now, the steadicam freed up 396 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: the camera operator to move through a scene with a 397 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,360 Speaker 1: camera with no tracks at all and keep the motion smooth, 398 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: so the picture doesn't jerk around a lot the way 399 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: it would if the camera were just being held by 400 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: the operator. In recent years, we've seen a lot of 401 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:33,080 Speaker 1: that sort of jerky cam handheld action that that became 402 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:37,160 Speaker 1: sort of an aesthetic. Recently, and by recently, I mean 403 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: in the last ten years or so, you've seen a 404 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: lot more of that, But before that there was a 405 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: lot of emphasis on this smooth motion. Now, I should 406 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: mention the steadicam existed long before Baron Munchausen came out. 407 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,159 Speaker 1: Gilliam chose the Dolly option to create a particular visual 408 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,400 Speaker 1: effect that would have been very hard to do even 409 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 1: with the steadicam, so it was done purposefully. And a 410 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,040 Speaker 1: steadicam rig typically has a mechanical arm attached to a 411 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 1: harness worn by the camera operator, and it uses some 412 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 1: cool mechanical elements to smooth out motions. And like I said, 413 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: I did a full episode about this, so I'm not 414 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: going to go into all the mechanics right here, but 415 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 1: there's some really fantastic long stead camp shots in cinema 416 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: that show off what this kind of rig can achieve. 417 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: One example, a famous one, probably the one that most 418 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 1: people site when they're talking about long steadicam shots, is 419 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,000 Speaker 1: a scene in Good Fellas in which the character Henry 420 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 1: Hill takes his future wife Karen on a day to 421 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: the nightclub, and they passed through the kitchen on their 422 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: way to get through to a table, and it's a 423 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,639 Speaker 1: very long scene. Lots of action is going on as 424 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,640 Speaker 1: the cameras moving through following these characters, and it would 425 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,879 Speaker 1: have been impossible without the use of a steadicam unless 426 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: you were just going to deal with a very shaky 427 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: kind of experience, which would have taken away from the effect. 428 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,160 Speaker 1: Then there are the first and second camera assistant roles. Now, 429 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: these are people who helped the camera operator in very ways, 430 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,400 Speaker 1: such as measuring and pulling focus during a shot, threatening 431 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 1: film into a camera if it's an actual film camera, 432 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 1: or monitoring data in the case where you're using a 433 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 1: digital video camera rather than an actual film camera. On 434 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:18,400 Speaker 1: some sets, there's what is called a data wrangler. It's 435 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: a relatively new position because in the old days it 436 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,159 Speaker 1: was all done on film. But data wranglers oversee the 437 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:31,159 Speaker 1: function organizing, labeling, duplicating and formatting of hard drives to 438 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: make sure captured footage gets to where it needs to 439 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 1: be and that they're always more storage available for for 440 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: the camera operators to save footage. Two, the second assistant 441 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:49,160 Speaker 1: camera operator or a cameraman is often the term used. 442 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,439 Speaker 1: Tends to be in charge of loading and unloading film 443 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: for film cameras. They're often also referred to as the 444 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,399 Speaker 1: loader as a result, and they're also usually the person 445 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: who is the slate or clapper and that or they 446 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: oversee that task. Maybe they're not doing themselves, but they're 447 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 1: ultimately in charge of making sure it gets done. So 448 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:10,719 Speaker 1: let me take a quick aside to talk about this. 449 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: The slate is that clapboard you've probably seen in either 450 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 1: behind the scenes footage or in television shows or films 451 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: that show the production side of some sort of movie 452 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: or TV show. Uh, this is the little board. It's 453 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: it's white and black. Typically it's got a little uh 454 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,239 Speaker 1: lever that goes up and can slam down and make 455 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 1: a clapping noise. It's got stuff written on it now 456 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: typically the clapper slate or clapper board, or there's dozens 457 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: of names for this thing has the information on it 458 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: about the scene and take that's being shot at that time. 459 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: A take is another attempt at filming a scene, and 460 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 1: some directors like to do lots of takes so that 461 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,199 Speaker 1: either they get exactly what they want or they have 462 00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,479 Speaker 1: a lot of different options to pick from once they 463 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 1: get to the editing phase of film's production. Some directors 464 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,199 Speaker 1: are pretty quick to move on as soon as they 465 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,919 Speaker 1: figure they got more or less what they need, so 466 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: they'll only do a few takes unless something really messes up, 467 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: and then they'll do another one. So the board typically 468 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: has whatever the scene number is and then the take 469 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: number on it um and probably some other information on 470 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 1: there too. It might have the associated film role on 471 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:31,399 Speaker 1: there if the film is actually shot on film, probably 472 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 1: has the date, probably has the name of the director 473 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: and the director of photography, and maybe some other information 474 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,200 Speaker 1: as well. Now, the purpose of this, the reason why 475 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 1: we have clapboards in the first place, is one to 476 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:46,639 Speaker 1: help editors synchronize audio with the visuals and to be 477 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: able to just associate the audio that's been captured with 478 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: the visuals that were captured. So whomever is running the 479 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,439 Speaker 1: clapboard will actually say the scene number and take number, 480 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,439 Speaker 1: maybe a little more information such as which can is 481 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: being used before clapping that little movable arm down on 482 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: the board. They say that so that the audio version 483 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,600 Speaker 1: once once we know that sound is rolling, has a 484 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: record of that take, and the film, which we also 485 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 1: know is rolling, also has a record of it, and 486 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: then you can sink the two up the clapping motion 487 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: is the que that editors used to synchronize the video 488 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:30,800 Speaker 1: or film with the sound. You see the lever come down, 489 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: you know that that should be associated with the loud 490 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: clap noise on the audio track. You make sure those 491 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: two line up, and then you've got your audio synchronized 492 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 1: with your visuals. Without that, you would have a really 493 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: hard time making sure the two were in line, and 494 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,400 Speaker 1: everything would seem a bit off. You know, people's mouths 495 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: would be moving, but the sound they would make would 496 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 1: not be in line with their talking, and that would 497 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:56,879 Speaker 1: be very off putting. All right, Now back to the 498 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: camera crew. There are people who work closely with the 499 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,639 Speaker 1: camera crew called grips. They also work closely with the 500 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: lighting and electrical crews. Now, they themselves are not electricians. 501 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,919 Speaker 1: So what do the grips do and what is a 502 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,640 Speaker 1: key grip? Well, first, let's talk about where the name 503 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:17,360 Speaker 1: comes from. Generally speaking, most people think that the name 504 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 1: comes from the stage theater world, but this time we're 505 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:23,879 Speaker 1: talking about the American stage, not the English stage. And 506 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 1: in American theater it was shorthand for the stage hands 507 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: who would help move scenery during a show. So between scenes, 508 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,360 Speaker 1: maybe the curtain comes down, or maybe there's a scrim 509 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 1: or something that's hiding the upstage from everybody. The grips 510 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: come in, they grip the scenery, and they haul it 511 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: off to wherever it needs to go. Now in the 512 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: film world, they do a little bit more than just 513 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: lug stuff around. The grips are responsible for acquiring, building, maintaining, 514 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: setting up, and breaking down all the equipment that supports 515 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: the cameras, and that includes stuff like tripod dollies, cranes, jibs, 516 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: the dolly tracks, and other rigs. They might have to 517 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: build rigs that can hang from supports or be mounted 518 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 1: to a vehicle, or otherwise help support a camera if 519 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,520 Speaker 1: there isn't a market solution out there already. In the 520 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 1: case of dollies, they are also the people who push 521 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 1: the dolly along the track as the camera operator captures 522 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: a shot, at least if you're not using a motorized dolly. 523 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: They also work with lighting crews to hang lights and 524 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: set up lighting rigs, though the actual electricians on the 525 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: lighting crew work with the lighting itself, so again the 526 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: grips don't end up working the electrical side of it. 527 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: They work on the physical. Let's get this to where 528 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,400 Speaker 1: it needs to be. The key grip is the head 529 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: grip in charge, sort of the the foreman or supervisor 530 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 1: of the department, and frequently will end up working with 531 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: the main camera in a film production, so the key 532 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,600 Speaker 1: grip and the gaffer worked together closely to make sure 533 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: the lighting and the camera support are all in lace. Now, 534 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: both the key grip and the gaffer can have a 535 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 1: position under them called the best boy, and this is 536 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 1: where a lot of mystery comes back into play. The 537 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: best boy position isn't really just an assistant. Typically, the 538 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 1: best boy is responsible for doing stuff like hiring the 539 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 1: crew in their respective department, whether that's in the grips 540 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: or in the electrical and lighting department. They schedule the crew, 541 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 1: they coordinate between departments. They might oversee you equipment rentals. 542 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: They can oversee the day to day operations of those departments. 543 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 1: So they are the supervisors under the foreman. So where 544 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: the heck did the term best boy come from? Well, 545 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: one popular but probably apocryphal explanation is that comes from 546 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: the early days of film production, before all the roles 547 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 1: on set had been established and unionized. So but back 548 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,400 Speaker 1: in those days, you had a lot more lucy goosey 549 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 1: collaboration between the lighting crew and the grip crew, and 550 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: in those days goes the story you would have the 551 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: key grip or the gaffer asking one another to lend 552 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 1: someone from the other team to help out on their team. 553 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 1: So the gaffer might go to the key grip and say, 554 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: I need somebody to help us out. Send over your 555 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 1: best boy. So in other words, send over whomever's on 556 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: your team who's really good at what they do, because 557 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:23,960 Speaker 1: I need someone who's going to pick up what I 558 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,920 Speaker 1: need them to do very very quickly, and we got 559 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: to get this done. And that was generally placed as 560 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,680 Speaker 1: this is the origin of the term, and that eventually 561 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: the term began to be used for the supervisor of 562 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: the grip or electrical teams, the idea being that whomever 563 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,560 Speaker 1: is doing the best job is going to get promoted 564 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,800 Speaker 1: to supervisors, so they're the best boy. Now, the term 565 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 1: is likely apocryphal, or the very least, there's no real 566 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 1: source to support it apart from hey, you know, that 567 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,720 Speaker 1: sounds like it makes sense, So it's kind of like 568 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 1: after the fact reasoning saying, well, it's probably because of this, 569 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: but there's no documentation to show that that's actually how 570 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: it happened. And there is an alternate theory, one that 571 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: also doesn't have a ton of documentation to support it, 572 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:11,560 Speaker 1: and it's that the term comes from sailors. And this 573 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 1: requires me to talk for a second about the relationship 574 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: between sailing and film. So the general wisdom goes that 575 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,040 Speaker 1: back in the old days, theaters, as in stage theaters, 576 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:28,120 Speaker 1: would frequently employ sailors who were between jobs. So the 577 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: sailors would be looking for work while they're on land 578 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 1: and they don't have another UH expedition or whatever, they 579 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: don't have another job lined up, they get hired on 580 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 1: to do work in theaters, working in the rigging, so 581 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:45,240 Speaker 1: they're rigging up scenery pulleys and UH curtains and that 582 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: sort of stuff. And it was similar to the work 583 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:51,080 Speaker 1: done on sailing vessels with sales and and ships rigging, 584 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:54,719 Speaker 1: So the sailors would do this stuff and move scenery around. 585 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 1: And this is, by the way, the also the UH 586 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 1: the possibly apocryphal reason why there's a superstition in theater 587 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: that it's considered to be bad luck to whistle if 588 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 1: you are backstage at a stage theater, and the reason 589 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,960 Speaker 1: for that is that the sailors would, as the story goes, 590 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: use whistles. They would whistle to one another to signal wind, 591 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 1: to move scenery, or otherwise mess with the rigging backstage. 592 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:22,400 Speaker 1: So if you were backstage and you were whistling, you 593 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 1: might accidentally command the sailors to do all sorts of 594 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: funky and possibly dangerous stuff with the scenery. Now, I 595 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: have no idea if that's actually true, because the theater 596 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 1: world is even worse at documenting its mythology and terminology 597 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 1: than the film world is, and of course many film 598 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,760 Speaker 1: terms would grow from the theatrical world. But anyway, according 599 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:45,840 Speaker 1: to this alternate theory, in the whaling industry, it was 600 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 1: apparently common to refer to a member of the crew 601 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 1: as the best boy. Beyond this fairly vague description, I 602 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 1: can't find much more, and there's not really any evidence 603 00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,880 Speaker 1: to support the assertion, apart from the fact that sailors 604 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,600 Speaker 1: occasionally worked in the ors, and that possibly the term 605 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:05,920 Speaker 1: made its way from the sailing industry into the theatrical 606 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 1: industry and then onto the film industry. Whatever the case, 607 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,839 Speaker 1: the best boy positions are important, and while the name 608 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,440 Speaker 1: indicates a gender, a best boy can be anyone, whether 609 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:20,279 Speaker 1: they identify as male, female, or other. And I've got 610 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:22,479 Speaker 1: a few more positions to talk about and some other 611 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:26,160 Speaker 1: terminology to get through. But first let's take another quick break. 612 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:36,320 Speaker 1: So we've got a few other big departments to talk about, 613 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:39,840 Speaker 1: like the sound department. This includes people like the sound mixer, 614 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 1: the boom operator, and the sound utility expert. Their jobs, 615 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 1: as you would guess, is to capture sound during recording 616 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: and organizing all those recordings so that they can be 617 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,319 Speaker 1: mixed later in the editing process. They also typically try 618 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:57,240 Speaker 1: to capture important sounds and eliminate distracting stuff like background 619 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,640 Speaker 1: noise and room tone. Sometimes that's done at the time 620 00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 1: of recording. Often it's done in the editing phase. And 621 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:08,399 Speaker 1: related to this group are python wranglers. That's a term 622 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: jokingly used to describe people whose job it is to 623 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,799 Speaker 1: help manage the cables on a film set so they're 624 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,359 Speaker 1: not in the way. They also work obviously with the 625 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:20,000 Speaker 1: electrical and camera departments, so you've got people who are 626 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:23,760 Speaker 1: just making sure that stuff is is kept fairly organized 627 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:26,400 Speaker 1: so that it doesn't cause a problem and doesn't end 628 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,320 Speaker 1: up making a big mess, so that when you're striking 629 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:30,960 Speaker 1: at the end of a day or at the end 630 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:34,040 Speaker 1: of a shoot. Uh, it doesn't, you know, take up 631 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:36,759 Speaker 1: even more time. Now, while I'm talking about sound, I 632 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:40,120 Speaker 1: should also mention a d R, which stands for additional 633 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:44,279 Speaker 1: dialogue recording or additional dialogue replacement. I've also seen some 634 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:47,520 Speaker 1: sources say a d R stands for automatic dialogue replacement, 635 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:51,479 Speaker 1: But additional is how I normally see it. And honestly, uh, 636 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:55,759 Speaker 1: the practice has been around longer than automated systems. But 637 00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 1: this is a technique in which an actor rerecords lines 638 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 1: of dialogue in a studio in order to get a 639 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:06,359 Speaker 1: clean audio version of the line. The actor times their 640 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,520 Speaker 1: delivery to work with the captured footage, because obviously you 641 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,920 Speaker 1: can't just create new footage, not without the use of 642 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 1: computers anyway. And so it's sort of like lip syncing, 643 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 1: but in reverse. Instead of instead of mouving words that 644 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:24,560 Speaker 1: have already been recorded, you're recording new words, but you're 645 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 1: doing it to time it with previously recorded visuals. So 646 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,399 Speaker 1: the actor has to time their delivery to work within 647 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:34,560 Speaker 1: that captured footage. And this can be done to correct 648 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:38,680 Speaker 1: for poor audio recording from the onset or on location audio. 649 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,239 Speaker 1: Let's say there was some extraneous noise that was too distracting. 650 00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:44,840 Speaker 1: You could re record the audio in studio and have 651 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:47,279 Speaker 1: it inserted there, Or it could even be done in 652 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,560 Speaker 1: an attempt to change the performance that the actor gave 653 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,880 Speaker 1: by having the actor give a different read on the lines, 654 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:58,600 Speaker 1: maybe a different emotional take or a different emphasis on 655 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:02,080 Speaker 1: certain words. And and it's done well. The audience never 656 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,120 Speaker 1: even notices it. They don't notice the difference between something 657 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,279 Speaker 1: that was recorded on set versus a d R. If 658 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:11,759 Speaker 1: it's not done well, it could be super distracting, like 659 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:13,800 Speaker 1: it might not quite match up with the mouth and 660 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:18,000 Speaker 1: it seems really weird. Uh. Then you have the art department. 661 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,000 Speaker 1: This falls under the command of the film's production designer, 662 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,480 Speaker 1: who helps determine the look of a film outside of 663 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,799 Speaker 1: the camera and lighting departments. So those departments are all 664 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:31,920 Speaker 1: focused pun intended on how to light and capture a scene. 665 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:35,160 Speaker 1: But the production designer is in charge of the groups 666 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,640 Speaker 1: that make all the stuff that goes into those scenes. 667 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:43,600 Speaker 1: Like they select locations for location shoots, they build sets, uh, 668 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:47,280 Speaker 1: they dress sets, they design costumes. They set the physical 669 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:52,000 Speaker 1: look for the characters with makeup or prosthetics. Visual effects 670 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:54,320 Speaker 1: teams are part of this too. So under the production 671 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:57,400 Speaker 1: designer you have a lot of other people. Uh. The 672 00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:00,480 Speaker 1: art director is in charge of craftspeople who work in 673 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:03,520 Speaker 1: set design and graphics. They also head up the illustrators 674 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:06,080 Speaker 1: who might work on a film. They're really important through 675 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:09,680 Speaker 1: the entire phase, including pre production. Uh. They might help 676 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 1: with designing animatics and storyboards. That helps the director bring 677 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:17,160 Speaker 1: a vision into realization before committing stuff to film. So 678 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:19,600 Speaker 1: you could say, like, I'm thinking of having the camera 679 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,200 Speaker 1: in this particular position, and this is how I'm imagining 680 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:26,320 Speaker 1: the the scene playing out. You can have an artist 681 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,440 Speaker 1: kind of draw out what they feel that the director 682 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,200 Speaker 1: is saying and sort of build out a comic book 683 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:37,320 Speaker 1: or even crude cartoon version of whatever the action is 684 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:40,040 Speaker 1: going to be. It can also be a really collaborative 685 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,919 Speaker 1: process with the director of photography to really figure out 686 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:45,680 Speaker 1: exactly how it's supposed to look. That also gives the 687 00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:50,520 Speaker 1: director of photography and a chance to rethink their position. 688 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:52,960 Speaker 1: They might say, you know, now that i'm thinking about it, 689 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:56,880 Speaker 1: I think that actually putting the camera over here would 690 00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:59,319 Speaker 1: look better. Let's see what that might look like and 691 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:01,399 Speaker 1: have the illustra to go back and change things out. 692 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:05,439 Speaker 1: It's time consuming, but it's less expensive than finding out 693 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:09,200 Speaker 1: once you're there on set and you've set everything up. 694 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:12,040 Speaker 1: The set designer is the person who is in charge 695 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:16,000 Speaker 1: of overseeing the entire set construction job, from concept to 696 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:19,840 Speaker 1: full build out. UH. This often happens in a sound stage, 697 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,960 Speaker 1: which is a controlled environment within which a film can shoot, 698 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:26,840 Speaker 1: so you're isolated from the outside world you have fewer 699 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:31,000 Speaker 1: distractions that can come in. But set designers also can 700 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:34,400 Speaker 1: build sets on locations where you have slightly less control, 701 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:38,480 Speaker 1: but you can have more authenticity In those cases, the 702 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:41,839 Speaker 1: set decorator's job is to furnish the set with all 703 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,759 Speaker 1: the important props and elements that make it seem like 704 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:47,400 Speaker 1: a real place. So a set decorator working on a 705 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:51,200 Speaker 1: film UH that takes place and say an old, creepy mansion, 706 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:54,360 Speaker 1: might use a collection of objects that could be in 707 00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:57,399 Speaker 1: a warehouse that the movie studio owns, or it could 708 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 1: be rented from a business that's specifically caters to the 709 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,480 Speaker 1: movie industry. Or they might even crawl through various antiques 710 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:06,960 Speaker 1: and oddit these shops in order to find what they're 711 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,319 Speaker 1: looking for. If you listen to my episode with the 712 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:12,640 Speaker 1: Stranger Things crew, you heard them talk about the challenges 713 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:16,280 Speaker 1: of filling a set with appropriate props and set pieces 714 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:19,120 Speaker 1: that dated from the nineteen eighties. Now, while the set 715 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:22,040 Speaker 1: decorator determines which pieces are going to go in, there's 716 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:24,920 Speaker 1: a crew called set dressers who are actually in charge 717 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,920 Speaker 1: of placing those items within a set according to the 718 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:30,280 Speaker 1: vision of the creative team. Now, as you can imagine 719 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:33,480 Speaker 1: these films, sets can have hundreds of props in them, 720 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:37,000 Speaker 1: which means someone needs to keep track of everything, and 721 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:40,600 Speaker 1: that job falls to the props master. A prop is 722 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 1: really anything that isn't an actor, a piece of scenery, uh, 723 00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:48,759 Speaker 1: some film equipment, or a costume. It's pretty much everything else. 724 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:52,680 Speaker 1: They tend to be portable or at the very least movable. Uh. 725 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: Some people will actually only use the word prop to 726 00:40:55,160 --> 00:41:00,200 Speaker 1: mean anything that an actor actually interacts with within the film. So, 727 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:03,320 Speaker 1: in other words, if there's a book that an actor 728 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:05,959 Speaker 1: has to pick up and and look through, that book 729 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:07,960 Speaker 1: would be a prop. But maybe there's a stack of 730 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,239 Speaker 1: books that are on the set that the actor never touches. There, 731 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:14,920 Speaker 1: just set dressing, And they would argue, no, that's not 732 00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:17,759 Speaker 1: a prop, that's scenery. But it's all largely academic. The 733 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,000 Speaker 1: props master has to keep track of all these things, 734 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,959 Speaker 1: and so typically has an organization system to know where 735 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:25,120 Speaker 1: props are in order to get hands on them when 736 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:27,680 Speaker 1: they are needed for any given scene. Often they are 737 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:31,480 Speaker 1: also prop builders on staff as well, as that name suggests, 738 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:34,719 Speaker 1: they build any props that you can't otherwise find, So 739 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,480 Speaker 1: in some types of films, like science fiction or fantasy, 740 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:39,759 Speaker 1: you have a lot of props that you really just 741 00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:43,040 Speaker 1: can't find in stores, so you have to make them 742 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:47,520 Speaker 1: from scratch, like Star Wars with lightsabers. Lightsabers, I hate 743 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:49,759 Speaker 1: to tell you, aren't a real thing, so they had 744 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:53,719 Speaker 1: to build them. Likewise, costumers can end up making outfits 745 00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:56,480 Speaker 1: for cast that are a combination of pre made pieces, 746 00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:59,080 Speaker 1: some of them bought right off the rack from stores 747 00:41:59,239 --> 00:42:03,480 Speaker 1: or off and secondhand shops. Other stuff might be made 748 00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:06,160 Speaker 1: to order for the film itself, unique pieces that were 749 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:09,440 Speaker 1: specifically made for the movie. In addition to those positions, 750 00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:13,280 Speaker 1: you have special effects artists who may work on practical effects, 751 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:16,040 Speaker 1: meaning those effects that happened within the real space and 752 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:19,759 Speaker 1: use physical objects or c g I effects. In the 753 00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:21,560 Speaker 1: case of c g I, most of that work tends 754 00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:24,480 Speaker 1: to happen far from the action of the actual shooting location, 755 00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:27,440 Speaker 1: and it can stretch well into the post production phase 756 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:30,799 Speaker 1: of a film. Practical effects are pretty nifty, but they 757 00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:33,480 Speaker 1: also can be fairly expensive, and if things do not 758 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:36,480 Speaker 1: go well, they can end up pushing a film behind schedule. 759 00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:39,200 Speaker 1: A famous example of this would be the mechanical shark 760 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:41,920 Speaker 1: in Jaws. I did a full episode about that shark 761 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,200 Speaker 1: with Chris Palette years and years ago. The shark's name 762 00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:49,440 Speaker 1: is Bruce. Anyway, that ended up being a huge headache. 763 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:52,040 Speaker 1: But practical effects, when they're done well, can seem more 764 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:55,560 Speaker 1: quote unquote real than c g I effects, and some 765 00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:59,520 Speaker 1: film snobs like myself tend to favor practical effects over 766 00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:02,960 Speaker 1: c g I in most cases because if c g 767 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:05,759 Speaker 1: I isn't done well, it just looks kind of like 768 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,640 Speaker 1: a video game to me. Now, you've also got makeup 769 00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:11,239 Speaker 1: artists who have a pretty challenging job. Even with a 770 00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:13,760 Speaker 1: simple film that has no need for special effects makeup, 771 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:16,040 Speaker 1: those artists have to make sure an actor's look is 772 00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:20,720 Speaker 1: consistent throughout the film, depending upon whatever the film scene 773 00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:23,279 Speaker 1: calls for, So they have to keep a record of 774 00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:26,120 Speaker 1: all the different looks that the actor goes through in 775 00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:28,480 Speaker 1: the course of a film to make sure that they 776 00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:31,120 Speaker 1: stay the same from scene to scene, and if you're 777 00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:35,440 Speaker 1: shooting scenes that are sequentially far apart in the in 778 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,560 Speaker 1: the finished film, it may be that the actor has 779 00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:41,600 Speaker 1: to undergo some sort of transformation, and it means that 780 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:43,880 Speaker 1: you might have to have a record of several different 781 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:47,000 Speaker 1: looks to make sure you replicate exactly the right one 782 00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:49,560 Speaker 1: for whatever scene is shooting that day. If the film 783 00:43:49,640 --> 00:43:52,839 Speaker 1: calls for special effects makeup, there's an even bigger job 784 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,040 Speaker 1: ahead of the crew because they may have to work 785 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,840 Speaker 1: on a single actor for several hours to get everything 786 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:02,040 Speaker 1: ready for the camera. There are also location scouts and 787 00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:05,399 Speaker 1: location managers. Their job is to seek out the real 788 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:08,440 Speaker 1: world locations where a film can shoot. I've had a 789 00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:11,960 Speaker 1: lot of location scouts come through my neighborhood um and 790 00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:15,319 Speaker 1: location managers talking with me as well about using the 791 00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:19,399 Speaker 1: area for for shooting, and they have to handle all 792 00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:23,480 Speaker 1: the real world issues that come along with that, including 793 00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:27,800 Speaker 1: possibly working out deals with homeowners so that they can 794 00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:31,960 Speaker 1: use a location for for a shoot, and that ends 795 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:34,520 Speaker 1: up getting to be a really complicated job. You've gotta 796 00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:37,800 Speaker 1: be a real people person to be a good location manager. 797 00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:41,000 Speaker 1: But there are tons of other roles as well. If 798 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:44,120 Speaker 1: a film requires stunts, there's a stunts department. That's the 799 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,640 Speaker 1: group to make sure that any potentially dangerous action on 800 00:44:46,719 --> 00:44:50,440 Speaker 1: camera is done safely and with trained professionals to minimize 801 00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:53,680 Speaker 1: risk to the performers, to the crew, to the equipment, 802 00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:57,680 Speaker 1: to the production. There's the craft's Services group. Some people 803 00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:00,000 Speaker 1: argue that's the most important group on any film set 804 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:04,759 Speaker 1: it because they feed everybody, They bring all the food. Uh. 805 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:08,120 Speaker 1: Then there's the transportation captain who has to handle all 806 00:45:08,120 --> 00:45:11,600 Speaker 1: the logistics of getting everybody and everything to where it 807 00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:14,319 Speaker 1: needs to go. So they need to make sure that 808 00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:17,800 Speaker 1: all the talent has their transportation to get to the location, 809 00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:20,440 Speaker 1: that all the crew is knows where they need to 810 00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:22,359 Speaker 1: be and how they're going to get there, that all 811 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:25,680 Speaker 1: the equipment is ready to be shipped there, and there 812 00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,640 Speaker 1: are there are trucks to do it. Um. I can't 813 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:31,160 Speaker 1: even imagine the stress that goes with that job. Also, 814 00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:34,040 Speaker 1: they tend to be the first great people on location 815 00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:36,719 Speaker 1: and the last people leave, and they have to be 816 00:45:36,719 --> 00:45:39,080 Speaker 1: because they're in charge of getting everybody to where they 817 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:41,920 Speaker 1: need to go. In post production, there are also lots 818 00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:45,440 Speaker 1: of other jobs they're folly artists. That's the sound effects group. 819 00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:50,400 Speaker 1: There are there's marketing, there's publicity, there's accounting, there's casting. 820 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:53,920 Speaker 1: A lot of that is pretty self explanatory. I do 821 00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:57,240 Speaker 1: want to end this episode talking about editors. The editor's 822 00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:00,760 Speaker 1: job is to take all the footage, all the aftured sound, 823 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:03,160 Speaker 1: all the A d R, all the effects reels, all 824 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:07,160 Speaker 1: that stuff and make a movie out of it. Now, 825 00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:10,640 Speaker 1: movies are made in editing. The editor can have just 826 00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:14,080 Speaker 1: as much impact, or potentially even more impact than a 827 00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:17,840 Speaker 1: director on the final feel of a film. The editor's 828 00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:20,840 Speaker 1: job is to piece that film together and to select 829 00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:23,960 Speaker 1: takes from all those shoot days and to put them 830 00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:27,239 Speaker 1: in the proper sequence to tell the story. And they 831 00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:29,720 Speaker 1: have to do that also by adding in the correct 832 00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:32,560 Speaker 1: sound and all that other stuff. So it said that 833 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:35,360 Speaker 1: a great editor can turn a decent film into a 834 00:46:35,360 --> 00:46:38,200 Speaker 1: fantastic film, and they can turn a fantastic film into 835 00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,960 Speaker 1: a masterpiece. A bad editor can take something that you 836 00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:44,799 Speaker 1: know has good raw material and turn it into a 837 00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:49,080 Speaker 1: total mess that's almost unwatchable. Some directors work very closely 838 00:46:49,080 --> 00:46:52,000 Speaker 1: with editors to craft a final piece that best represents 839 00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:54,759 Speaker 1: what the director had in mind, and so they take 840 00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:56,640 Speaker 1: a very tight hand with it through the whole process. 841 00:46:56,760 --> 00:47:01,520 Speaker 1: Quentin Tarantino is famous for this. Some times producers will 842 00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:04,319 Speaker 1: step in the way and they'll prevent a director from 843 00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:06,680 Speaker 1: having too much influence on the final edit of a film. 844 00:47:06,880 --> 00:47:09,720 Speaker 1: The producer might say, you know what, your creative vision, 845 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:12,600 Speaker 1: it's not so good, so I'm not gonna let you 846 00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:14,799 Speaker 1: do that because it's gonna cost me money, and then 847 00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:17,279 Speaker 1: they make the editor do all the work. Sometimes the 848 00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:19,520 Speaker 1: producers are the ones steering the editors. They can get 849 00:47:19,560 --> 00:47:21,719 Speaker 1: really messy. There are tons of stories in Hollywood about 850 00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:25,360 Speaker 1: how these stories play out, and most of them are ugly. Now, 851 00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:27,520 Speaker 1: I think, out of all the positions on a film production, 852 00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:30,120 Speaker 1: I respect the editor most of all because they cannot 853 00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:33,120 Speaker 1: create a new scene or anything like that. They can't 854 00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:35,560 Speaker 1: make something out of nothing, but they can take what 855 00:47:35,719 --> 00:47:38,160 Speaker 1: was shot and shape it, so that has a really 856 00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:42,040 Speaker 1: powerful effect on an audience. Sometimes just cutting a scene 857 00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:45,200 Speaker 1: short can do the trick. Or switching between different takes 858 00:47:45,239 --> 00:47:47,680 Speaker 1: to get the best reactions from the various actors in 859 00:47:47,719 --> 00:47:50,239 Speaker 1: the scene will do the trick. And I don't want 860 00:47:50,280 --> 00:47:54,640 Speaker 1: to go overboard on praising editors because obviously everyone on 861 00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:57,799 Speaker 1: a film set is important. They all contribute to the 862 00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:02,719 Speaker 1: success of a film, but really the editor helps take 863 00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:06,799 Speaker 1: all that stuff and create a final picture. And that 864 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:09,400 Speaker 1: is the rundown on the basic rolls behind the scenes 865 00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:11,719 Speaker 1: on film productions. Like I said, I plan to go 866 00:48:11,760 --> 00:48:16,080 Speaker 1: into the the various sayings in terms used on film 867 00:48:16,080 --> 00:48:19,080 Speaker 1: sets to describe the process of making films in a 868 00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:22,279 Speaker 1: future episode. Um, after a couple more episodes, but for now, 869 00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:25,480 Speaker 1: let's say it's a rap now. If you guys have 870 00:48:25,520 --> 00:48:27,719 Speaker 1: any suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, you can 871 00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:30,359 Speaker 1: write me an email. The address is tech Stuff at 872 00:48:30,400 --> 00:48:33,080 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, or you can pop on 873 00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:36,040 Speaker 1: over to our website that's tech stuff podcast dot com. 874 00:48:36,239 --> 00:48:38,120 Speaker 1: There you are going to find the archive of all 875 00:48:38,239 --> 00:48:41,359 Speaker 1: of our older episodes, links to our social media accounts, 876 00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:44,319 Speaker 1: as well as a link to our online store. And 877 00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:52,440 Speaker 1: I will talk to you again really soon. Tex Stuff 878 00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:54,800 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. 879 00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:57,799 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i 880 00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:01,359 Speaker 1: heart Radio app Apple Podcasts, wherever you listen to your 881 00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:02,080 Speaker 1: favorite shows.