“... Camera set.”

I’ve noticed pattern in low budget filmmaking (whether it’s a short, a music video or whatever) in that there are certain mainstay roles from a typical (read: paid) production that seem to be overlooked when putting the team together.

Usually the first two elements to come together are the producer and director, who almost always know each other before the project starts. ¬†They know they need a DoP, partly for the ‘cinematography’ side of things – the more aesthetic part of the job – but more because they have little to no technical experience themselves and the DoP can help with putting together the camera package, crew and so on.

At this point the producer and director have been talking to their friends and colleagues from the day job, so there’s a whole bunch of people who’ve offered to lend a hand – about three or four of these will actually end up turning up for the shoot; probably less if you can’t shoot on weekends or out of office hours. ¬†And whilst these guys are willing; enthusiastic even, they don’t have any particular skills so they end up being runners of some sort.

Meanwhile, the DoP has persuaded the producer to use the best camera available for the budget, and hopefully this means something that uses 35mm film lenses. ¬†That means a focus puller, and it’s almost always the DoP who’ll call up some of their previous FPs to see who’s willing to pull a freebie or very low paid job. ¬†They’ll then try for a second camera assistant but that’s often a bit harder, so the producer will suggest the most enthusiastic runner be assigned to the camera team.

There always seem to be loads of good sound recordists with their own kit around, so that’s not usually a problem even if it means a small fee.

But here’s the roles that always seem to get missed out…

The Production Designer

Such an important role. ¬†Finding a production designer implies a recognition that the production has a ‘look’, i.e. it’s not just a load of acting that happens to be relayed to its audience via a camera. ¬†The production designer / cinematographer combo is crucial to your film having a consistent visual style that complements, even adding to, what you’re trying to do creatively. ¬†The cinematographer on their own isn’t enough, and I speak from experience on this. ¬†Productions without a production designer usually end up with the producer or a runner looking after props, and props are only a fraction of the job. ¬†To use a print design¬†simile, if the DoP is the person making sure the print work is properly printed on the right sort of paper with a pleasing overall layout, the production designer’s the one choosing the typefaces and doing the illustrations.

For more on production design, there’s a fantastic article called How To Be a Production Designer over at NewEnglandFilm.com.

The Script Supervisor

It’s extraordinary how many low budget filmmakers have no idea what a script supervisor and why they need one. ¬†Whilst I can never be a substitute for the huge amount of brilliant and funny writing over at Script Goddess, here’s a quick overview of the job courtesy of Skillset:

[Script Supervisors] ensure that, despite the fact that films are shot entirely out of script sequence, they eventually make continuous verbal and visual sense.  This entails checking on and keeping detailed records of dialogue, action, costumes, props and set design, so that when different takes and scenes are finally edited together, the fictional world of the film is not disrupted by continuity errors which may distract the audience

What usually happens instead on low budget films is that the director – usually also the writer – tries to keep track of all the shots needed to make his or her masterpiece in their head. ¬†Whilst I’ve seen this work on¬†occasion, it’s a huge and unnecessary strain, and a distraction from the work of directing. ¬†A good script supervisor will cooly and calmly ensure that when you get into the edit, you have a film that cuts together. ¬†And they’re great news for the DoP as well – if you’ve managed to forget which way round a previous scene was shot or on which side of the line coverage was coming from, a quiet question to the script supervisor saves much¬†embarrassment!

The Gaffer

The first time I worked on a job with a professional gaffer will always be imprinted on my brain. ¬†Prior to that, I would set up lighting myself with the help of a couple of runners. ¬†Kit would be piled into the back of a rented van in no particular order. ¬†Stands would get set up in haphazard ways. ¬†No one ever had any gloves so adjusting a lamp after it had been on for a while was a series of “oww… how’s that? ¬†oww…. how’s that?” as someone tried to use their sleeve to insulate their hand from the heat. ¬†We got through it, but it wasn’t pretty.

Then came the first shoot with a proper gaffer. ¬†The kit was immaculate. ¬†He was able to put his hand instantly on anything required. ¬†After a walk around of the location in the morning, we were able to leave him to it and everything was pre-rigged by the time we reached a new setup. ¬†As he didn’t have any other job to do, whilst we were shooting scenes he would be sorting out the next setup and tidying everything else away so the get out time was minimised. ¬†Stands were securely sandbagged, and the appropriate one for the weight of the light was chosen.

So not only does a proper gaffer make your set a far, far safer working environment, he saves you time, meaning you can pack more scenes into the day. ¬†Or shoot the same scenes, far better lit. ¬†For the DoP, a proper gaffer is your right hand man, quickly learning how you like to light and getting the appropriate kit out without you having to specify it piece by piece. ¬†If you get a really amazing one they’ll even have their own light meter, so you can say things like “when we move to the living room later on, I’ll need a softish 3/4 backlight at T/4″ and it’s ready for you. ¬†This means you can concentrate more on the art of cinematography rather than the repetitive slog of technical details it can often become.

However, it’s a bit of a bugbear for me that it’s very difficult to find people with any experience with film lighting to work on low or no budget projects, in a way that isn’t a problem with say, camera assistants. ¬†I think it largely boils to the fact that in UK our gaffers and electrical team on big jobs are almost entirely (I’d say 99%) qualified electricians, who’ve rarely trained as an electrician in order to work on films, rather they’re electricians who end up working on films at some point after they’ve qualified.

This is in contrast to my understanding of the US system, where the role of gaffer is considered a stepping stone to the role of director of photography (the adage is that gaffers become DoPs, camera operators become directors).  This seems to result in a greater number of younger people being willing and interested enough to gain experience in this field.

Something else to think about: depending on the production insurance or the requirements of your lighting hire company, in the UK it seems that having a qualified electrician on set is a must have rather than a would-be-nice. ¬†I’ve never been shown an actual law stating that this be case but you should check with those two parties beforehand if you’re planning to use unqualified people for your electrical team (in my opinion this is perfectly safe if you’re running from 13A sockets… as soon as you reach the need for a generator, you need at least one proper spark).