NDY2

Student: Christopher ONeill

Tutors: Faustina Starrett/ James McGarrigle
Unit 8
Understanding the television and Film Industries
In this essay I will discuss the various different job roles in the television
and film industries.
Management
Producer
There are several different jobs that lie under this, the most prominent job role
which involves this in film and television is producer, a producer is responsible
for the organization of a production, they are responsible for the finances of the
production, who is hired onto the project and basically has overall control over a
production, even though a director does have a decent amount of creative
control on a project, a producer is responsible for what is green lit on a
production such as script and final edit, some producers will also be directors on
a project which means they have much more creative control on a project.
Production Manager/ Assistant Production manager
Below producer will be production manager, they are the main communicators
on set. They are responsible for below the line budget, this budget covers things
such as crews, equipment, food etc. Whereas above the line is for actors and
directors, the people who are going to draw in people to watch your product.
Production managers do the majority of planning on a production, from informing
authorities of a filming event to having health and safety procedures checked to
having contact with suppliers for the production. A production manager job will
be a very stressful occupation as you have to be very well organized, work long
hours and be able to perform at a high quality under intense pressure, this is why
on various productions a production manager will also have a assistant
production manager to help with the work load.
Unit Manager
A unit manager is necessary is there is going to be 2 units filming for a television
or film production, a second unit is necessary as it helps speed up principle
photography and puts less pressure on one crew by breaking up the work. A unit
manager will basically do all the same job roles as a production manager would.
Production coordinator
This person will be responsible for coordinating the various units filming on a set,
they help the production managers with organizing the business, finance and
employment issues in film and television productions. The tasks that a
production coordinator will take up vary from human resources to office manager
to even accountant.

NDY2
Student: Christopher ONeill
Tutors: Faustina Starrett/ James McGarrigle
Unit 8

Creative
Director
The director is responsible for seeing over all if the creative aspects of a
production. This includes how actors will play out a scene, what type of shots will
be used, what the pace of the film will be ad what kind of lighting a scene will
have. Like I was saying a director only has so much power on a set as a producer
will always have the final say on the product, this is why many directors will take
up the role of producer, if a director was to produce, direct and do the screenplay
they can be considered an auteur, a filmmaker with a signature stamp on their
movies because of their creative freedom.
Second unit director
A second unit director is responsible for directing the second unit on a
production, a second unit director is under the orders of the first unit director in
that the first unit director will do up a shotlist that the second unit has to follow.
Director of photography
Also known as cinematographers, they are responsible for the overall look of the
film, the director will tell them how they want a scene to look, and then the
cinematographer will work with the lighting and camera crew to make it happen.
Screenwriter
A screenwriter is responsible for writing up the screenplay for a production,
depending on the project there can be several screenwriters or just one, for a TV
show there will be several screenwriters as a season of a show is much longer
than a movie, for movies it varies, for the lord of the rings there was 3 writers
who were constantly doing rewrites, while for a movie such as the hateful eight
Quentin Tarantino was the only screenwriter on the project. A screenwriter can
work closely with the director or also be the director; the producer constantly
critiques a screenwriters work so rewrites are inevitable on a production.
Make-up artist
Make up artist are responsible for the makeup of the actors in front of camera,
while most of the time makeup s generally used to make the stars look beautiful
make up can really enhance the movie depending on what the movie is meant to
look like, for example, in the hunger games the makeup plays a prominent part
in the movie as the rich people who live in the capital wear over the top makeup.
Set designer

NDY2
Student: Christopher ONeill
Tutors: Faustina Starrett/ James McGarrigle
Unit 8
They are responsible for designing the set for a production. While some movies
will use real life locations, several productions will make their own sets, for
sitcoms a set will be made in a studio, generally sitcom sets look like normal
environments that people will live in, for a massive production of a science fiction
film massive futuristic sets will be made in giant studios as nothing will look like
what they are making in the real world.

Actors
Actors are responsible for portraying the characters in a television and film
production, in many ways actors can be very creative people, they can add good
insight into the characters they are portraying and can come up with good ideas

Editorial
Film Editor
A film editor is responsible for cutting up the scenes into a cohesive film,
depending on the size of the project the editing crew can vary from 1 person to
several, the editor will work closely with the director to make sure that their
vision is realized, several cuts of a film may be down if the producer is
unsatisfied with the first cut.
Colourist
A colourist is responsible for the colour of the film; there are several different
ways of adjusting the colour of the footage. This is usually done using digital
tools.
Foley artist
A Foley artist is responsible for creating sounds for the movie, since it is illegal to
steal other peoples sounds for your own profit, Foley artist create their own
sounds using a studio with whatever they can find.

Technical
Camera operator
A camera operator is responsible for setting up and manning the camera during
for filming of a production, there can be multiple camera operators working on a
production depending on the size of the project.
Gaffer
3

NDY2
Student: Christopher ONeill
Tutors: Faustina Starrett/ James McGarrigle
Unit 8
A gaffer is the head of the lighting department on a media production; they are
responsible for the lighting plan of a production.
Lighting technician
They are responsible for setting up and controlling the lighting equipment on the
set of a media production.

Research
Media researcher
Media researchers support producers by finding information that is relevant for
the production, things such as locations and people will be researched. This job is
very similar to a management job in that the person has to be very well
organized and cover all different types of aspects of a production.

Financial
Marketing
A person who is part of a marketing team of a production is responsible for
selling their product to as many people as possible, the team will receive a
budget from the distributers that will cover all advertisement cost, the marketing
team must then decide where will be the place to put adverts in order to inform
their target audience of their product, places where you can find adverts for
media products include website ads, posters on sides of busses, TV adverts etc.
Production accountant
A production accountant is responsible for preparing schedules and budgets for
film productions, they need to keep record of all the finances spend on the
production in order to ensure that the movie does not go over budget. They also
keep in good communication with the financers of the product who will want to
know where their money is being spent.
Financial controller
A financial controller manages all of the finances of a production. In many ways it
is very similar to a production accountant only on a much high scale of
production.

NDY2
Student: Christopher ONeill
Tutors: Faustina Starrett/ James McGarrigle
Unit 8

Organizational/ Administrative
Transport Manager
A transport manager is responsible for the transportation of the film equipment
and the film crew during the shoot of a production. Things such as costumes,
camera equipment and lights may have to be transported either to the set of the
day of shooting or to a external location for filming.
Location manager
A location manager is responsible for finding locations for filming, if he/she finds
a good location they have to obtain all the legal permits that cover health and
safety, taxes etc. before the day of shooting.
Casting director
A casting director is responsible for the pre production process for selecting
actors for a production. They are responsible for the arranging and conducting
interviews with various actors considered for the part, they are also responsible
for negotiating fees and contracts with the chosen actors.
Unit Publicist
Unit publicist are responsible for the providing a conduit between producers, cast
and crews during film shoots, they work with producers on press strategy and
marketers on the best way to sell the product in order to ensure their product is
a commercial success.
Health and safety
Health and safety is very important for any production because if a member of
the cast or crew is injured on a set because of a accident which could have been
avoided with a simple risk assessment then the producers of the production can
be at risk of being sued and their reputation being damaged. There will be
people employed by the producers to ensure that necessessary precautions are
put in place for the principle photography.
Legal
Legal Editorial Job
A person in this position will make sure that everything that is released for live
broadcast or distribution via the movie theatre remains within the legal terms of
the country that it is being distributed to. They may also be involved with
5

NDY2
Student: Christopher ONeill
Tutors: Faustina Starrett/ James McGarrigle
Unit 8
ensuring that the material doesnt breach copyright or their own work for the
company that they are working for is also being used in a non-journalistic fashion
isnt being used to make money.

Working Patterns
The working patterns for the film and television industry will vary depending on
what type of project the person is working on, for example, if a person was a
camera operator for a live game show which took place at 8 at night, then that
person would be working late hours, while someone working on a 24 hour news
show would have to work really early in the morning.
Full Time
A full time contract is whenever you work to a minimum number of hours defined
by your employer. A full contract will require the employee to work a minimum of
35-40 hours a week.
Part Time
Part time contracts usually have half the amount of working hours than a full
time contract. The hours will usually change each week as the employee is called
up when needed.
Permanent
A permanent contract is when you will be required to work a set number of hours
each week, the normal amount of hours work under a permanent contract
ranges.
Shift Work
These types of contracts usually apply to those who work in the news industry,
people who are under these contracts will work a set number of hours a day, you
can be called in during any time.
Freelance
This is whenever you hire yourself out to different companies to work on a
project. This requires a lot of networking and the pay can vary from project to
project. Freelance employees have to look for work themselves.
Temporary
This is whenever you will work for a company for a shot period of time. There is
no guarantee that the company will take you on full time. You can wither work
full or part time.
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NDY2
Student: Christopher ONeill
Tutors: Faustina Starrett/ James McGarrigle
Unit 8
Voluntary
This is usually work that you do for free and at your own will. This can be good
for young people looking for experience in the industry.
Bibliography
http://www.media-match.com/usa/media/jobtypes/production-coordinator-jobs402757.php
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/television-production-coordinator
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/tvo
rfilmproductionmanager.aspx