Image via YouTube
The End. And They Lived Happily Ever After’. Fade to black and let the credits role.
It’s Friday night and you have just spent £9.85 on a movie that you’ve been looking forward to for months. In the 118 minutes that you’ve sat in the theatre, with your shoes sticking to the popcorn encrusted floor you’ve laughed, you’ve cried and you’ve seen good triumph over evil.
Once the final scene ends and the screen fades to black and the house lights are turned up, and you make the way to your car. All the while hundreds of names are streaming up the screen giving those hardworking individuals who worked relentlessly for months their few seconds in the spotlight.
The credits, we often don’t even take notice of them, but without all those names, there would be no film to see. Each and every one of those are integral to the successful production of the film, from caterers to cleaners they all have their own role to play.
But what about the crew whose job descriptions are less descriptive and more confusing. Here, Inside Film will show you some of the more diverse jobs that go into bringing you the best cinematic experiences.
Best Boy
While this has nothing to do with a wedding, or being the second in command to the ‘best man’, no speeches involved here. There are two types of best boy on a film set; electric and grip. Best boy electric is the gaffer’s assistant. the best boy grip assists the key grip.
So what is a gaffer and a key grip?
Gaffer
Though the gaffer manages the entire electrical department, all the guys who run cables and hang lights, his main responsibility is mounting and positioning lights and lighting rigs.
Key Grip
This guy runs the Grips department and assists the Gaffer. He usually knows his team well and will contract out the same people for each film or production he’s hired to work on. Grips are like worker bees. They do lots of different things, like moving set pieces, scenery, and pushing cameras on dollies for follow-shots. But the grip’s main job is lighting. They set up filters in front of the lights and position sun blocks to keep natural light from ruining a scene.
Dolly Grip
A dolly grip operates the movie camera dolly. If you’ve ever wondered how cameras seem to follow actors so smoothly and so fluidly in some scenes, it’s because the camera is mounted on a dolly, not handheld, and pushed along a track, like a little one-car train.
Greensman
One of the more specific job roles on a movie, the greensman is responsible for placing any flowers, plants or shrubs needed for a scene in the correct place.
Lead Man
No, not the ‘leading man’ his job is in front of the camera. The job of the lead man is being in charge of the entire set crew.
Foley Artists
A foley artist is responsible for creating the sound effects that are added in post-production. Why Foley? Well, Jack Foley was one of the first and most famous sound effects guys in the business. A lot of the time on sets, especially within harsh or wet environments sound recording isn’t possible, so the foley artists creates these sounds artificially whig are then added to the film after filming.
So the next time you are walking out of the cinema ignoring the credits, at least you’ll know the jobs of the people who’s names you are ignoring.
