Production Roles***

Allocating specific production roles to each individual is essential when making a collaborative production, as this ensures that each person is aware of what role they must maintain. If specific roles were not allocated, this runs the risk of a role being ignored thus threatening the final outcome of the product. As well as this, one role might be taken be more than one individual and therefore may lead to confusion or conflict. In order to allocate the right role to the right person, we must first identify what qualities are needed to fulfil the role, and then who in the group possesses these qualities in order to maintain the role efficiently and successfully. Below are each of the roles that must be allocated, as well as the person who we feel will successfully uphold this role because of the qualities they possess.



1) Camera operator

This role consists of someone operating the camera while filming the opening sequence of our thriller. They are a vital production role as the camera must be moved and 'operated' to film the scene. I will be taking the role of camera operator as I possess skills suitable for the role such as accuracy. They are usually the first people to use the camera's eye piece to assess how all the elements of performance, lighting and positioning are coherent in order to have affective footage that will eventually create a narrative. Therefore, having an eye for accuracy is a vital quality that a camera operator must have, in order to ensure that the footage accumulated is of the best standard, thus to avoid wasting time by re-filming. Furthermore camera operators must of course, have a working knowledge and understanding of the technology they are using, such as the camera and tripod. In comparison to my other group members, I have the most understanding of such technology and therefore am more suited to the role as I will not need to learn anything in order to fulfil it, reducing the time spent on production. Lastly, camera operators must be able to have good communication skills, as they must constantly listen to the ideas of the director in order to fulfil their vision. As well as this, they also must communicate back to the director in terms of what they think in response to such ideas and therefore, overall I am most suited to this role I as possess the qualities needed to fulfil it.



2) Actors

An actor is an individual who adopts the persona of someone else, who may be fact or fiction. In order to achieve this, the actor must rid of all their own characteristics and be able to convince their audience that they are this 'new character'.We decided to use someone outside of our own group, as we felt that it would make the production process easier as one individual would not have to juggle the role of an actor as well as an editor, for example. Also, we felt that Daisy was more suited to the role anyway as she is an individual who is not easily embarrassed and therefore was more likely to commit to the role of the victim thus making the performance more believable. This is a vital quality when being an actor as the audience must believe you are such character in order to connect with them, which is essential in the thriller genre in order to affect the audience in the desired way i.e. distress. Furthermore, Daisy is an innovative person who has very good communication skills and therefore could follow instruction easily, as well as being able to have her own input to better the performance and narrative overall. It is essential that an actor has good communication skills as they must perform as intended by the director; however having an innovative actor who has ideas of their own may also better the narrative as they are most in touch with the character and therefore are more likely to know how the character would behave/react.



3) Sound technician

The role of a sound technician consists of an individual who is in charge of all sound within the film, whether it be music or specific sound effects. Particularly in thriller films, sounds is essential in creating a certain atmosphere for the audience and therefore it is key that this role is successfully fulfilled. Considering no one in the group has had any prior experience in sound, we have decided that all three of us are going to be sound technicians so that support and assistance are available from another group member when needed. Each of us have a good understanding of the conventional sounds in the thriller genre and therefore posses the capabilities to create a conventional sound effects to compliment the visual. For example, the fluctuation in sound is often used in the genre in order to stress a particular moment, which often makes the sound inconsistent and jumpy to keep the audience on edge. In order to be a successful sound technician, such individual must have a working knowledge of the technology they will be using which in this case is Final Cut Pro. All three of us have used Final Cut Pro when doing our preliminary task and therefore are suited to the role as a collaborative effort.



4) Editors

The role of an editor is vital in the post production process. An editor is responsible for taking the unnecessary footage away in order to create continuity and coherence using digital technology and editing software. It is an essential role in order to create a continuous narrative, rather than an entire footage. However, due to there being only three of us in the group, there isn't someone who can solely focus on editing and therefore we have decided once again, that all three of us will edit. Each of us will have an approach for the editing style because our other roles are associated with editing i.e. I am a camera operator who provides the shots that are edited, Harriet is the director and will therefore have an image of how the product will be edited and Jagoda is the storyboard organiser, in which she has noted on the storyboards how she thinks it should be edited. Therefore, by having us all as editors, this provides the chance to work collaboratively on our individual ideas in order to establish the final editing style. If only one of us were to edit, they may focus on their own approach without considering other possibility that may be better.



5) Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in film making. They control a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors. It is vital that the director has the capability to organise people, as they are in charge of the majority of crew. Therefore we felt Harriet was most suited to the role, as she posses high organization skills to sustain control over other actors and crew. Furthermore, because of he organised personality, she will be successful in making sure the rest of the group members are fulfilling their own roles. Finally, the director is also in charge of the 'direction' in which the narrative is going by instructing crew members as to how they want something done. Harriet is very imaginative to explore and expand the ideas in which we have as a group and therefore is more likely to come up with innovative ideas to steer the narrative in the right direction.



6) Location manager

This role consists of researching a suitable location for the film and eventually finding the accurate one that is most suited to the narrative. A location manager must possess skill in their ability to research, as well as patience in finding a suitable one that will b eventually used. The location we will use is not complex nor varied, as the entire opening sequence takes place in the victim's house, and therefore the location manager's responsibilities will not be exercised to the full extent. However, it is still vital that the right location is chosen. After discussing our narrative, I felt that my house would be suited and therefore was able to recognise what the location needed in order to be suitable. Once the group members had agreed after seeing the house, I consequently became the location manager as I showed qualities of initiative.



7) Storyboard organiser

This role consists of creating and developing the storyboard that represents what is going to happen within the scene. This includes location, camera shot, sound, iconography, lighting, actors involved, editing and narrative description. It is a vital role within production so it is clear what is going to happen  within the scene. It is vital that the storyboard organiser is organised and creatively skilled as they are required to sort each element according to when it will appear in the frame. Jagoda will be taking the role of storyboard manager as she can effectively elaborate on creative ideas to make them clearer through detail in our storyboard. She possess qualities that include patience which is suited to the role as it is a lengthy job. This will therefore benefit us as it will be easier to follow when filming our thriller as well as being aware of what the final product will come out as.

By allocating each of these roles to members in the group, we have established what our individual responsibilities are, which in turn should make production run a lot smoother. This makes us all much more focused on what we as individuals have to do in order to make the final product, rather than confusingly rushing to get the products finished. In all productions, crew members often split according to their responsibilities in order to achieve a sense of equilibrium and organisation.