The Who is who

It is not always very easy to know what the person actually did, before he / she got the name to the movie's closing texts. Dolly Grip for example could have ran all over the studio, with a doll in his hand. Best Boy could have something to do with gossips and weddings, just like his big brother Best Man does. And so. The story continues.

In principle all credited people are involved with the movie production. And on the other hand, almost all people who were involved with the production are credited.

The people and departments, which are introduced in here belong pre-production and production stages in the flow chart. Cast department will be introduced on casting page. With actors.

Art Department

Head, supervising  : Art director
Head, creative  : Production Designer and Set Decorator

Job : Design and Create settings. The placement and displacement of the settings.

Art department makes everything which is involved with backgrounds and settings. Art department has two kinds of people. Artists design the settings and craftsmen build the settings. Art department is also responsible for creating computer graphics and special effects which are used during the shooting. In the production flow chart art-department is split to smaller units. 

In production based examination, Art Director is the head of the Art Department. He / She is responsible for keeping the wheels rolling. On both, creative and production, lines.

In creative examination Production Designer and Set Decorator are in charge. They create the looks for movie. The system follows the Producer - Director formula. Art Director is in talks with Producer and Production Designer with director. The Production Designer is responsible for creating overall looks for the movie. The Set Decorator 

There are many branches, teams and  people in the Art department.. The team or crew, which places, displaces and demolish the settings is called swing gang. Besides them there is property team, construction team, scenic team for painting, and Greensman for taking care of the plants.

There is also one trivia like team in Art Department. Special Effects and the corresponding team are far from the Visual Effects teams. They have nothing in common. Special Effects are effects which are created during the shooting time. Wind machine is one example from the shooting time special effect. Then there are all kinds of hydraulic gadgets, which are used during the shooting.  Visual Effects and the teams are stunt teams, miniature teams, and people who create effects with computers. Common to all visual effect teams is, that they work independently.

The size of the art department varies a lot. Depends on the amount of the footage, which is shot in the studio. The amount of the used sub-contractors has also an effect to the size of the Art Department.

The art departments of the big movie studios have enormous storages. They are loaded with all kinds of things. Old valuable cars, new expensive cars, guns and cannons, furniture from throughout the history of the mankind, and very many smaller items and properties. They have also saved lots of valuable pieces from the settings of the shot movies. Storages are collector's dreamland.

In the closing texts people like 
Production designer, Art Director, 
Set Decorator, Special effects supervisor, Property Master, Draftsman,  Assistant art director,  Set Dresser,  Leadman, Swing gang, Armorer, Greensman Production buyer, and Property Assistant come from the Art Department.

Electric and Lightning department

Head : Gaffer

Job : Lightning  and operating electrical gadgets during the shootings.

The best known and the biggest branch of the electrical department is Lighting Department. The lightning department concentrates on creating lights for the shootings only.

During the shootings, the electrical department handles all the other electrical things. Draw wires, operates electrical gadgets, changes burned fuses and so on. The electrical department works also before and after the shootings.

In the closing texts Gaffer, Best Boy, Lighting Board Operator, Lamp Operator, Rigging Gaffer, Riggers and Generator operator are the members of the Lightning crew.

Camera Crew

Head : Director of Photography

Job : Recording events with camera.

For some reason, the camera people do not have a department, in words. The people who works with camera are said to be camera crew. During the shootings Camera Crew and all the other Crews operate under the control of the Director.

The Director of the Photography is supervising person. The person who actually operates the camera is Camera Operator / Camera Man. It is not very rare, that the same person does the both jobs.

Long time ago, the general name for the people, who use the camera and record the events was cinematographer. Nowadays the name is used from the Director of Photography. Or from a person, who directs and operates the camera. 

Most of the time movies are recorded with one camera only. And the camera crew is working around this magical apparel. But when you see that Additional Camera has been credited in the closing texts, it means, that there has been at least two cameras on some sets. These men and women have operated the additional cameras and are Camera Operators too.

Dolly is a moving base for the movie camera. Dolly is much like a miniature railroad, it has  tracks and tray / sledge. You have probably seen it in the "Making Of" introductions. It is used when camera is moved while shooting. Dolly Grip is a person, who operates the dolly system.

Steadicam operator is person, who runs around the studio with a funny looking camera ( it is equipped with strange looking arms and devices ) on his / her shoulder. The name Steadicam  comes from the word steady. The arms and other equipments balances the camera. They reduce and smoothen the vibrations, which come from the movements of the underlying camera operator.

In the closing texts Director of Photography, Camera operator / Camera Man,  Assistant cameraman / Focus puller,  Key grip / Key, Dolly grip, Clapper-loader. Additional Camera / B Camera. Steadicam Operator are members of the Camera Crew..

Wardrobe Department

Head : Wardrobe Supervisor

Job : Sew, buy, dress and store costumes ( clothes )

Fully implemented Wardrobe departments are big departments. They take care of everything which actors wear in the movies. In movie world these things are said to be costumes, The word is a synonym to the general word clothes.

The Costume designer is the person, who starts the process. The Costume Designers are the only creative persons of the department ( persons who co-operate with director instead of producer )

After the costume is designed, a person with a title Costumes starts to search suitable, look-a-like clothes for the actors.

First she visits the Costume Stock and tries to find ready made look-a-like from there. Costume Stocks are big storages, where the movie companies store the used costumes. They belong to the Wardrobe Department. 

If she fails, she can try to rent a costume from outsider, there are very many companies which rent costumes.

Her last effort, in finding a look-a-like costume is a Seamstress. Seamstresses make the costumes from the scratch. 

The person, who sees after the Costumes and Seamstresses is Costume Supervisor. She is usually thee most experienced costume maker of the department. Her job is to make sure that actual costumes look like the original design. She also trains and advises other staff.

After the right costumes are either found or made, Dressers help actors with the costumes. 

After the set is over, and actors are in their everyday clothes, the costumes are thrown to Costumer. Costumer's job is to wash, clean and eventually store the used costumes. In closing texts Costumer can have many names. A Warddrope, and a Wardrope Assistant are doing the same job as the Costumer.

Make Up and Hairdressing

Job : Create make up's and hair-styles for the actors.

There are only two major titles in this sector. Hairstylists take care of the hair dressings, and make-up artists from the make ups. 

The persons who are responsible from Special Makeup Effects, blow heads on the screen. They make aliens look like aliens, monsters like monsters and so on. Special Make Up effects are related to actors. Their body or face.

Make Up artists and Hair Dressers are quite often Freelancers, who send bills to the producers and accountants. When they are in the payrolls, they usually belong to the Wardrobe department. Administration, hiring  and scheduling is done by wardrobe supervisor and her administrative team. Make-Up artists and Hair-Dressers are independent all-around people. They buy and / or make the stuff by themselves. They do not have any assistants and other supportive people around them.