Comparison of job roles within the media business.

1. Unit 22- LO1
Comparison of Job Roles
Director / D.O.P / 1st
AD / Casting Director
The directoris the mostimportantpersonoutof those roles. Itistheirvisionthatisbeingproduced,
throughoutthe entire production.The directorisinvolvedduringpre-production,production,and
post-production,meaningthattheyare presentthroughoutthe entire project.Thatiswhythe
directorhas the mostimportantrole outof that list.The DOPis the secondmostimportantperson
out of that list,as theyworkalongside the director,andisthe seniormemberof the technical staff.
Theyare alsoincharge of settingscenes.Theirjobisthe secondmostimportantalso,because itis
theirjobto make the directorsvisioncome alive onscreen,andwithoutthe DOP.The sceneswould
not exist.The DOPhasa verykeyrole inproduction,howeverthey are notas importantasthe
directorbecause theyare onlyinvolvedduringproduction,andtheyare essentiallyregurgitatingthe
creativityof the director. The thirdmostimportantrole outof those listedisthe 1st
AD.Theyare
onlyinvolvedduringthe productionprocess,notpre or postproducton.Theirjobistomake sure
shootinggoesaheadsmoothly.The ADdoesnothave anyinvolvementwhatsoeverwiththe actual
creationof the movie,whichiswhyhe isnot as importantas the DOP – howevertheirrole isstill a
vastlyimportantone.Theykeepeveryonetoschedule.The castingDirectoristhe leastimportant
out of thisgroup,as theyare onlyinvolvedduringthe pre-productionprocess.Theironlyjobisto
gatherthe cast.They are belowthe director,asagaintheyare followingthe directorsvision.They
are alsobelowthe DOPand 1st
AD because theyare onlyinvolvedduringpre-production,andthey
do notactuallyhave that manyjob requirementsorresponsibilities.Theyare still important,
howevertheyare notas importantas the onespreviouslydiscussed.
Location Manager / Producer / Production Manager
The most importantrole fromthose listedabove isthe producer.Thisisbecause theyare incharge
of the production.They're responsible foreverything,therefore theyare the mostimportant.They
hire the crew,all cast, and isin charge of the general designof the movie.Theyare the onlyteam
memberwhohasthe powerto fire the directorif theyare nothappywiththe qualityof the
production.Outof all those roles,the secondmostimportantone Isthe productionmanager.They
are still important,buttheydon'thave asmuch poweroverthe project.However,theydohelpwith
the shootingschedules,andthe budget.Theyworkalongside the producertolowertheirworkload,
but doesn'thave asmuch poweroverthe productionasthe producerdoes,whichiswhyproduction
managersaren'tas importantasthe producer.The leastimportantjobrole inthe lististhe Location
Manager, as they're only involvedinone task;findinglocations.Hisjobdoesn'tcomprise of many
things,itisn'tas broad as the produceror productionmanager.Theydonot oversee budgets,cast,
or crew,theyjustmanage the locations.Theirjobisstill necessary,astheyare incharge of finding
appropriate settingsforscenestobe filmedin,andorganise the filmingtohappen –but theyaren't
as importantas the productionmanagerandthe producer.
Camera Op / D.O.P / Clapper Loader / Focus Puller / Lighting Spark /
Gaffer / Editor
The D.O.P isthe most importantmemberoutof those listedabove.Thisisbecause theyare in
charge of makingsure the productionof the movie takesplace,andrunssmoothly,bestmatching

2. the visionof the director.Theyhave the mostimpactof the movie outof those previouslylisted.The
secondmostimportant out of those isthe editor.Theyare the one whopiecestogetherthe final
movie.Withoutthe editor,there wouldn'tbe afinal product.Theyare responsible forcompilingall
the footage intoa final piece.The nextpersonof the mostimportance isthe cameraoperator. This
isbecause,despite the factthatthere wouldn'tbe amovie withoutthem, onset,theyonlyhave one
majorrole,whereasthe editorhasseveral.They're the onlypersonwhoisallowedtotouchthe
camera,and the onlypersonwhorecordsthe scene.However,the directorcantake overthisjob,
whichiswhyit isn'tas important.Nextonthe listof importance isthe clapperloader.Thisis
because,withoutthe clapperloader,there wouldn’tbe afinal product,astheyare the one who
makessure that the footage isn'tdamaged.The jobof the clapperloaderishighlyunderestimated,
howevertheystill aren'tasimportantasthe camera operator. Aswithoutthem, there wouldn'tbe
a reel of footage forthemto loadand unloadinthe firstplace.The focus pullerfollowsthe clapper
interms of importance.Theyare incharge of makingsure the whole filmisinfocus.Withoutthem,
the movie wouldbe ruined, aseverythingwouldbe outof focus,and therefore the shotfootage
wouldbe unusable.Theirjobisvital,however,theyare notas importantasthe clapperloaderorthe
camera operator.Next,intermsof importance isthe gadder.Inthe hierarchy,he ismore important
than the lightingspark,astheyare in charge of lightingoverall,whereasthe sparkIsincharge of just
a specificpartof it.Both rolesare vital,however,the gadderisincharge of all aspectsof lighting,
whereasthe sparkisresponsibleforsettingupthe equipmentinitially.
Costume / Makeup / Props
All of these membersof the teamhave the same level of importance withinaproduction.Theyeach
have theirindividual roleswithinaproduction,andare all equallyasimportantaseach other.The
costume departmentgathersall costumesnecessaryinascene.The Makeupdepartmentmustuse
appropriate techniquesonthe cast,to suitthe role,the mood,and the character withinthe scene.
For example,villainswillhave darkspookymakeup,combinedwithinjuries,burns,scarsetc.The
Propsdepartmentare alsoimportantbecause theygatherall necessaryobjectsthatare required
withinascene.All three jobsare creativitybased.Theyare all of equal importance,andIthinkthat
theyhave the same level of impactona production,theyare equal.
Sound / Boom / Foley
The Foleyisthe most importantoutof the jobroleslistedabove,asthey're incharge of everysound
effectthatispresentwithinthe movie.Veryfew/nosoundeffectswithinafilmare recordedlive,
theyare mostly/all addedafterwardsduringpost-production.Examplesinclude;footstepsand
gunshots.Anyandall soundeffectsinthe productionisthe Foley'sresponsibility.Theyare the most
importantpersonoutof those three because they have somuch responsibility,andsomuch work
to do.The secondmostimportantrole issound – as theymustmake sure tha tall dialogue withina
scene isrecordedclearlyandproperly,andthatthe qualityof itmatcheswhat the directorexpects.
The sound operatormust make sure that the dialogue isof excellentquality.However,becausehe
mustonlyperformhissoundchecks during production,andnotafter,he is notas importantas the
FoleyArtist,asthe Foleymustbe involvedinmore aspectsof the soundjob.Outof all of these jobs,
the leastimportantone isthe Boom Operator.Thisisbecause,incomparisontoFoleyandSound,
thisisquite a simplisticjob – all theyhave to do isholdthe boommic inthe airand make sure that it
isn'tin the frame.There isn'tas manytechnical aspectstothe job,andtherefore itisof least
importance.