Crediting yourself..without looking arrogant

Aschu

Aschu

Well-known member
How do you go about crediting yourself when you do..oh say everything. Lights, sound camera, editing, direction producing etc. This is for smaller projects, but I end up working alone on these. I recently have been going with "created by". Is there any way other way to give yourself proper credit or is it just assumed that if you don't list anyone else, you did most of it?


Thanks,
Aaron
 
Not thrilled with "Shot and Chopped" - sounds too 'street' for my taste. How about a nice, simple, slightly formal "A Film by John Doe" or "...Created by John Doe" ?
 
how about "a so and so production"

Kubrick had that in clockwork orange, in which he directed, produced, and wrote the screenplay.

or "a film by so and so" as mentioned above
 
i know a girl who listed out every position and had her name credited there like:

directed by: me
written by: me
lighting by: me
script revisions by: me
editing supervision by: me

lmao.....she had about 11 or 12 positions listed, probably the tackiest thing i've seen in a while.
 
One day, I'm gonna omit opening credits all together. And see. Some of the best stuff I've done (not film, music and murals and such) has been without signature, without credit. It's completely different place.

I get soooooo much honesty. I get so many people to tell the truth whereas in the same situation they would watch out for my feelings. Granted, people need to make money and credit is deserved, but I like anonymity.

Just a side note. A film by seems to be the most conservative and classy way to do it.
 
In my opinion, unless you directed AND wrote the screenplay, the "A Film By" credit is undeserved.
 
arroway said:
In my opinion, unless you directed AND wrote the screenplay, the "A Film By" credit is undeserved.
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I've heard a lot of people say that "A Film By" is considered arrogant / unappreciative by the crew, because it doesn't give them adequate credit for all the work they've done. I can understand that, I'm not sure what I think about it... if it's just for marketing purposes, like A Film By Steven Spielberg, then I totally understand it. But if it's a no-name director it might be kind of arrogant.

I think in general to give yourself a lot of credits makes your movie look really small. I wrote and directed my film, but that's the extent of the credits I'd take. Of course I did things here and there in other areas, but we had professionals working those jobs so I wouldn't want to step on their toes.
 
i dont see how "a film by" would be considered arrogant or unappreciated by crew? if the crew gets credite at the end of the film that's all they should expect. anything beyond that is unrealistic. i wouldnt list my PA's in the opening credits. the crew is important, but at the end of the day they are hired help, the actual filmmakers are the producers, the writers, the DP and the director. without them you have no film. no film, no need for a crew.
 
In retrospect of asking my original question, I think IT IS very much assumed that if you don't credit anyone else, you have pulled the bulk of the weight in the project and are responsible almost entirely for it's completion and quality. That is the idea behind credits, telling the public who did what. If you have a 5 minute short with complex lighting and beautiful cinematography and the credits read "Created by John Doe" and then list the actors, the public will more or less have to assume you did everything. \
 
Aschu said:
If you have a 5 minute short with complex lighting and beautiful cinematography and the credits read "Created by John Doe" and then list the actors, the public will more or less have to assume you did everything. \
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I think that's the best way to go about it.
 
What if you wrote, directed, edited, lighted, photographed, scored, etc, your film, and thanks to the magic of editing, costumes, and green screens, you played every part, including the opposite gender ones?

That would probably be a long credit scroll with your name in it.
 
RockmanX3 said:
What if you wrote, directed, edited, lighted, photographed, scored, etc, your film, and thanks to the magic of editing, costumes, and green screens, you played every part, including the opposite gender ones?

That would probably be a long credit scroll with your name in it.
Click to expand...

It would also be hilarious. ;)
 
JonathanLB said:
It would also be hilarious. ;)
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It is, at least the first time it was done. Check out the credit on the classic short "Bambi Meets Godzilla" by Marv Newland. The opening credit roll is several times longer than the film itself, with " XXX by Marv Newland" in every position except for one ... "Marv Newland produced by Mr and Mrs Newland."
 
I put written and directed by me at the approporiate place, right before the film if there are credits at the top, right after the film if there are credits at the end. Usually the written/directed by credit is one of four or five credits (stars, DP, producer, composer) that each have 2 seconds of screen time by themselves. Then I'll put anything else I did in with the block credits while crediting as many others as possible.

SO
AD - SOMEONE
VFX - SOMEONE, SOMEONE, ME
STUNT COORDINATOR - SOMEONE
EDITING / COLOR - ME
LOCATIONS - SOMEONE
MAKEUP - SOMEONE

ETC
 
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