How Important Are Certain Crew Positions on a Microbudget Indie?

shutterspeedfilms

shutterspeedfilms

Well-known member
Getting various feedback from different people regarding this issue.

Let's use a budget of less than $100k.

How important/essential would you say the following crew positions are?

-1st AC (assuming the DP is also operating camera)
-2nd AC (see above)
-electric
-gaffer
-grip
-makeup/hair
-script supervisor
-2nd AD
 
Less than $100K, can mean $80K, which I don't regard as "micro"; to me, "micro" implies no more than about $10K.

Anyhow, re: crew positions. It all depends on the kind of movie it is. Is it a horror that involves makeup - then obviously, from that list, I'd put makeup/hair as #1. So there's no such thing as "for all movies" - each is an individual case. But very, very roughly (and again, this would change depending on the kind of movie), I'd say, on that list, the only two positions I think would be super important on almost any movie, would be "grip" and "makeup/hair". The rest, can be cut, though obviously, if you can afford it, you can add a few - if you have the money... in which case, I'd add script supervisor... but understand, that in any case, any of those folks would be doing other jobs as well if we are talking about a micro budget, so f.ex., the grip would be the gaffer and the guy responsible for things electric etc.; finally, let me repeat yet again - depends on the movie: obviously a one room drama with two actors will need a different crew than a zombie movie with a bunch of extras all over the place.
 
shutterspeedfilms said:
-1st AC (assuming the DP is also operating camera)
-2nd AC (see above)
-electric
-gaffer
-grip
-makeup/hair
-script supervisor
-2nd AD
Click to expand...

It depends. ;-)

1st AC/2ndAC - if you have complex camera moves, then very, if not, not really important.
Electric - if you are shooting at night, very.
Gaffer - Most of the time important, especially if they are designing the lighting.
Grip - Depends on the complexity of the setups. A $30k comedy with standard setups, not very.
Makeup/Hair - Depends on the look you want and if your actors have experience doing their own.
Script supervisor - Generally always important.
2nd AD, not often useful on a micro film.
 
tildenm said:
It depends. ;-)

1st AC/2ndAC - if you have complex camera moves, then very, if not, not really important.
Electric - if you are shooting at night, very.
Gaffer - Most of the time important, especially if they are designing the lighting.
Grip - Depends on the complexity of the setups. A $30k comedy with standard setups, not very.
Makeup/Hair - Depends on the look you want and if your actors have experience doing their own.
Script supervisor - Generally always important.
2nd AD, not often useful on a micro film.
Click to expand...


Interesting to see some different perspectives on this forum. I recall Taormina indicating that his script supervisor seemed unnecessary, yet he had high regard for having multiple hair/makeups on set. I also know a person who feels strongly about having experienced grips on set at all times.
 
Very hard to answer without knowing the script and without knowing the respective skills of the crew already on board.

Considering it's a comedy:

Assistant camermen probably aren't that critical. Most comedy plays best with wide shots and it's not really necessary to use the camera in a particularly dramatic fashion in the way that it may be in other genres...all depends on the script of course.

Bear in mind that cutting corners to save a few quid here and there can slow up production time costing more in the long run. Do you want the DOP changing batteries, tape etc?

I'd have them, but you can conceivably dispense with them.

Would personally always have a gaffer and some sparks around. Again, you're going to be losing time if everything has to stop to move the lights around.

Make-up....probably more important than you might think for the final look, but you could probably get away with a talented and cheap beginner.
 
Without taking the time to read the others postings, Im going to say, these jobs are moreless all equal in a sense, the film will suffer if these are not filled with qualified people.

It's like saying, what good is a race car driver without a pit crew? not much. T
 
maranfilms said:
Without taking the time to read the others postings, Im going to say, these jobs are moreless all equal in a sense, the film will suffer if these are not filled with qualified people.

It's like saying, what good is a race car driver without a pit crew? not much. T
Click to expand...

Well, more like which pit members could you do without if necessary.
 
I guess if you have to shoot with a skeleton crew, the most important players would be.

1.The producer, lock down locations, contracts, release forms,food, ect...
2. camera operator, most guys can pull focus as they run the cam. It's just much easier and faster to have an AC, Not to mention, you can pull off better camera moves with a full camera crew.
3.Audio, boom op.
4.PA. Find a good production assistant to do makeup, slate, get coffee, food, setup gear, ect...

I would say 4 is a minimum to do any kind of work in a decent amount of time. Of course you can do it all with just two guys, but it's hard and makes for one hell of a long day.
 
I've made features in this range and higher- here is my order of importance.
1. Director
2. sound- boom op
3. DP who is the camera op
4. Producer
5. Script Supervisor
6. Grip
7. PA
8. A.D.
 
J.D., I'm interested to know why no gaffer or electric. Also, what is it about the script supervisor's role that you consider of such high importance to your production?
 
Director
UPM/1st AD
Sound (mixing and boom op)
Cinematographer operating camera
1st AC
Art director
Gaffer
Key Grip
PA/runner


I guess that's not too small... but to me, any smaller than that you start needing people who can wear unrelated hats... so like grip/wardrobe or actor/gaffer.
 
shutterspeedfilms said:
J.D., I'm interested to know why no gaffer or electric. Also, what is it about the script supervisor's role that you consider of such high importance to your production?
Click to expand...

If you've ever gotten into editing and noticed nothing matching from one-shot to the next, you know EXACTLY why they're so important... :2vrolijk_08:

Although seriously I think their important depends on the length of the movie, locations, and shooting schedule. If the actors are always in the same clothing, in 1 room, the whole film then a scripy isn't that helpful. If you have to shoot characters walking out of a building, and you shot the interior scene a week ago, you need a scripty. Ideally everyone pays, and most people think they do, but realistically unless you have someone dedicated to that job, mistakes WILL BE MADE.

To your question on the AC and Gaffer though...
- If the DP is operating camera, I would consider a Gaffer mandatory, the workload would just be too much.
- 1st and 2nd AC largely depends, imho, on how complex of a camera setup you've got.
 
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Yeah you could probably stand to loose the 2nd AC, but that's something you have to work out with your DP and discuss what his needs are going to be. At that budget you definitely need one AC though, if your spending that much money, you want your shots in focus.

Also I don't know how some people above have omitted electrics or grips... your going to pay for them, either for them to get your shots setup so you can shoot, or in overtime on everyone elses paycheck because its taking you 8 hours per setup. The only other person I could possibly see getting rid of to save money is hair/makeup, you just have to make sure your actors are comfortable with that and are capable of handling it on their own.

Oh a note on Grips and Electrics, if you get good Keys you can usually get away with getting bright PA's to do the work of a regular grip. Assign that dept. the PA who would best serve it and you can save a little money and help a PA move up the food chain.
 
From my small experience in ultralowno budget filmmaking, I'd say the script supervisor is THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON TO HAVE if you are actually hoping to shoot something that holds together. You don't have money to revisit a set or reshoot scenes or add scenes or attempt ADR fixes for the stuff you will inevitably not get without scripty.

This is the person whose job it is to know whether you've shot the material you need to shoot while everything's set up and everyone's still there. Very costly if that's messed up.
 
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First of all when it comes to micro budgets there is no such thing as 30-60k range... You yore too limited with your funds to give yourself a benefit of "we'll try to do it for 30k but if things go bad we have 60k to spare..." EVERY dollar counts so you really have to create a realistic budget based on EVERY dollar you have access to. The extra $1k extra you have or don't can mean so much to the production.

So in that sense i know that the questions is theoretical rather then practical. That said, every position you have mentioneded is important but it all depends... For instance your scrip super might not be so crucial if you rehearse your actors well and get yourself a good DP who will tell you what shots you need to cover the scene (then again which $30k film has access to experienced DP?), at the same time if you are improvising a lot who will keep track of all the ad-lib lines and camera positions without one?

I say you need the following:
director
producer/prod manager
DP
1st AC
camera intern
gaffer
lighting intern
make-up
sound
 
shutterspeedfilms said:
-1st AC (assuming the DP is also operating camera)
-2nd AC (see above)
-electric
-gaffer
-grip
-makeup/hair
-script supervisor
-2nd AD
Click to expand...

Hey! After having done a Film Protocol with every crew member. I think as a director, it really depends on the film.

Because we did a Zombie Film, we really required a makeup artist. That was a given. Due to the setting being in the dark, we required a good Grip that did both Lights and Dolly - so we did not use a Assistant Cameraman. Though thinking back... with our limited time, a second cinematographer would definitely have helped for two angles at once. We also had a script supervisor along with a scriptwriter on set to be ready to make changes (And they enforced the lines too hard).

From that knowledge, I had the following as Crew for my Realist Film (Which I believe would be quite similar to a Comedy?). Apart from being a Director, I had a Scriptwriter, Editor who were with me at all time. On set, the Editor would share Cinematographer with myself. Whilst the Scriptwriter would be a Clapper Loader. In addition, I had two people volunteer to be a Key Grip and a Boom Operator. Why such?

As our Realist film was relatively simple, I did not think we needed a makeup artist. Rather, I wanted it to be as natural as possible. So I told them to come as they would normally go to work / go out - removing the need of a Makeup Artist. I then decided to keep it simple and use natural lighting, reducing another member of the crew. I preferred to have them in their natural state. This applied to having a script supervisor as well. I very much gave the scriptwriter a loose script to improvise with. So rather than having a Script Supervisor, I just worked as a Continuity Manager to make sure the story would have flowed with the improvisation.

Because our set was small, we felt two cinematographers were enough, and we needed no more assistant cameramans. We did however, had a Grip that was in charge of one dolly shot (That was taken out) who would have helped the Boom Operator share two boom mics. Why? One to capture the diegetic sound and one to capture the conversation between the two. Did it work? Yes.

So for me, I had 5 men in total sharing
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Editor
- Script Writer
- Key Grip
- Boom Operator

In Conclusion, I think it really depends on the specific needs of your film. Is it simple? Realism? Maybe you don't need that many. Do you have a complicated action film in a poorly lit location? Then you'll definitely need a good Gaffer, Grip and possibly a Makeup Artist. For a Comedy, I'd definitely have the crew I had above sans the editor on set in addition to a Script Supervisor because they really help work out a comedy!
 
Drew Ott said:
Director
UPM/1st AD
Sound (mixing and boom op)
Cinematographer operating camera
1st AC
Art director
Gaffer
Key Grip
PA/runner


I guess that's not too small... but to me, any smaller than that you start needing people who can wear unrelated hats... so like grip/wardrobe or actor/gaffer.
Click to expand...


This is pretty much my list, except add one more PA.
 
OldCorpse said:
Less than $100K, can mean $80K, which I don't regard as "micro"; to me, "micro" implies no more than about $10K.
Click to expand...

IMHO I consider under 10k to be no-budget. 100k is certainly within micro-budget.

As far as crew for that goes for this budget I would consider all of those positions extremely useful if not essential. You could lose the second AC in favor of a DIT if shooting digital(or have your second pull double duty). And depending on your G&E package maybe an extra grip/electric swing, seeing as lighting and rigging tend to be very time consuming and time is $$.
 
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