Building Your Career

What are three suggestions in this article for beginning your career in the industry? How can an internship help?

1. Apply for an intership

An internship can be a great opportunity for a beginning filmmaker to gain experience in the field. Although internship programs for major studios are highly competitive, challenging yourself to those positions can bring great benefits. While these internships are considered more of a training rather than an occupation, these experiences can leave you with valuable connections for future employment.

2. Work as a Production Assistant

Responsibilities as a PA does not require a significant amount of skill to be performed. However, because this position requires a running around in different sections of production, it becomes a good overview of how a production is made. With a little enthusiasm and a good attitude, the position as a PA can help you rise up the latter in "no time."

3. Become an Assistant Editor

Although this position is considered entry-level, it requires you to have a certain amount of education and experience in editing. A job as a assistant editor may consist many cuts and edits created to help the main editor "simply sit down and begin cutting."

How a TV show gets made

What are three ways that television production is different thank feature film production? What did you find interesting about this process?

Television production is very different in that it requires one to be heavily constrained by time, requires distribution to television networks, and allows them to broadcast their show through different services. Time constraints make the writing of the script much more faster paced compared to a blockbuster movie. In a span of one blockbuster movie being made, a writer for a tv production can write thirteen 45 minute episodes. A show can be finished from a couple weeks to a couple hours before the show is aired. Once the entire episode is finished, the episode must get distributed to broadcasters around the country. While movie screenings have the movie theater to distribute their movie, tv episodes have different services to choose from to air their show. including Cable, Network TV, and streaming. I found it interesting that they were able to finish an entire episode in such as short amount of time. The writer must write quickly, the editors much make the final cut efficiently, and the production team needs to work together to meet those due dates.

Who Owns the Media

How do you think most of the media in the world being owned by just six companies affect our world? What are the pro's and cons of so few owning so much?

Because most of the media is owned by just six companies, they are able to dictate a large portion of the socially accepted idea. They have the ability to maneuver the public into having a certain political stance on a subject. Therefore, the audience is more susceptible to incorrect information. Corruption can also occur when such a small number owns the entire media. Some pros of this is that they can provide a greater global reach for smaller, newer companies. This allows more opportunities for upcoming companies to reach a wider audience. However, there are cons to this practice. With very few owning the media, it causes them to become "sluggish oligopolies," creating limited competition among these media companies.

EPK Director/Producer

How is an EPK Director/Producer's role different from a traditional film director or producer? What are some of their responsibilities on a production?

Compared to a traditional film director or a producer, an EPK Director/Producers are in charge of the creating behind the scenes, documentaries, an extras for the DVD release of the main film. On production of their film, they must shoot effective b-roll that enhances the story to better communicate the main film. They will choose specific days in which many cast members are on set. In order to film interviews, they must schedule with the cast and crew. They must also keep in mind that interviews must be close to the set as possible. Proper lighting and audio must be acknowledged for the interviews. They are responsible to create the film up to two months in advance to the premiere.

Lighting Technicians

Why are lighting technicians so important? What are some of their responsibilities on a film?

Lighting technicians are important because they are responsible for how the subject is lit and assisting with the power supply. One of the most important responsibilities include directing the Gaffer and the Best Boy to coordinate their creative vision. This creative vision for lighting must be tested beforehand in what is known to be the lighting tests. During these lighting tests and on the day of shoot, the lighting technicians will be using equipment such as light bulbs, traces, and filters to create their desired effect. Angles and positions in which the subject is lit also needs to be in consideration because the effect lighting has on the subject varies with these components.

1st Assistant Director

Why is the 1st Assistant Director so important? What are some of their responsibilities on a film?

The first Assistant Director is important because they decide how the scenes are shot and how those scenes are put in order through the collaboration with the director. Their primary role in the production is assisting the director through their supervision of the production members. They manage the communication between the director and the crew so the director will not be overwhelmed with abundance of communication and is able to work with the specific crew members he or she wishes to direct. During the preproduction phase, the Assistant Director must create a shooting schedule, keeping in mind the time and budget constraints. This shooting schedule is vital to the day of the shooting because the AD must be able to keep the entire cast and crew working within the schedule. They also decide what kind of shots are necessary through the creation of storyboards and organization of desired props.

Production Sound Mixer

Why is the Production Sound Mixer so important? What are some of their responsibilities on a film?

The Production Sound Mixer important because they make sure the dialog recorded during filming is clear by working closely with the boom operator. Their biggest challenge in location is the unwanted noise. They must be able to choose the appropriate microphone for the occasion to avoid unwanted audio. This choice is also necessary when the camera position required for the shot obstructs the traditional microphone position. Furthermore, it is their job to communicate with various departments (costume, visual effects, producer, director) to achieve their creative vision. Once the decision is made, the Production Sound Mixer must listen to the audio off set to check for any imperfections. During the post production phase, they are responsible for the audio recording if the scene requires music. They will then proceed to send the audio files to post production to be edited into the film.