A film crew is a group of people hired by a film company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. Crew are distinguished from cast, the actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for characters in the film.

Production and general

These crew members keep the production orderly.

Film producer 

Responsible for tracking expenses versus budget, hiring and paying cast and crew and making sure production stays on schedule. Guild: Producers Guild of America ( http://www.producersguild.org/pg/ )

Film director 

Responsible for overall content and artistic vision of the film. Guild: D.G.A. Directors Guild of America ( http://www.dga.org/ )

Assistant director 

Guild: D.G.A. Directors Guild of America ( http://www.dga.org/ )

Line producer 

Producer with day-to-day responsibility for a film. The line producer is responsible for keeping the production on schedule and within budget.

Unit manager 

Works under senior producer to handle administrative and management aspects of the film.

Script supervisor/continuity person (formerly script girl) 

Keeps track of what parts of the script have been filmed and makes notes of any deviations between what was actually filmed and what appeared in the script. Ensures that consistency is maintained from shot to shot.

Production designer 

Person responsible for the visual appearance of a production.

Art director 

Oversees artists and craftspeople who build the sets.

Camera and lighting

Cinematographer or director of photography 

Guilds: A.S.C. American Society of Cinematographers, B.S.C. British Society of Cinematographers

Camera operator 

Works under Cinematographer to set up and choeograph shots. Physically operates the camera during shots.

Focus puller (First assistant camera) 

Responsible for keeping camera in focus during a take. Assists camera operator.

Clapper loader (Second assistant camera), formerly clap boy 

Operates clapboard at beginning of each take and loads film stock into film magazines. Assists first assistant camera.

Gaffer 

Chief electrician

Best boy 

Assistant to gaffer

Key grip 

Supervisor of the grips. Grips are responsible for jobs such as setting up equipment and moving props.

Light technician 

Sets up and controls lighting equipment

Production sound

Production sound mixer 

Head of sound department on the set. Responsible for recording all sound on a set.

Boom operator 

Assistant to production sound mixer. Responsible for microphone placement and movement during a take.

Recording mixer  

Postproduction picture

Film editor 

Guilds: A.C.E. American Cinema Editors

Chyron operator 

Creates titles and/or text graphics. (Chryon is a brand name for a character generator.)

Color timer 

Works in film lab to adjust the film color balance.

Postproduction sound

In the traditional Hollywood system

Dialogue editor 

Responsible for balancing, assembling and editing all the dialog in the soundtrack.

Sound effects editor 

Responsible for balancing, assembling and editing all the sound effects in the soundtrack.

Northern California system

Sound designer 

Responsible for all aspects of a film's audio track. (See Walter Murch, Skywalker Sound.)

Common to both systems

Music supervisor 

Works with composer, mixers and editors to create and integrate the film's music. Also known as musical director.

Music editor 

Foley artist 

Creates and records sound effects.

Re-recording mixer 

Mixes together all the final sound elements, including dialog, music and sound effects.

See also:

• Screenplay
• Motion picture terminology
• List of motion picture-related topics (extensive alphabetical list)