Planning: Group roles

PRODUCTION ROLES

There are different role within a production which describes a member's job and importance within the production. Each role needs to be carried out by one person who is suited for the tasks ahead. For example, the director will need to be loud, confident and skilled in improvisation to make quick changes.

• Camera Operator - This person is responsible for controlling camera shots, angles and movement. The purpose of this role is to film all of the shots so there is content for the other members - such as the Editor - to carry out their job successfully. Also to simply transform the storyboard into a visual motion picture. This requires taking into consideration risks such as breaking the 180 degree rule or breaking cameras.

Our camera operator is Gizem because she has a steady hand and remains calm within the group at all times.

• Producer - This person is responsible for assisting the Director in procedures. The Producer also checks that every member of the team is working to a high standard and creating the correct content. This requires maintaining and communicating respect within the group, making everybody feel comfortable to that their job is of a better quality, despite the differences on task difficulty.

Our producer is Lara because she carried out the same role last year. Lara always comes up with ideas and suggestions which is what a director needs.

• Director - This person is responsible for being in charge of the organisation of the production. The Director is very important as they make many choices that effect the whole outcome of the music video. They work alongside the Producer. An example of their purpose is the directing of artist - where to go, how to go there, and what to do once they are there. They can also yell 'cut' to stop a scene if they wish to make changes. This requires communication between the Director and every member of the team, so they are in a comfortable position to take advice and guidance.

Our director is Khaled because his ideas are clear and concise. The final idea has mostly elements of his initial idea, and he has helped with important stages of planning such as the copyright letter. These things show leader qualities.

• Lighting Operator - This person is responsible for deciding which kind of lighting will suit each frame in every shot, determined by every factor such as location, time, and themes (e.g. romance). This role is important because the lighting needs to suit the shot and if a happy scene is accompanied by a dark, dreary lighting, it won't make sense to the audience and stir up false grudges of something about to happen when it really won't. This requires careful consideration particularly when filming inside and at evening/night-time.

Our lighting operator is Khaled because the Hip-Hop genre typically has low-key lighting; Khaled devised an idea that could use a mixture of lighting which is why he should be in charge of it.

• Costume, Hair & Make-up - This person is responsible for the appearance of all characters. This includes designing their costume, the style of their hair and how their make-up is set. It's important because the appearance helps the character, particularly the artist, to get into character and perform better. Required attributes include creativity and a steady hand for make-up/hair

Our costume, hair & makeup person is Gizem. This is because she would like a career in business, and as our music video is centred around, essentially a businessman, she will have a good idea on what he should look like.

• Story boarder - This person is responsible for the team's general idea of a plot, by creating detailed descriptions of every frame with a sketch of what it will look like. This role is really important because the storyboard is where all the ideas tie into such as a camera shots and the duration. It saves time, conflict, and in a real production a lot of money, to create a storyboard and follow the basis rather than making up decisions on set. This requires an agreement on details and the protection of the storyboard so it doesn't get lost. Somebody creative should take up the job as you have to imagine the scene you're writing/drawing about as if it's already been shot and edited.

The storyboarder is Lara. This is because she is interested in art so can visualise details into a picture well.

• Editor - This person is responsible for making the scene look professional by putting frames together and applying changes to the footage. This includes things like Fade To Black or dissolve. These are both types of transitions between one shot to another. Editing programmes are an advantage because if something during filming is wrong, you can cut it out through the process of editing. This requires creativity and IT skills as it's done on the computer.

Our editor is Khaled as last year he edited his music video within two days, with an excellent result.

• Print designer - This person is responsible for making the digipack, which includes a CD design and a poster. These are promotional tools so important in the making of a music video. For our music video, the digipack will be shown at the start of it, so it needs to be ready by the time we start filming.

Our print designer is Lara because she has achieved an A in GCSE ICT and briefly knows how to use programmes such as photoshop, BeFunky, etc

• Photographer - The photographer is responsible for taking any images to be used on the digi pack. For this we need a good camera, but also a steady hand and observation & perception skills of which angles to shoot in and at what time.

Our photographer is Lara because typically the print designer and photographer go hand in hand

This planning has been - and will continue to be - beneficial to our group as we are now certain that each role will be fulfilled. They're all important, so somebody needs to take on at least one. They are important because it's exactly what a production is all about - a production is not just footage made fancy. It's all the people running around ensuring everything is perfect so that it is ABLE to be made fancy. Roles are also a sense of personal confidence as we have assigned them according to traits we believe each member of the group should be proud of.