VOTD: Everything You Need To Know About All The Jobs In Movie Credits
Nowadays, audiences like to sit through the credits to movies because there's a decent chance there will be some kind of scene that plays in the middle of them or at the end when all the names have rolled. But there's a reason all those names are listed, and it's because they all deserve recognition for the hard work they put into the movie.
However, it can be hard to care about all those names scrolling by when you don't know what a majority of the jobs listed are. Sure, there are some obvious listings such as the caterer, hair stylist, driver, stunt people and more. But what the hell is a gaffer? What's the different between the key grip and the best boy grip? What's the difference between a "written by" credit and a "story by" credit?
You can find all that out and more in the extensive video with movie crew jobs explained after the jump.
This video from John P. Hess and Filmmaker IQ is remarkably thorough in explaining the dozens of jobs that exist on a major film production. Furthermore, they also explain the hierarchy of jobs on a film's set, working from the director down to the production assistants. It's like a crash course on the technical side of filmmaking.
Some of you cinephiles out there might know a good chunk of this stuff already, but I'm sure there's something to learn here for everyone, no matter how well-versed they are with what goes on behind the scenes of movies. For example, I know plenty of film buffs who wouldn't be able to tell me the difference between an executive producer and an associate producer, despite knowing plenty of other trivial things about the motion picture business.