Production Roles - Miss Miller

Production Roles

When making a film, it is important to allocate specific roles to people in order to make sure someone is not taking on too much work, and is able to do their job properly without having to do too much work. There are 8 different roles in the production of my opening sequence and these are the producer (in charge of making sure the opening sequence gets finished), director (coordinating the filming of the opening sequence), actors (featuring in the opening sequence as characters), director of photography (the cameraman), music producers (adding and selecting the music for the opening sequence), screenplay writer (in charge of writing what happens in the opening sequence), MES coordinators (in charge of choosing and over-viewing the use of MES) and editors (in charge of putting together the footage for viewing).

As I was on a group on my own, it fell on me to take on all of the production roles and make sure that they were finished to a high enough standard that would make my piece a good thriller opening sequence.

I was the producer of my group, as I was able to properly oversee all other people in my group and make sure they knew what they were doing and that they had no problems with anything. This role called for the group member to oversee the production of our opening sequence and make sure that everything was on track and all jobs were getting done to a good standard, and making sure that what was made was ready on time to be handed in. This made all parts of production easier as it made sure that there was someone who knew what everyone was supposed to be doing and that all resources that were needed were available.

I was the Director in our group, as I knew what had been planned back to front and was able to coordinate the other members of my group properly. This role called for the group member to be present at all filming sessions and directing the other members of our group with the aim of fulfilling what had already been planned out, and making sure what had been filmed and made fit what we expected to see, so that would be no deviations to our opening sequence and that we could have everything we needed to move forward with out piece. This role helped filming as it helped to coordinate the filming and make sure that everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing, while helping editing as it meant that the editors would have something good and usable to work with in the end.

I also acted in our piece as an actor, while there was also one other actor but she was not part of my group, with myself being an actor because I could follow the narrative and knew what I wanted from myself in my performance, and that I trusted that I would be able to play my character properly. This role called for the group members to act out the parts of the characters in our piece, the killer and the victim, with myself playing the role of the killer and a girl playing the victim, with us following what had been planned out in the narrative. This helped filming as there were characters who were able to progress the narrative, giving the group something to film, and because the acting was done to a good standard, we did not have to go back and re-film parts that we would of had to if it was not done properly.

I think I was a good director of photography, as I was able to operate the camera properly and fulfill the different shots that were capable with the camera, as well as being able to understand what shots were needed for each scene and how to set up the camera properly. This role called for the group member to be present at all filming sessions and be able to follow the instructions of the director, so that the camera could be set up to record each shot as in the way it was visualized in order to follow what had been planned out, this helped speed up filming as less time was wasted trying to get each shot set up properly and waiting for an experienced camera person. This helped filming as it made sure that each scene was filmed properly and would be good to view by the audience, so that we wouldn't have to go back and redo anything if it looks bad because we don't have a dedicated cameraman.

I was the music producer of the piece, as I was able to select music that would fit into the opening sequence without sounding out of place and not causing the audience to be distracted by the music over what they were seeing on-screen. This role called for a group member to select music that could be inserted over what the audience were seeing in order to make the narrative carry feelings of suspense and shock to them, while supporting the visuals all the while. This makes filming and editing easier as when it comes to filming and editing, different shots and paces can be tried out that accompany the music found better, so that what is made works well with the music without having weird music over a scene that does not match what the audience will see, drawing their attention away from the narrative and to the odd pairing of sound and screen.

I was the screenplay writer as I had written the opening sequence, with myself being appropriate for the role as I was able to write a narrative that fits into the thriller genre and will be enjoyed by the audience. This role called for the group member to write the opening sequence so that there was something to work off of and so that everyone will know what the product should look like by the end of making it. Our screenplay writer produced the narrative that we used to base our opening sequence around, while also paying close attention to conventions of the genre to make sure what was being made was fulfilled to a good quality. This makes filming and editing easier as it will allow the other group members to understand what the narrative is and what the flow of events are, so that when it comes to editing everything can be put in order, while when filming everyone will be able to tell what comes next and what shots and resources will be needed to fulfill what has been planned for the opening sequence

I was the mise-en-scene coordinator, as I had a good understanding of what was needed for the opening sequence in terms of mise-en-scene and how it should be used for the narrative when it has been required, as this knowledge was required for a detrimental part of creating our opening sequence. This role called for the group member to be present during filming and making sure all 5 areas of mise-en-scene were accounted for in each scene and ensuring that everything looked good and worked well with such roles as making sure that the lighting was positioned properly and appropriate for the scene, making sure that all actors were wearing costumes that fit there character and that any makeup (scratches or blood) had been applied, that all actors were positioned properly and were doing what they were supposed to be doing, and that the setting and iconography were correct in all scenes and that all pieces were kept to a high standard and not broken. This makes filming and editing much easier as it would mean that we wouldn't have to go back and reshoot something if the MES was off-point and looked sloppy due to nobody supervising it.

I did the editing for my piece, as I was able to operate the editing software properly and piece together all of our footage into an opening sequence that could be understood by the audience. This role called for the group member to take all the footage that we have collected for the piece, and cut it down into a final opening sequence, using all of our best footage and making sure everything looked good when put into order and that only our best parts would be included. This made it easier on filming as someone could do the editing and make sure that everything looked good and would be able to be understood by the audience, so that if there were parts that didn't look good or weren't filmed to a high enough standard, they could be redone so that it looked better than what we previously had before reinserting the scene back into the opening sequence.

I think I was able to perform all roles to a standard that was adequate enough to produce a thriller opening sequence that would fit into the conventionality of what the audience would expect to see, for example, I was able to perform the roles of the director of photography, director and actors working together to create well filmed segments that could be made into well edited footage. There is not much to be done differently, as I was the only person in my group so there is no one who I could delegate jobs onto in order to see who could do the job better next time, although if I had been in a larger group, I could have let other people do more jobs in order to see what they could have done differently to what I have done.