It takes a lot of people to make a film, including many positions that are not as commonly talked about as a director or actor would be. Behind every production is a whole team of individuals with different skill strengths and experiences. Of course we know the director, but who gave them that job? Similarly, we know the actors' names, but who makes sure they look good on camera? According to an article from stephenfollows.com, the average number of people working on a feature length film is 588! 

In this month's blog post, we dive into some lesser-known roles on set and what they contribute when presenting the film on the big screen. 

Director of Photography -  Ryan Schmidt

Ryan Schmidt is a DP (director of photography) from Houston, Texas. He has experience working on sets with documentary films and commercial work for companies such as AT&T, Verizon, and Spotify. Schmidt started as an intern for a production company and then began doing his own freelance work. 

“I've worked on positions that nobody really talks about unless you're in the camera department.”

In a short interview, he explained how he worked as a “Head Tech” at HBO for about two to three years: “I've worked on armed cars… positions that nobody really talks about unless you're in the camera department.”  A head tech, he later explains, controls the “remote heads” mounted on cranes, such as seen in the “Russian Arm,” a crane that sits on top of a car. 

When asked about his challenges as a DP, Schmidt mentioned two genres that stick out to him as the most difficult. First is live sports, since a game only happens once, and there is no going back to reshoot what just happened. “If you miss something, you can't let that snowball into missing more things, right?” He describes. The second challenging genre is true crime due to the emotional and traumatic content that may need to be covered and trying to stand out in that genre since it is currently incredibly popular. 

Click here to learn more about Ryan and his work!

Colorist - Esme Smith

Esme Smith, based in New York City, has worked in the post-production community since 2007. Her career began at Technicolor Postworks and CBS, where she expanded her skill sets to include editorial finishing, color grading, and visual effects. Recently, she started her own queer-owned and women-led post-production company, Aesthetica. She has experience coloring for commercials, narratives, and documentaries, as well as visual effects experience. 

As a colorist, Smith is the person behind the computer who brings life and color to the footage. She determines the color palette, whether that be dull or bright. In a short interview, she explained what a typical day as a colorist looked like for her. She begins by relinking the media, which means reestablishing the connection from the original project files to whatever clip is in the editing timeline. She then moves on to basic correction of contrast and temperature, and then finally meets with the director and DP of the project to go over their vision of the project with any references and color palettes in mind: “It's our job to really master the technical side of color grading so that we can translate a director's language and their wants into the vision that they see on the screen…”

Click here for more info on the technical side of coloring!

When asked about how much creative control she has from project to project, Smith explained that it purely depends on the client and the vision they are striving for: “I have some clients that I've worked with for five to ten years at this point that know the vibe, right? Know the types of images I like to create, and they tend to give me a lot of running room…I am so grateful for that trust. And then I have other clients that will literally sit with me for 10 days, not because there's a trust issue, but just because they want hands-on all of the process.” She also revealed that projects can vary from anywhere to 5-15 days for completion.

Smith believes that “… coming in with a bit of a vision, coming in with pretty consistent reference samples, is only going to set you up for success through the entire grading process.” In other words, it is helpful for colorists when the director or DP clearly knows what they want. She also touched on diversity in the field: “Here is so little diversity in post-production, where filmmakers essentially have very limited choice as far as who they're working with.”

Click here to learn more about Esme and her work!

Storyboard Artist - Karl Shefelman

Karl Shefelman is a prominent storyboard artist from Austin, Texas (now based in NYC). He grew up drawing and went to NYU in 1998 to study film. He would draw storyboards for fellow students and realized he could make a career out of it. He’s worked as a storyboard artist on various films, including The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Shutter Island (2010), and A Quiet Place Part II (2020). 

Although Shefelman has moved on to directing now, he shared some insight into the storyboard artist’s process: “The storyboard artists traditionally in either in person or lately virtually, and meets with the director and the director of photography and maybe even the production designer, and just go through the scene and talk shot by shot– how are we gonna tell this story with pictures with the camera? I mean, that's our job. And many times, surprisingly, the storyboard artists may be asked to come up with ideas themselves.” He explains that storyboards are an important tool for filmmakers that shouldn’t be overlooked since it gives the director and DP a clear vision of what the shots will look like and where actors might be. 

"In animation, the storyboard artist is much less invisible."

With experience in storyboarding for live-action and animation, Shefelman discussed the differences in the process: “You need a cartoon style. In animation, the storyboard artist is much less invisible because you're basically setting what it will look like, and then it will be drawn like that and end up on the screen. In action, it’s important to have storyboards to prepare a plan and stay organized.”

Click here to learn more about Karl and his work!

Conclusion: Why don’t these roles get enough credit?

Without roles such as the director of photography, the colorist, and the storyboard artist, movies would not be what we know it as today. It takes every one of the hundreds of people listed on the end credits to put together a quality film, not just the actors and directors. These behind-the-scenes heroes bring the story to life, whether it's through mood lighting, color grading, storyboarding, among many others.