Film Jobs Info» construction

Carpenter

Shoot — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:13:32 +0000

Carpenters are an essential position within any film production. At the simplest they may undertake furniture repair for other departments, at the best they will be required to construct huge and interesting sets.The work will vary a lot but also includes much repetitive work, particularly on larger productions, such as making ‘flats’ – flat panel wall elements that will later be used to comprise a set – or building rostrum which will raise the set floor of the studio floor. Carpenter film jobs are usually easy to come by but to progress requires a high tolerance for adaptation, long hours and a degree of creative impulse.

The work is common to most carpentry outside film with a few notable exceptions. Firstly sets require allowance for the movement and access of film crews and camera and for the collapsing and erection in kit set form. This means that sets are designed and constructed to include ‘break’ points that allow individual wall elements to be lifted out or ‘floated’ and other times are built complete in a different location than the shoot studio, and need to be moved in and quickly erected. In practice this means the methods of construction use much lighter timbers, and employ screws over nails in many instances.

The other variance from non film carpentry is the other trades that the carpenter must co-ordinate with. Rather than plumbers and electricians you liaise with sculptors and set dressers, instead of an architect you have an art director. As you develop skills within the field, you will learn the needs and concerns of each other trade and the technical requirements of camera crews. A favourite and coveted position to work towards is on set ‘standby’ carpenter, a job that gets you close to the action but which can be stressful when you are called upon to make changes whilst the director and crew are standing watching and waiting… but which has the perks of free food, and many hours of watching and not labouring, something which brings its own challenge of boredom!

If you want to break into film work volunteer on small amatuer films and theatre productions doing set building and equipment manufacture to develop your understanding of processes, and to demonstrate your enthusiasm for the field. Try and get the name of the art director or construction manager and get onto his phone list, like most film jobs persistance is the key because things can change moment to moment. If they have no work today, by tomorrow the scedule may have changed and suddenly they need 12 carpenters for a few weeks work.
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Greensperson

Shoot — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:43:49 +0000

The greensperson, traditionally referred to as the ‘greensman’, is the standard position in the Greens department or possibly the only position on a smaller job where greens is part of construction. Key aspects of greensman film jobs are extensive use and manufacture of artificial plants and keeping greenery alive on concrete studio floors under powerful lighting and the threat of the crews tramping all over the plants.

On larger jobs the development of a nursery might be required or the growth and sourcing of crops months in advance. When working on The Last Samurai in New Zealand, the greensperson’s had to plan well in advance for the supply of traditional Japanese apple blossoms and wheat for making thatched rooves. On another production large fields of corn were required for indoor use on a raised platform, and on another fully mature trees are sourced, felled and cast as moulds for the construction of artificial forests indoors over steel armatures. Work can include making swamps, caring for potted plants, moving dirt or supplying drift wood.

The greensperson will typically oversee labourers and assist and consult with other film jobs such as sculptors (who may be carving in polystyrene fake branches) an steel fabricators who are making substructure for a huge tree and require guidance on the proper twists and turns to look authentic.

When on location work may involve the adaptation of existing landscapes or the dressing with greenery of buildings. It may require the removal of planting and care until the restoration so that the location is left in the condition it was found in. A greensman film job is varied and involves more than just greenery, the work extends to other landscape elements such as fences, or road sanding and the ‘greening out’ of unwanted visual elements, particularly on period films – for example a modern satellite dish on an 18th century cottage which will have to be disguised.

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Draftsperson

Shoot — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:12:18 +0000

If you are a designer or more particularly an architect, this is the perfect entry position in to a film or television career. You get to enter close to the design action and can bring your skill set to bear on the design and implementation of set designs and sometimes props.

If you know how to draught (English) or draft (U.S. English) then you can start out working directly for the production designer. On smaller jobs the production designer, and sometimes art director, will do their own ‘construction drawings’. These might be little more than a sketch and rough plan on a piece of A4 with some overall dimensions, the skill and imagination of the head builder is relied upon to extrapolate details and many are able to be resolved on the fly through a direct interaction between sculptors, builders, painters and the designer. As a job grows in size, numbers of crew and numbers of sets, the designer will get less and less time to take a ‘hands on’ approach. They will be attending meetings about budgets, design issues, going to see screenings of the days footage (‘rushes’ or ‘dailys’) and moving quickly between a collection of half built sets. In these circumstances the production designer comes to rely on the construction and design drawings issued by the art department, as an agreed set of instructions about what the set should be created like. Sometimes these drawings will be signed off by the producer and/or director before issuing. In the absence of the production designer or and art director, these drawings are an agreed reference point for continuation of the set or prop.

The nature of the drawings will vary depending on the needs of a production, the set up of the rest of the art department and the style of the designer. If the team consist of a well organised ‘dressing’ department the designer may be confident that hey can leave props and furniture decisions to the lead set dresser. In other instances a designer may prefer that the draughtsperson includes these within the drawings. Thus unlike with a traditional set of architectural drawings a draftsperson working on a film job will include furniture, wall fixtures, surface materials and so on. The more information that is included and the greater input to the overall design shifts this job towards ‘set designer’ which is the role a draftsperson will progress towards with experience. An experinced set designer will take over some of the research and design decisions, as well as implementation, from the busy production designer. they ill extrapolate and implement the sketch design as briefed by the designer. The more the drawings are orientated towards pure construction details and set out information for the construction department, or simple overviews for distribution to department heads like the lighting gaffer, the more likely the role will be one of draftsperson despite the experince of the employee.

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Art Department Jobs

Shoot — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:23:20 +0000

The Art Department is often the largest single department of the production, there are many options… it depends what kind of film job you want! The Art Department Manager, Production Designer and Supervising Art Director oversee the team of creative people that includes the sub departments of Greens, Construction, Costume, Set Finishing (Paint) and Props. On smaller productions all these jobs would be included within the art department and all the staff would be based ‘in house’ because there might only be 2-3 Construction and 2 Props people so that their desks can all fit within the one office. On huge productions like King Kong where the art department as a whole reached 300+ people, these form their own sections but they ultimately remain under the leadership of the Art Department. On such jobs the Art Department tends to house just the design roles and art directors whilst all these other departments form their own workspaces and inner structures.

For example on a smaller job the construction crews pay and employment might solely be managed between the Art Dept. Manager and Accounts (or the Art Dept Coordinator if there is no accounts). As the scale of the operation grows Construction will hire their own coordinator or payroll administrator to cope with the huge number of labourers and so on.

The following are the jobs found most typically within the core Art Department all working closely with the Art Director and Production Designer;

Art Department Manager / Art Director / Assistant Art Director / Art Dept. Assistant

Art Dept. Coordinator / Art Dept. Runner / Draftsperson / Graphic Artist

Production Designer / Props Buyer / Researcher / Picture Vehicle Technician

Set Designer / Set Dresser / Story Board Artist / Supervising Art Director

See Also: Greens, Construction, Costume, Set Finishing (Paint), Props.