Video Roles

As with most activities in school, video is easy to incorporate with small groups. A 3-4 student video crew is ideal, as everyone will have a job to do for every scene. This is something that you will have to work out for yourself depending on your equipment, class size, and comfort level with various degrees of chaos. Below are some roles for student crews while shooting the video. Try to alternate roles within each crew.

Director – the director has to be aware of the concept and then make sure it is carried out by giving directions to actors and camera crew. The director evaluates each take and makes the decision when to move to a new scene. Directors also give the countdown to “action”. (top)

Camera – the camera person is responsible for shooting the take. He/she must be able to determine the right exposure and framing of the scene. The camera person should also be aware of audio quality in absence of a sound person (headphones). (top)

Sound – the sound person plays a very critical role in filming. In some cases students will come back from a “shoot” with unusable footage because the sound is inaudible (low levels, wind, traffic, etc.). Remember what your ears hear and what the camera or mic picks up are two separate things. Handheld mics are advisable in many situations. Be sure to always have headphones and use them whenever you are shooting.

Props – we generally give our propmaster two roles. First he/she needs be responsible for all the props used when filming. Most of the time this won’t be much, but props should be carefully kept in one place and checked at the end of a session to make sure they all have been returned. The propmaster doesn’t have to find all the props – just keep track of them. We also have our propmaster “track” our filming. This involves maintaining the integrity of each scene by making sure that actors have the same props, positions, and looks. The propmaster should also make sure that “anomalies” don’t pop up during a scene (a car suddenly appearing, bystanders gawking, etc.). (top)

Winder – the winder was needed back in the old movie days. The winder had to keep an eye on the cameraman ensuring that film was traveling through the camera. We tend to ignore this role, but we have had a number of video sessions ruined when the cameraman reversed a thumb – on “standby” when supposed to be recording and on “record” when there was no action. The winder just makes sure that the camera is recording when it’s supposed to. (top)

Clapboard – another optional position, but helpful when you can use it. The clapboard keeps track of scenes and takes. This is most helpful to film editing later on as it makes for easy scene detection (manual and automated). (top)

Whatever the situation, each person must be responsible for his equipment – checking it out and returning it when done. (top)

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