Filmmaking 101: Crew roles you can consider when venturing into filmmaking

Calm down. I know we all want to be Directors, screenwriters or producers; they are the shiny names when filmmaking is discussed.

However, they are only behind the steering wheel.

There is a whole department of unpopular components that makes up the filmmaking vehicle and without them, the production is bound to crash.

Remember that filmmaking is a collaborative effort. If you're familiar with Hollywood, you may have noticed the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who make up the cast and crew of a single film. This is to show that the chasm is wide enough to accommodate the manifold of the world's problems.

So, instead of beating yourself up about not being any of the shiny crew member above, you can be one of these:

1. Prop master/person

Any item that an actor carries around, touches, or interacts with as part of a scene is considered a prop. The prop master, also known as the property master is responsible for producing the props for a shoot either by buying, renting, designing, or manufacturing.

Props can include items such as phones, books, umbrellas, instruments, pens, dishes, food, guns, toys, and many, many other things.

2. Food stylist

A food stylist for movies is the person who makes the food and drinks look appetizing throughout the course of the shoot. This is not as simple as it sounds. It is not just about setting the table with food and then camera rolls. No.

A single scene can take hours to shoot, sometimes, they even take days so the job of the food stylist is to continue to ensure that the food is fresh and consumable for all those takes. This is another area we don't really look into in today's filmmaking world.

3. Grip

Another crew member we might not know is the grip. This is a technical person that cuts across many departments of a film set. He is in charge of all the technical setups and rigging. The grip is also in charge of securing production equipment.

The grip works with light designers to help refine or shape the angles of lights in order to create a desired pattern.

4. Armorer

An armorer is a role similar to a pyro technician, but he focuses solely on providing weapons for a film set. Typically, they mostly have a background in law enforcement, military or must have bad professional training in handling arms.

5. Gaffer

This is the head of the lighting team on a film set. He works hand in hand with the production designer and most especially the Director of Photography in order to design a lighting plan for a particular scene, location or setting.

Gaffer works with the grip and other member of crew to achieve the lighting plan created