lo@harvard.UUCP (Bert S.F. Lo) (02/07/86)
Could someone please explain in detail the difference in responsibility between
the producer and director of a movie and how each affects the final product?
Also, what exactly does the cinematograher do?
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::: :::::: :::reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (02/10/86)
In article <688@harvard.UUCP> lo@harvard.UUCP (Bert S.F. Lo) writes: >Could someone please explain in detail the difference in responsibility between >the producer and director of a movie and how each affects the final product? >Also, what exactly does the cinematograher do? Let's start with the easiest and most clearcut first: the cinematographer. The cinematographer photographs the film. He is responsible for the lighting, the choice of lenses, the exact placement of the camera, precise gauging of the camera's movements, etc. The director, depending on who it is, will take a greater or lesser role in this. Some directors will say, "Let's have a closeup here" and leave the rest to the cinematographer. Others will go into great detail on how they want the scene shot, but it's still the cinema- tographer's responsibility to get the picture. The director's responsibilities vary greatly, as the above suggests. Some directors say very little to anyone, just indicating what basic shots they want, telling actors where to move, saying just "yes" or "no" to costume and set choices. Others dive into everything, imposing their personalities on every choice made on the film, even the smallest. At the minimum, the director is responsible for directing the actors, getting them to give good performances. (But some directors feel that the best way to do this is cast well and then leave the actors alone.) Nowadays, directors can, in some cases, get almost complete control over everything in a film. Except one thing: the budget. Which brings us to the producer. The bulk of the producer's work is done before shooting starts. Frequently, it is the producer who finds the property, decides who will star in it, who will direct, who will shoot it, etc. He decides if it will be done in a studio or on location; if the latter, where. He scrounges for the money he can get and budgets based on that. Some producers, called "line producers", are constantly on the set during shooting, helping the director with all the financial details. (Like how to find enough money to hire the helicopter the director has suddenly discovered he needs.) Producers also work on putting the film together after shooting, not so much from the standpoint of cutting as supervising all postproduction activities on the same basis as preproduction. Sometimes directors are active in this stage of the film, sometimes not. There are also "producers" who are the brothers-in-law of the head of the studio making the film, who did essentially nothing. In some cases, producers are directly responsible for finding the money to make the film, especially for independent films. More often, the producer's responsibilities along these lines are to sell it to a studio and convince the studio to give it a sufficient budget. All of this is tremendously mutable. Some producers, like David O. Selznick, could be almost directors. Other producers once said "Yes, I'll pay the money to make it" and did nothing since. Some directors sit in the cutting room with the editor, while simultaneously holding discussions with the composer and the advertising executives. Others show up on the first day of shooting, leave on the last, and never touch the film again. -- Peter Reiher reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher