What Are Essential CREW Members for FILMMAKING? (Most Important Film Crew Roles Explained)

When planning your film, knowing the essential crew members for filmmaking will help you plan for success. Different projects call for different film crew roles. So who are the essential or most important film crew members?

Film Jams’ list of different jobs on a film set is based off of a feature-length film we recently made, “Elfette Saves Christmas,” which you can check out on Amazon or pick up a copy at Walmart or Target.

The movie was low budget so we really had to think about which crew members were essential to our filming. Out of the 40 days of shooting, 35 of those took place in the St. Petersburg/Tampa, Florida area, where we are based out of. Besides that, we also took a smaller crew up to New York City to film some scenes there. We had to fit all of our gear as well as our most crucial crew members in just one minivan, so we had to be choosy when it came to who we needed.

In total, we took 5 people up to New York who filled film crew roles, and we also met three of our actors there already, who happened to be in the city. So in New York, we ended up taking the director, cinematographer, sound tech, who also downloaded footage after shooting, an assistant camera who was also doubling as an actress in our film, a BTS videographer, and lastly the other actors who when they weren’t acting were working as general helpers for our filming (AKA holding lights).

These actors also did their own makeup while we were in New York and everyone pitched in to carry gear around locations. We also go through a slightly bigger list of our crew when we were filming back in Florida in this video. If you want to know our full crew list, or who are the essential or most important film crew members, check out our video to see all the different jobs on a film set!

If you have any questions on the techniques used in this review video, please send a note in the comments. Thanks for watching What Are Essential CREW Members for FILMMAKING? (Essential Film Crew Roles Explained), in our Film Jams series!

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GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO:

LENSES

CAMERAS

AUDIO GEAR

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Other equipment we use to film:

CAMERAS

LENSES

TRIPODS

MICS

LIGHTS:

PHOTO GEAR

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Special Thanks to the St. Petersburg Clearwater Film Commission Digital Creator Program

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#EssentialCrewMembers #FilmCrewRoles #EssentialFilmCrew

[ergocinema]

The Human Lightstand, another one of those modern superheroes :-)

[youllbemytourniquet]

Amazing video!! Thank you for breaking it down for those outside the industry; sometimes it can get confusing to understand

[MexicanMovie]

and that's why i haven't made a feature film yet; to do it properly is gonna cost some money, but I'm working on it.

[joanh]

I’m surprised a Script Supervisor is not on your list for the skeleton crew and the full crew. It’s one of the most important jobs on set & a key player in the film making process. A lot of things could go without one 😳

I wonder how it was for post on your films? I can’t imagine shooting for 40 days and not having a single script supervisor’s report.

[danielchateau]

Thankyou for sharing your experience. And congratulations on your film.

[scottslotterbeck]

Seven minimum. Director. Assistant director. Sound mixer. Gaffer. Script supervisor. Production assistant. Crafty.

Next would be Grip. Art director. Makeup. Hair. Set dresser. Location manager. Another PA. Assistant camera. Boom operator. 2nd AD. Best boy. Transportation captain. Caterer.

Plus two Specialists, depending on type of film. Armourer. Animal wrangler F/X makeup.

22 can make a feature comfotably.

[kengoodwin]

Any tips on where you hired your amazing crew? Did you post on a website or were they all word of mouth recommendations?