More stories from the film set.
Pretty much anyone who has ever seen a movie has at least seen the front titles where you’ll read all the usual jobs… director, producer, production designer, etc. And you don’t need me to tell you what a camera operator or stunt man is in the closing credits.
But as they play the ending music, you’ll see everybody else scroll by. And there’s lots of them with odd sounding names that might not mean anything to you.
What is a baby wrangler? It’s not a guy in a cowboy hat driving herds of toddlers across the set with a lasso.
This person (or persons) are in charge of little actor babies and infants who appear on screen. With help from the parents.
The laws and regulations are understandably very very stringent. It’s almost always twins or even triplets in case a baby is not in the mood or not feeling well. Slip in the substitute baby!
What about food stylist? Many scenes in shows involve the characters sitting down at a meal talking in a restaurant or home…food on the table.
What might be a bit that only lasts five minutes in reality might require multiple takes that go on for hours. Or days.
This crew member first prepares the food and arranges it on the table. Usually real food. As the time goes by, food will get kinda wilty looking and the actors pretending to eat will mess up the look of it. Then the stylist has to constantly refresh it and make sure it looks the same after many shots.
You will usually see craft services roll by on the end credits.
Commonly, a (very expensive) hired caterer will provide 2-3 full meals on sets, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some great food… no expense spared.
But in between those meals, the craft service people make sure that there are tons of snacks and things to drink non stop. Actors and crew on movies and TV are the “eatingest” people I’ve ever met. They should all weigh 300 pounds.
A side note: When it’s meal time, there is a pecking order. Are the actors first in line? Nope. The technicians & crew? Nope.
Teamster drivers (the only people allowed to drive any vehicle…period) eat first. Yes, before Tom Cruise. That very powerful union’s contract dictates that. Violate anything in it, and your production might have to pay a big fine, or they could shut you down for a day or so.
One of the most important jobs of all that you might not have heard about is the script supervisor, a super detailed kind of work. That takes a very special person.
Among the many things they handle is maintaining continuity. They make thousands of notes so that there are (hopefully) no on screen boo boos.
Filming even one small scene may take a day or days, and there are a zillion details. Is that actor wearing the same tie when you continue shooting the next day? Was his drink halfway down the glass or full?
There are film fans who make a hobby out of finding bloopers. Look!
Braveheart is wearing a Rolex during the battle scene!
A friend of mine was a set painter who would come in at night and touch up things when no one else was there. He would come up on a sealed set (yellow tape wrapped) which was going to be used again the next day… let’s say that dining room table I was talking about earlier.
Harry would move around some of the stuff on the table, fill half empty glasses, place extra stuff, change the positions of the chairs, move the table a couple of feet.
Then when the movie was released, if the script supervisor had not caught it, he would buy some popcorn and get his own private chuckle.
My favorite of all is the intimacy co-ordinator.
When a realistic sex scene is filmed, most of the crew is sent away and it’s a “closed set”. There are only the actors, the director, one camera guy and the very important intimacy co-ordinator on the set.
I guess that person counsels the actors on how they should act to make it realistic. (I have to guess, ‘cause they never invited me.) “Put the hand here, put the leg there…” etc.)
So far I haven’t heard back from the job application I submitted.
Thom Caraccio ([email protected]) is a retired musician and retired motion picture scenic artist living in West Palm Beach, Florida who hails from Columbus. He graduated from S.D. Lee High in 1968 and still considers Columbus his real hometown.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
