Film Crew Position Descriptions

[Pete Wilie]

Greetings!

I'm looking for a comprehensive, authoritative set of position descriptions for film crews, whether it be for full-length features, shorts, or documentaries and regardless of media (film or video).

Does such an animal exist?

I have found one source which looks good, and is a good example of what I'm looking for. I'm just not sure how authoritative it is. It is the Film Crew entry for wikipedia.org.

What I would like to do is start with the full blown set of positions for a major studio, and then map these positions into a much smaller set that a IFM or small independent studio might use.

TIA for your help.

Best Regards,
Pete

[Robert Knecht Schmidt]

What's there is factually accurate but perhaps a bit too concise as far as the descriptions go to be useful to someone who's never worked on a fully-crewed production before. (For example, "assistant to gaffer," while not at all inaccurate, is a too-abbreviated job description for a Best Boy; under line producer it says "on schedule and within budget"--but this is a gross generalization, and one that is redundant of the producer's task, and moreover, should be the outstanding priority for every member of the cast and crew; etc.) The lists themselves are also fairly limited, omitting a number of important production positions and dozens of post-production specialists that your film may or may not require depending on the specifics and complexity of the challenges you'll be giving your film.

The IMDb's glossary is also good.