Availibility of personnel

Availability of personnel

A skeleton crew uses the smallest amount of personnel needed to use all the equipment and simple operating requirements, during filming at the same time keeping all the functions operating smoothly.

There is no definite amount of people in a skeleton crew but some definitions say there should be around five people; these are the director of photography, make-up/hair stylist, production assistant, location audio recordist, and gaffer/grip. Two positions that are not considered are the production designer and the script advisor.

-A director for photography is needed because they can control the lighting and set-ups so you do not have to, this means you have more time to focus on more important things such as directing your actors. Directing you own work can work against you as you could end up burning time trying to deal with characters.

-A make-up artist is needed because they are specialised inn what they do and you may not be, even if you were then this would be a waste of time because you should be directing other work otherwise you’ll have too much to do yourself. A hair stylist is also needed, as they too are much specialised in what they do.

-A production assistant keeps everything moving very quick and smoothly, there are times in a day when you do not have time to do something so you can get your PA to do this for you making sure you focus on one thing rather than worrying about everything else and not putting your best effort into it.

-It is said that sound is fifty percent of your film so you need a location audio recordist to make sure that all the sounds are correct when you are filming. Most people wouldn’t know how to get the best out of the equipment you have, you might have all the gear but do you know how to use it successfully.

-a gaffer /grip will save you a large amount of time, they can set up all the lights and equipment whilst someone else controls your camera making sure you get the best shots. You don’t want someone who can do this simultaneously because they will be focused on too many different things.