Crosswords0 min ago
Film credits
Why is it that, at the end of a film, there are seemingly hundreds of credits for obscure jobs (gaffer, best boy, foley artist, focus puller, assistant carpenter etc). Apart from their families, does anyone really want to know about these?
All I want to know is the author, the director, the cast, the music, the locations used and that's about it.
When you buy a book, you don't get information about the individual people involved in its production: the paper, the ink, the press operator, the binder's second assistant or the name of the office cat's vet.
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Waldo, websites are hackable, whereas the film is both the artefact that's being advertised and the one that's being advertised on. After all, you can always walk out early... used to do that while God Save the Queen was being played (now there's a shock for young AB readers, what do you mean God Save the Queen was played?).
We work hard at our jobs, at all levels, and its only fair that we get a credit for them. As has been said it is evidence for future employers of what you can do and that you are good at it, and can be something of a showreel to any production companies watching.
People would make all kinds of claims about working on films if there wasn't proof.
It takes about a minute for the credits of a film to roll - what else were you going to use that minute for??
If you don't like it don't read it, (they aren't really there for your benefit anyway) but for one minute, its hardly an ordeal.
I made costume armour on Troy and me and the entire company that made them were left off the credits by mistake! Its a good credit for my CV but I have no proof. (obviously if it came to a dispute I could -wageslips, the company would verify etc)
I can't use artwork or pictures because I didn't design them, I just made them.
And the company's work is attributed to another company who did the soft costumes!
PS joko, one minute??? I sat through the first 2 hours of credits on Wallace & Gromit before deciding that I really must get on with my life. Lovely film, but an awful lot of people to credit.
See what you mean, Waldo, but it would essentially require someone either to get hold of a copy of the film or to wait till the DVD comes out. I presume people need to get their next job lined up quicker than that?
One aspect of my original question is that you don't get all this information if you buy a book. Equally, if you buy a car, the documentation that comes with it does not include details of the person who designed the rear shelf or the rubber seals around the windows or the paint colours or the overhead camshaft bearings or the test-track drivers or the name of the guy who delivered the car to the showroom etc, etc, etc.
Surely all these people working on a film have some form of written contract which should be adequate if they are looking for further work.
Of course everyone should be mentioned. These people work hard, long hours to make a movie.
By the way, everytime I watch a movies on DVD for the first time I DO watch the end titles. It's interesting to know who does what.
And If you don't believe me when I say there are hundreds of people involved, just watch the documentery on the 2nd disc of the new Revenge Of The Sith DVD. It's called In A Minute and is quite mind boggling just how many people are involved.