Like any multi-faceted industry, video production is a complex balancing act of various jobs and tools. With all of the video crew departments to keep track of, it is a miracle that any small or large production is completed at all. What about when someone makes a mistake, or there is a circumstance that no one is prepared for. Well, here at ASL, we realize that human beings are flawed and mistakes will come. We are comfortable with this reality because we carry a healthy habit of covering our bases in terms of guaranteeing a proper video production. Take a look below to see our thought process for how we achieve this habit.
Assistant Director
Complexity doesn’t have to mean confusion. For the Video Production industry, a complex video crew offers benefits when everyone performs as required. For ASL, we hold each video crewmember to the highest of standards for their designated job requirements. Since everyone has his or her own set of responsibilities, it is easy for chaos to run rampant. That is why we have a professional Assistant Director (A.D.). The AD’s job is to maintain order on set. They organize everything and makes sure that every department is on point.
Over-watching Team Members
Rather than confirm with every single member of a department, the AD simply gets his information from the head of each department. For instance, if the AD wanted to know how the lighting department is currently performing, he would ask the Gaffer (Chief Lighting Technician).
Unit Production manager
Clearly, there are a vast amount of physical tasks needed in order to properly execute production. However, there still needs to be someone who can maintain the schedule and the budget amidst the confusion. That is where the Unit Production Manager (UPM) comes in. The UPM is the person on set who makes sure that the shoot stays under budget and on schedule.
Video Crew Efficiency
When combined into a team, each creative and technical film/video crew member makes the shoot run as a well oiled, on schedule machine. ASL Productions pays special attention to this system in order to maintain the quality of production. And that quality ultimately reveals itself in the final product.