Understanding film credits and roles: director, producer, DP, editor and more

The key creative roles

• Director: responsible for the film's creative vision. The director guides performances, decides how scenes are staged and shot, and shapes the final cut with the editor. On most films, the director is the person who answers the question "what is this film trying to be?"
• Screenwriter: writes the screenplay. Credits distinguish between "written by" and "screenplay by", and between writers who worked together and those who worked separately, under rules set by writers' unions in some countries. "Story by" credits the underlying story when someone else wrote the script.
• Producer: makes the film happen. Producers find and develop projects, raise money, hire key people, manage the budget and schedule, and steer the film through release. When a film wins the top prize at many awards, it is the producers who receive it.
• Executive producer: a broader title that can mean financing, securing rights, representing a studio or streaming service, or helping the project get made. It is not always a hands-on role.
• Line producer and unit production manager: run the budget and day-to-day logistics of the shoot.

Camera and look

• Director of photography (DP or cinematographer): designs the lighting and camera work with the director: lenses, framing, movement and the overall look. The DP leads the camera and lighting departments.
• Camera operator: physically operates the camera, though on smaller films the DP may do this too.
• Gaffer: the chief lighting technician, who carries out the DP's lighting plan.
• Key grip: in charge of the equipment that supports and moves the camera and shapes light, such as dollies, cranes and rigging.
• Colourist: grades the finished footage in post-production to set its final colour and mood.

Design

• Production designer: creates the physical world of the film, including sets, locations and the overall visual style, leading the art department.
• Art director and set decorator: carry out the design, managing construction and dressing sets with furniture and objects.
• Costume designer: designs and sources what every character wears.
• Make-up and hair designers: from everyday looks to ageing, wounds and prosthetics.

Editing, sound and music

• Editor: assembles the footage into a story, choosing takes, shaping rhythm and often restructuring scenes. Many directors consider the edit the final rewrite of the film.
• Production sound mixer: records dialogue on set.
• Sound designer and supervising sound editor: build the film's soundscape in post-production.
• Re-recording mixer: balances dialogue, effects and music into the final mix.
• Composer: writes the original score. A music supervisor chooses and licenses existing songs.

People who keep the set running

• First assistant director: runs the set and the schedule, keeping the day moving and calling for quiet and action. Despite the title, this is not a trainee director.
• Script supervisor: tracks continuity and records what was shot.
• Casting director: finds and proposes actors for every role.
• Stunt coordinator: plans and supervises stunts safely.
• Visual effects supervisor: oversees digital and practical effects from planning to final shots.

Reading the credits