Everyone thinks their department is the most important.
When I was a young loader, the first ACs would constantly tell me about how the film was gold. Everything everybody did that day came down to the canister of film in my hand. Without the camera, it’s not a movie, it’s a play. It’s like they didn’t realize the footage was going to be edited at some point.
They looked down on the other departments, but especially the “soft crew”– departments like hair, make-up, and costume. They would mock the make up girls, saying no one who showed up wearing flip-flops and a skirt was there to work.
Of course, the make-up department had to arrive about an hour and a half before us, and didn’t leave much earlier than we did.
One day, I heard an MUA talking about lights. People go on and on about how important lighting is for making the actors look good, as if the make up had no part in it.
The truth is, everyone is necessary. Without cameramen, it would be a play. But without the grips and electrics, there’d be no way to expose the film. But without the art department, there’d be nothing to light, anyway. But without the actors, it’d be a pretty room with nothing happening. But without the writers, the actors would have nothing to say or do.
And so on.
You may think I’m talking out of my ass, but there’s another very good reason to believe that every single person is important– producers are cheap. They wouldn’t hire all these people if they weren’t absolutely necessary.
