P2

Cinematographer:

A) Key Functions Of The Role:

A cinematographer work with the director with bringing the look, feel and mood to life for the audience. They are responsible for all lighting decisions and the quality of the light. They also take responsibility with choosing the camera angles, movements and the lens to use.

B) Equipment Used:

Cinematographers use all sorts of cameras and lights for filming as well as other equipment like tripods, lenses, grips, shoulder mounts, reflectors and trolleys.

C) Skills Needed To Carry Out This Role:

To be a cinematographer, you need a good eye for detail and a mind for fast invention. You also need to have a good understanding of lighting techniques, light colour and shade as well as strong technical knowledge of cameras and the process of film production. You also need strong communication and team management skills and to be a good listener for instructions and feedback. To be able to work under pressure and demanding instructions is also a required skill for this role.

Production Designer:

A) Key Functions Of The Role:

A production designer is someone who designs the visual concepts for the film production. They create design styles for sets, locations, props, graphics and costumes as well as lighting and camera angles.

B) Equipment Used:

All sorts of equipment are used by production designers like computers to create digital settings and environments for the film or they can use any physical materials that are needed to create the props, costumes and settings.

C) Skills Needed To Carry Out This Role:

To carry out this role in a film production, you must have working knowledge of the visual arts and production processes, sketching abilities and ability to communicate ideas through drawings and models. Also the ability to solve problems and be resourceful and to be able to plan, schedule and monitor progress of a large project. Also experience in Photoshop, Illustrator, Powerpoint and other computer design softwares.

Comparing The Two Jobs:

Both roles involve some work and knowledge with camera work and lighting and also create their work for the production based off the director's visions of the production. They are also both visual based roles in the production. The role of a cinematographer is heavily a camera and lighting based role whereas the role of a production designer is more practical and is mostly a designing and visual based role in a movie production. The equipment a cinematographer would generally use are camera and lighting equipment whereas a production designer would use some of that but they generally use all sorts of materials to create the visuals for the film and also use computer software for computer generated visuals.