The Filmmaking Pyramid: How To Start Your Career

INTRODUCTION

Is it better for filmmakers to be specialists, who focus on developing one niche skill to the absolute max, or is it better to be a generalist whose knowledge is spread out across a diverse range of expertise?

In this video we’ll unpack this question by looking at what I call the film crew pyramid and think about the best way to build the creative and technical side of your career.

THE FILMMAKING PYRAMID

Just like the corporate structure within a company, or the ranking system within the military, the types of jobs on a large industry film set are organised in a hierarchical way.

While companies may produce a product, like fast food, or a service, like financial management, a film production company produces a movie.

At the top of the crew pyramid you have the ‘executive’ positions such as the director and producer who have a large degree of control over how the movie is produced, or are greatly responsible for coordinating the logistics and financing behind making it.

The role of these executives at the top of the pyramid is usually that of a generalist. In other words they have a very broad skill set and knowledge. They lead through delegating multiple tasks to other crew, who fall into different departments, a bit further down the chain.

For example, the director will communicate with the cinematographer to create a visual style, framing and lighting of the film. Or, once it’s been shot, they will work with an offline editor to cut the movie with the pacing, feel and story that is most suitable.

The further down the pyramid you go, the more specialised the role of the crew becomes. 

For example, let’s look at the camera department. It’s headed by the cinematographer, a generalist whose role also includes liaising with many other departments, such as the art department that builds sets and does production design, the lighting department that rigs the illumination and the grips department who execute the camera movement.

Under the DP we have the camera operator. They sit behind the camera, frame shots, expose the image and generally control how the camera is used while filming - under the direction of the cinematographer. 

This role requires a broad knowledge base, experience and technical expertise. For example, they’ll need to understand the best ways to assemble the camera in different situations, how to compose shots, how to best change all the key camera settings, where to position the camera for the best lighting, and the list goes on.

Further down we have the focus puller or 1st AC - whose role starts narrowing and becomes a bit more technical and specialist - rather than generalist. They build the camera into its different forms, coordinate and troubleshoot any problems with the gear, and, as the name suggests, pull the focus so that the subject in the image remains sharp.

The loader, or 2nd AC is an assistant to the focus puller, and performs almost an entirely technical role - doing things like the clapperboard, marking actors and reloading the camera.

Then, right at the bottom there is the camera trainee, who works under the 2nd AC and acts as a general assistant to the camera department through more basic technical tasks like charging batteries or organising the gear in the camera truck.

If we zoom out on this pyramid you can see a trend. The higher up the job is, the more people they manage, and the more of a generalist they have to be - who fully understands all aspects of the filming process.

While the further down the pyramid you move, the more your job becomes specialised on performing a few, niche technical tasks.                  

It should also be noted that this structure only really applies to larger long form jobs and industry sets. For solo shooter work, or documentaries, many of these jobs may be combined into one, and fewer crew may be hired who will be expected to perform more tasks in a generalist role. Such as a documentary DP, who also needs to light and record sound by themselves.

SPECIALIST  VS GENERALIST SKILLS

This filmmaking pyramid model was set up to use hierarchy as a way of on the job training - which started crew off by focusing on specific technical tasks, which would later continue to expand into more general knowledge as they moved up the ladder.

For example, a trainee starts off being exposed to film equipment, learning the names of all the gear and charging batteries. They move up to 2nd AC, where they need to be able to quickly locate all that gear, change lenses and learn the correct distance at which to put the clapperboard. These skills transfer up to 1st AC, where they need to use all that gear to build the camera any number of ways, and use their perception of distance to pull focus.

In this way film technicians continue broadening their skillset moving up or occupy the role of cinematographer, which requires a comprehensive knowledge of not only the camera but also lighting, grips, post production and of course a photographic eye for storytelling.

Therefore progression up this pyramid usually requires building more of the technical fundamentals of creating images at the bottom and later acquiring more of an overall creative view on how images can be used and created in different situations to suit the script.   

This old school method of working your way up the ladder isn’t the only way to become a cinematographer. Today, there are more younger DPs stepping into this position than ever before, who may get there through a combination of producing and showcasing really good lower budget work, creating connections with directors, building their skills through film school, using online educational resources, or some combination of the above.

 DIFFERENT KINDS OF FILMMAKERS

The idea of being more of a specialist or more of a generalist can also apply to the creative instincts of the filmmaker. For example, some cinematographers like to be known for creating a specific kind of a look - which is specialised and standardised across many projects.

This look could be shaped by things like selecting the same kinds of lenses, choosing to shoot on the same format, employing the same kinds of lighting techniques or framing shots in the same way.

Some directors are also known for creating a specialised feel, tone and look throughout their filmography. Movies by Wes Anderson will feature handmade production design, pastel colour palettes, symmetrical, centralised framing, straight tracking camera moves from a dolly, and very specifically directed performances. 

Whatever the movie is, this specialised brand of filmmaking will be carried through.

On the other hand there are filmmakers who work in more of a generalist way - which is probably a more common way of working, especially for cinematographers. 

What I mean by this is that they acquire a knowledge of cinematography which can be applied to a wide range of situations and shaped into different forms so that the visual style is built slightly differently to create a suitable feel for each unique story and director that they work with. 

Some of their work may be more stylised, some may be more naturalistic.

Having a broad skillset as a DP can be useful as you’ll be able to take on a greater variety of projects and adapt to what the director wants. 

While more specialist practitioners may only get the call from directors who want their movie shot in that particular style associated with the DP. If this is a bold style, for example with lots of colour, contrast, grain and haze, it may also draw more eyes to your work - especially to short form commercial or music video directors who want pieces to have a specific look and feel. This could be useful especially in building a career early on.   

CONCLUSION

 In today’s era of filmmaking there are no rules about how you should build a career as a cinematographer. But perhaps it's useful to keep this pyramid in the back of your mind, to remind yourself of how you need to develop.

In my experience I’ve found it useful to start accumulating skills in more niche positions in the camera department by working as a 2nd AC. Learning about all the other facets of filmmaking by being exposed to it on many different sets. Then broadening my creativity through watching films and deepening my experience by taking any opportunity to shoot that you can. 

Regardless of how you go about it, you’ll need to move from inexperienced to experienced, from more of a specialist to more of a generalist and from a technical role to a creative role. All the way growing from a more focused, smaller, specific world, to seeing and crafting the wider, bigger picture.