Credit where credits due…

[Bob Cole]

I helped jury an independent film festival once and saw a film about a boy who hears mysterious sounds in his apartment, from a creature upstairs somewhere.

There was only one actor, a teen-age boy. At one point there was a low tracking shot, pointed up at the boy as he walks away, down the corridor. The movement of the dolly was irregular… almost… like it was walking.

I got it! There was only one explanation for the odd movement of the dolly. The camera was in a little wagon, & the wagon was being pulled by a rope attached low to the actor’s leg.

I was not surprised when the credit roll came up:

“Adam Jones did EVERYTHING.”

I wish I could remember the real name and find out how this guy is doing. It was a pretty good little film, and the credit “list” was the best I’ve ever seen.

Bob C

[Rocco Rocco]

That’s a good one… We often get a big laugh at screenings when the list of Associate Producers pops up. We have close to 100. (If you donated at least $1 you got a credit. We raised quite a bit this way, as it happens….)

[Chaz Shukat]

At the rate that credits go by these days, and the size of the credits, and the small portion of the screen they are relegated to, next to visually distracting images competing for the viewers eye, what are you really loosing? Nobody reads the credits except relatives and people in the biz and then they would have to be looking for your name to even have a chance of seeing it even subliminally.

Chaz Shukat
Author of “EDITING REALITY”
http://www.chazmoedit.com

[Marcus Bird]

Thank you to everyone for such valuable feedback, its certainly helped me here.

I believe the reason it bothered me so much initially is due to the fact that im quite modest about my talents and felt cheated by someone showboating, in a way. It didn’t help that the other editor had apparently badmouthed my work.

Either way, I really appreciate all the comments and many of them will remain in the back of my mind until the next time!

Best of luck to all! 🙂

Marcus

[Eric Susch]

Marcus,

I actually have a credit story that may help you feel better. Years ago I did the audio post for a low budget independent action feature. I did ALL of the sound work even some of the recording of the dialog on set. And there wasn’t much dialog either. Most of the film was gun battles, car chases, jousting, more gun battles, musket battles, more gun battles, and general running around – all shot MOS. I did lots and lots of foley and used every trick in the book and some that weren’t to keep the sound exciting like an action movie is supposed to be. And it was sci-fi too so a lot of the sound work had to be invented and recorded, all by ME in my personal studio.

The movie wasn’t that great but I was quite proud of my contribution. It improved the film quite a bit. The producer called it “The $150,000 movie with the 1 million dollar soundtrack.”

When the movie came out my credit was listed as “Sound Designer” which is as good a credit as any I suppose. But, below my name were listed nineteen FICTIONAL PEOPLE for various audio post positions. They obviously did absolutely nothing, being fictional and all. I did that work by myself but the producer wanted to make the movie look like a bigger production so he padded the credits.

…and that’s the way it was.

____________________________________
Eric Susch
http://www.LetsKnit2gether.com
http://www.EricSusch.com
Follow me on twitter @EricSusch

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[Bob Cole]

(delete)

[Mark]

Good point Bob…just kidding.

Seriously though, I work on a lot of shows, and the first thing to get cut, always are the credits….I can’t remember the last time my name appeared in a credit roll….but you know what, I don’t really care. I know what I did, and as such I know that if it is good, I can put it on my reel.

Mark

Mark Harvey
Senior Editor
Le Réseau des sports

[Grinner Hester]

the bottom line is we edit to buy groceries, not to brag.
good thing too. After 20 years of cuttin’ I have very little to brag about.

[William Mcgrath]

Another angle: The more inflated the credits are, the more important the production looks. So you may actually benefit from this.

—
william