Your Film's Cast & crew

Cast
The group of actors who will appear in your film are collectively known as the Cast. You might like to hold auditions, which are like interviews, to find the best person to play each part.

Some parts might be more time consuming than others. Make sure your chosen actors or presenters are aware of their expected level of commitment and are available when you need to shoot.

In the case of animation, your characters will be either models or drawings. However, you may still want to cast an actor to voice your character.

If you are using a script, make sure everyone has learnt their lines and rehearsed before the shoot as this will save valuable time.

Crew
Recruit your production crew in advance, not due to an afterthought on the first morning of your shoot. Think ahead and look at the staffing your production will need. Who is on-hand and what are their skills? When are people available? What outside factors might influence their availability like exams or holidays? Your crew is just as important as your cast. If your camera operator isn't available one day your whole shoot will be interrupted. Try and anticipate all the jobs ahead and make sure you have a reliable team in place.

Here are a few of the production roles involved in making a film:

• Producer - The organised one who manages the entire project from beginning to end.
• Director - The one with the artistic vision who tells the actors or presenters what is required and decides how the film will be captured and edited.
• Researcher - A resourceful person who turns up all the facts, figures and information required for a successful film
• Writer - The creative person in charge of writing the script for either the actors or presenters.
• Camera operator - The technical person who reliably captures all the action on film.
• Sound operator - Ensures the film has great sound quality, often involves holding boom mics.
• Film Editor - Computer literate person charged with creatively editing the footage into the finished film.
• Costume & Make-up - Helps make sure everyone looks their best or worst if the film requires it.
• Photographer - On hand to capture good quality stills of the action to help promote the film.
• Publicist - The person in charge of public relations and marketing the film.
• Runners - Very flexible people who are on hand to deal with all the odd jobs which come up.
• Assistants - A lot of the above roles require assistants to share the load.

You don't need separate people to complete all the roles, one person can take care of any number of jobs if they have the time,  ability and support. Just make sure everyone knows what they are responsible for well in advance.