www.backstage.com: No matter its size, budgeting a production can be a daunting task. For management purposes, the process usually involves dividing the hundreds of crew members involved into two main budget categories: above the line and below the line. If you’re involved with the creative development of a film or TV show, your role and production costs are considered above the line. If you’re a day-to-day crew member on set, you qualify as below the line.
2 comments:
Learning about the different terminology and roles in film was very interesting. I’ve recently been getting a lot more into film as opposed to strictly theatre. Still I think that this division of above and below the line jobs and roles is very similar to the structure of theatre. We also have designers and then people who execute the artistic ideas of the designers. It’s different how they treat these jobs though. I wouldn’t say that in theatre that technicians have no say in anything like the article describes. It’s important for tech people, or in this case below the line workers to check the reality of the designs that the artist create. Something that also stood out to me was when they said “they can be replaced at any time during a production”. I feel like this is very untrue, so many technician have certain skill sets or insights that are essential to a production and can’t just be replaced by anyone.
The terms above-the-line and below-the-line are completely new to me and this article does a great job explaining them. In classes, we learn and get the experience of how theatres are run but after reading several articles on films, I feel that there are definitely similarities and transferable skills in both fields. Budgeting is also a very essential yet challenging skill and task for a production manager, whether for traditional theatre or film/TV. As someone interested in SM/PM, I find the list of roles in ATL and BTL very useful. Even though I’m not sure if the same terms apply to the theatre, it does give me another understanding of different roles and categorizing the roles certainly makes the budgeting process clearer and more logical. Though it is interesting to see Costume Designer in the category of BTL because I thought all designers are ATL since they are all involved in the creative process.
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