this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023
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This is a really interesting issue within the industry. I work within the film and television industry, both in Australia and the UK, and have never been credited for the roles that I do that, some would argue, should be credited for.
But when you break down something like a mega-Hollywood-super-feature-blockbuster-film like Oppenheimer, the amount of ancillary and auxiliary bodies working on a movie like this, would amount to a credit role that would be very hard to keep track of.
For example, do you credit the data wranglers who might be assisting the DIT, or the courier service who delivers dailies to the post house? Or the team of edit assistants who make proxies for OCM? Do you credit every person who was on craft catering for the entire production run?
On one hand, I can see why it is “consolidated” to team leads, or heads of departments, but personally I think that ANYONE who worked on the film SHOULD be credited, as their time is equally as important as everyone else’s.
I have learnt to accept that my name won’t be appearing in any credit role, despite the hours I put in to make sure it happens, and I am okay with that, but totally understand and support anyone who feels like they should get the recognition… as I said at the start… interesting issue.
This is why we have unions who negotiate the contracts that outline who gets a credit and who doesn't. Keeping track of everyone who worked on VFX in a movie is a trivial exercise. Those comparisons to menial tasks done by interns aren't at all appropriate.
How would unions for VFX artists even work when lot of stuff is outsourced and those studios are in cutthroat bidding competition?
Studios could decide to outsource other talent too. Voice actors, for example. But they choose not to, because they know that if they do, the rest of the actors on set would walk off (and perhaps even on other sets owned by the studio, and perhaps even other unions besides SAG-AFTRA would join in solidarity), and at best they lose a day or two of work and at worst, they lose their movie completely.
Voiceover performance is covered by the Screen Actor's Guild, and I don't hear the same kind of issues again and again with it like I do VFX (even though the work could literally be done on the opposite side of the planet and sent in) I wonder why that is... What would be the main difference there... Hmm
Additionally, there are lots of places outside of Hollywood who are offering very attractive tax cuts, etc., for making movies in their state/province. Pretty easy (and may already be the case, I'm not an expert) for those state-backed contracts torequire union workers.
That's how a lot of government contracting work is done because it is basically win/win/win: the state gets a ton of new revenue from taxes but also from thousands of new workers living and spending in their areas, the workers themselves get well-paying jobs with salaries and benefits they can live on (and hey, maybe even raise a family on), and the consumer gets a new water main, or bridge (or in this case, movie or TV show).
What's your point?
Well that's just not true. If it was, they'd all be paid the same for their time. It's nice to think in egalitarian terms, but it's not true. Some people are more vital than others.
Ive spent months working on the VFX for a show only to not appear in the credits, yet the dude who brought lunches to the crew on set who gets paid significantly less than me gets a credit.
I get that if 100,000 people work on a film they don't want to fit all of them in the credits. But also, why not? Sure there would need to be some sort of threshold, you can't just Uber someone to work and get a movie credit. But someone who actually did work should get credited. If the credits last 10 more minutes, who cares? Physical discs have plenty of space now, granted, streaming is now king. But that only proves my point more.
The only argument I can think of is that movie theaters need time for one movie to end before the next one starts because of post-credits or something. But that's so niche and can easily be worked around with mid-credits scenes, or faster scrolling credits on the theater version.
I worked as a stand-in for one of the main actors in Tulsa King for 8 months and didn't get a credit. I was even in some of the scenes as the character when he couldn't be there and wasn't in focus. It kind of pissed me off to be honest. I even put in more hours than my actor rehearsing the scenes over and over.
Your frustration is completely justified.
Yeah, that I don't agree with. You have far more right to a credit, but that's part of the current lack of respect for VFX crews in the industry.
And as far as the credits lasting too long on films, well it gives the cleaners some music to work to. More seriously, it's probably the likes of Marvel putting scenes at the end of credits that causes the problem. It stops the cleaners getting access.
Personally I think they should keep the credits to a certain level and above, but across-the-board. No lunch boy credit for sure.
in that case crafty is probably more vital to a movie happening than the DP.