Ever wondered about all those names you see in the credits of a movie? The first time I really looked, I never thought there were so many jobs associated with making a flick. You have the directing crew, production crew, casting directors, editors, lighting crew, action/stunt team, among many others.

All these people are working towards a common goal – making a movie, and making it the best they can.

In this light, this team is not different from who you, the writer, are rolled into a one and single person. How? Here are some explanations:

You come up with a story, and you decide to flesh it – you’re doing the job of the scriptwriters.

You need people to ‘act out’ this story – you find ‘actors’ (characters for writers) same as the casting directors.

Next, you need to provide the setting for your story to take place in – that’s the same as the job of the production team.

Then, you place your characters in the setting, say, for a rehearsal of some kind. At this stage, you need props, clothing and accessories – the job of the accessories/props/clothing/hair/makeup departments.

You also need lights and other environmental details to be fitting for the tone/mood of your story – the technical crews come in here.

If you have action scenes in there, you bring in the stunt crew who will work those shots for you.

Finally, you carry out the story – not different from the director of the movie who wants to see his/her vision of the plot acted out. You watch the characters/actors play out each scene, then you decide whether to ‘cut’ or keep on ‘shooting’.

When the ‘shooting’ is done, you end up with a first draft, which goes in the hands of the editing crew and the post-production crew. This is the same as layering, beefing, and smoothing your draft into a finished product.

And here you thought you were simply writing!

You as the writer are the whole crew of your picture, and make no mistake about it, ’coz the success of your flick at the box-office lies in your hands. Scary prospect, isn’t it?

So, next time you’re watching a DVD, take a minute to watch the ‘making of’ section, and if you’ve got the time and inclination, watch the whole movie a second time with the commentary on. You can learn lots just from this feature – for example, why they used this bit and not the other, how they came up with the setting, how they devised the strategy to come up with the mood and portrayal of the story, how the characterization took a life of its own, among others.

Never underestimate a movie’s potential to teach you some threads of the craft. The crew that puts the movie together is really no different than you are. Their means is visual while yours is the written word. Take a peek at how they bring it all together. You may just learn a few tricks yourself.

Written by Zaynah M (writing as Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes)