Title in film credits

[JCarter426]

My friend is working on an animated film, mostly on his own, and I've been helping him out a bit; now he's having trouble figuring out how to credit me. According to him, I'm "doing too much".

Now usually, film credits itemize every task, perhaps hundreds of them, no matter how minor. There's an official technical term for just about every role imaginable. But my friend needs a general "did stuff for this film" title. And I don't have much of an idea either.

I can iterate what I did for him, though. I programmed some of tools he uses, I provided some advice regarding the story (but not much actual writing), I did a few minor visual effects, and some minor random stuff here and there, and I provided what you might call moral support. So what would you call that?

Thanks in advance.

[Xuc Xac]

Production Assistant

[Haruki-kun]

If you did several things that should get credited, you write in each job followed by the people involved.

Example:

Created by: Guy

Written by Guy

Tech support: Jcarter

Visual effects: Jcarter and Guy


Otherwise, you can just do special thanks... But that's underselling it if you do more than just a short consultation.

[AdmiralCheez]

Well, if you have a large enough crew that it would take a decent time to do the credits anyway, I would say list each role independently. If it's a small crew, like fewer than 10 people, I would just list it as "technical crew," "production assistant," "technical advisor/consultant," or something similar. That way you don't have a five minute long end credits with three names repeating themselves over and over again.

If the crew is even smaller, and everyone does multiple roles, you could even go without listing jobs in the credits at all and just saying "Produced by:" and list everyone alphabetically.

[JCarter426]

Thanks again for the replies. I realize this is kind of a silly question... so it really helps. :smallsmile:

The length of the credits isn't an issue, but it's a tricky situation. He's crediting dozens of people who made the assets he used, but the number of people who worked on the film directly is rather small... just him, me, a few actors, and a couple other people who helped out. So if he were to credit me separately for each role, he'd have to do the same for himself... which he doesn't want to do, same names repeating over and over, etc.

I like the sound of "technical adviser/consultant" although it's a bit specific to my case; he has other people he wanted to credit similarly who did different things than I did. But it seems to cover me. I had also considered "produced by" or "special thanks" for all of us, but they're both vague and do kind of undersell the roles. And I don't think I want to be called "production assistant" because I didn't get his coffee. :smalltongue:

I just took a look at his first draft of the credits, and he does have us all under "special thanks"... but he also gave me an additional credit for the tools I programmed, and credited a few others who did something extra for those specific things. So he's looking for a better title than "special thanks", I guess, so he can separate those who just provided support with those who actually did work that ended up in the film.

[Some Android]

Technical Supervisor maybe

[JCarter426]

I'm not a Technical Supervisor; I'm a Supervising Technician! :smalltongue:

[veti]

I'm not a Technical Supervisor; I'm a Supervising Technician! :smalltongue:

Technical Consultant, if you must.

Or Associate Producer. It's one of those titles that can mean practically anything, but is definitely more than a Production Assistant.

[JCarter426]

Problem with associate producer is he's not crediting anyone as producer. Since there's no budget. Co-producer would probably work too, but same problem. Seems like some sort of technical consultant is the best way to go for now.

[Some Android]

I'm not a Technical Supervisor; I'm a Supervising Technician! :smalltongue:

Was that a Simpsons?

[StairwayToKevin]

A general catch-all terms that get used a lot is just plain consultant. Maybe that?

[nyjastul69]

Was that a Simpsons?

Homer's Odyssey (http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/episodes/homers-odyssey) had a take on this too.

[DavidSh]

I recall Nerima Daikon Brothers had a fairly important staff member (遼花) just credited as "Technician".

However it turns out, having one person appearing in too many credit items, as in:

Producer: Belkar Bitterleaf
Director: Belkar Bitterleaf
Writer: Belkar Bitterleaf
Sound: Belkar Bitterleaf
Lighting: Belkar Bitterleaf
Catering: Belkar Bitterleaf
Stunts by: Mr. Scruffy
and with a special appearance by Belkar Bitterleaf, as Himself

gets taken as a joke by the audience, even if it is Hollywood union standard.
Better to bundle some of the items together.

Written, Produced, & Directed by Belkar Bitterleaf

[Murk]

I don't know if I've seen it anywhere, but if there's such a small amount of people working on the movie, but some of those have multiple functions, he might even think about listing it by name, not by function.

Instead of
Supervision: guy1
Special effects: lady1
[Role]: guy2,
etc.

write it down like
Guy 1: supervision, [role], promotion, screenplay
Lady 1: special effects, [role]
Guy 2: screenplay, scripts, plot, directing, production

It will give everyone credit where credit's due, but no repetition of names or a very drawn-out credit scene. Just a small list with ten names and a lot of functions.

[Raimun]

I don't know if I've seen it anywhere, but if there's such a small amount of people working on the movie, but some of those have multiple functions, he might even think about listing it by name, not by function.

Instead of
Supervision: guy1
Special effects: lady1
[Role]: guy2,
etc.

write it down like
Guy 1: supervision, [role], promotion, screenplay
Lady 1: special effects, [role]
Guy 2: screenplay, scripts, plot, directing, production

It will give everyone credit where credit's due, but no repetition of names or a very drawn-out credit scene. Just a small list with ten names and a lot of functions.

Yeah, either that or list two or three of your main roles separately? With one of them being your role in all that "did stuff for this film" (ie. production [something] or [somekind of] producer)? Such as:

Technical consultant: Dude X
Production Assistant: Dude X
Shark Tamer: Dude X

[JCarter426]

Instead of
Supervision: guy1
Special effects: lady1
[Role]: guy2,
etc.

write it down like
Guy 1: supervision, [role], promotion, screenplay
Lady 1: special effects, [role]
Guy 2: screenplay, scripts, plot, directing, production
I suppose this would work well, but it wouldn't match the rest of his credits, which are in the usual titles followed by names format, which he can't stray from for those.