Separate crew department categories please!

I love IMDB and use it a lot for research and as an easy verifiable way to show my own credits to perspective employers. Truly a great website for movie people that I use almost daily. I have one bone to pick and I am hoping someone from IMDB can help me to understand why this is and if perhaps there is a way to change it.

I am a professional 1st assistant cameraman on motion pictures and television. I know I am not saving the world here but I am doing what I love and am very grateful everyday that I am able to make movies for a living.

Why is it that every department has their own category accept for camera, electric and grip? It just seems like we are all lumped together and are not important enough to get our own yet a department like transportation has their own category? I respect what they do but ultimately they drive people and trucks around! They do nothing that has a direct impact on what you see on the screen yet they have their own category? As a 1st Assistant Cameraman, I work with my Operator and Cinematographer to make decisions which have a direct impact on what is seen on your screen. Can't we at least have our own Camera Department category out of respect for our craft?

I would think that the fine people at IMDB know enough about the movie making process to understand what I am talking about. IMDB is a website to honor movies and the people that make them. By lumping three departments into one shows a complete lack of respect for people working within those categories. During the credits of a movie, every department is separated and never lumped together as one. Shouldn't IMDB be the same way? Is there any way we can address this? I could gather a petition of at least 1,000 people who feel the same way.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to a response from someone on the IMDB staff.

Responses

davidah_ca

Champion

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1.9K Messages

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92.6K Points

9 years ago

Actually there are many that don't have their own department at all, unlike you. For example, Production Department and Locations, among others, are still part of Miscellaneous Crew.

IMDb is always looking at potential changes, but there are likely many items that are more important than splitting this Section. Note that it is not a simple change. Every section is processed separately, so a split requires setting up a whole new update stream, providing a person to take responsibility for processing the submissions plus changing the various display pages.

ryan_mhor

3 Messages

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102 Points

I don't understand. The whole point of my post is that Camera does NOT have their own department within IMDB. We share with Electric brothers. You said, "unlike you", implying that camera DOES have their own, when we don't. My point is that EVERY department should be given the respect of having their own category. Instead, departments are lumped together. Grips deserve their own. Production deserves their own. So on and so forth.

9 years ago

mayor_defacto

Champion

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194 Messages

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8.3K Points

Hey Ryan,

It's not a matter of respect. IMDb's departmental divisions are driven by data processing needs. Actors and Actresses are separate because the combination of the two was so large it strained IMDb's servers. See http://imdb.com/stats for insight on the numbers involved. Many years back camera and electrical department personnel were included in Miscellaneous Crew with script supervisors, caterers, medics, visual effects people, etc. When IMDb was faced with a burgeoning Misc Crew section that was becoming too unwieldy to manage and when they determined they had the resources to deal with an additional department, they looked at the most used positions in Miscellaneous Crew and decided that combining and extracting Camera and Electrical Departments would best alleviate the bloat. Thus the Camera and Electrical Department was born.

Going forward, IMDb intends to create additional departments, though that process has been put on hold until they finish the work of transferring old technology sections of the database to a newer platform. Any programming changes (David explained some of the difficulties there) have to compete with routine maintenance on the various mobile devices and apps IMDb now supports.

Which departments will next be created, and when Camera and Electric will be split probably can't be answered even by staff (though Production, Script, and Location Management have all been mentioned as possibilities). But don't hold your breath.The wheels at IMDb turn very slowly.

9 years ago

davidah_ca

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1.9K Messages

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92.6K Points

You said, "unlike you", implying that camera DOES have their own, when we don't.

No, I did not imply that. I was stating you are in a Section that has your department name in the title, and is only shared with one other department (also named in the Section Title). It may not be your preferred option, but surely you must agree this is not the same as being in a Section that is shared by a lot of departments, none of which is listed in the section title.

9 years ago

bluesmansf

Champion

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4.6K Messages

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236.3K Points

9 years ago

I look forward to a response from someone on the IMDB staff.

Just a note...Col Needham, the creator of the site "liked" David's excellent reply and presumably thought it was answered fully and accurately (or he'd likely have posted). Just so you know you got the "staff" attention you were looking for.

eboy

2.5K Messages

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69.2K Points

9 years ago

(I'm not part of the IMDB team/moderators)

Personally I think your approach is a bit off, Ryan.

...transportation has their own category? I respect what they do but ultimately they drive people and trucks around! They do nothing that has a direct impact on what you see on the screen yet they have their own category?

I'm sure you agree that film filmmaking (and TV-production as well) is all about teamwork. Imagine a tough location shoot where those "trucks" etc are late or don't know what they're doing? Imagine if some non-pros would drive them? Many of them are probably doing a lot more than just "driving" those trucks.

To me IMDB just has different sub-categories based on the job description. It's not that they're divided to "important" and "less important".

ryan_mhor

3 Messages

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102 Points

9 years ago

Thank you Mayor Defacto for that excellent post. I think it was the only one worth reading and now I fully understand. I'm excited too see IMDB grow.

And of course much thanks for Col. Needham for taking the time to "like" one of the comments. That sure was the staff attention I was looking for...

Eboy, I completely agree that filmmaking is teamwork. Trucks and the people that drive them are completely necessary to the process and they are definitely part of the team. We will assume that the people driving these trucks know what they are doing and are not late. No matter which way you slice it, their work does not have a direct impact on the final picture unlike most of the departments on a film set. Grip, electric, camera, wardrobe, hair, makeup, AD etc. all make decisions that have a direct impact on the final picture. Based on that fact, it's up to each individual to decide if that makes one more important than the other. Importance is subjective.

Thanks

bluesmansf

Champion

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4.6K Messages

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236.3K Points

I think it was the only one worth reading

That was kind of rude after people took time out of their day to try to explain and convey information.

Importance is subjective

Which is why IMDb, and probably most users, doesn't attach any level of "importance" to the listing of credits and what the category is titled on the page.

9 years ago

ryan_mhor

Separate crew department categories please!

davidah_ca

ryan_mhor

mayor_defacto

davidah_ca

bluesmansf

eboy

ryan_mhor

bluesmansf

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