In the eyes and minds of the billions of movie and television watchers all over the globe, the movie industry is a a magical carpet ride with good-looking ladies, macho heroes, beautiful sets and costumes, astounding special effects, exotic locales to travel and an perpetual flow of money.

All of these are just illusions; the truth is the hard work and dedication that happens behind each scene to makeproduce these fantastic stories.

If you are thinking of joining the television business for the fun and the cash, then you have to give that thought up and try to find that someplace else. However, if you possess ability, the dedication, the correct mental attitude and the power to endure difficult work, then welcome.

Jobs in front of the camera

Famed actors and actresses today didn't acquire their recognition overnight. Many of them were employed as horse stall cleaners, limousine drivers, set carpenters and bank managers. Some worked in restaurants as waitresses or valet parking attendants in between bit part jobs.

Most film stars started as movie extras and bit actors. Extras are the people in the background in a film scene. Starting as an extra gives you the eye-opening opportunity to acquaint yourself in the various parts of movie-making. If you stick out from among the other extras in the movie, you may just catch the director's attention.

Film stunt people are the daredevils who make the onscreen star look good and invulnerable. They are sometimes known as stunt doubles who "take the fall" instead of the real actors in very serious scenes. The guy you saw swinging on a fire hose down the fiery Nakatomi Tower building was definitely not the star. It was a stunt double wearing the same outfit as the leading man.

Jobs behind the camera

What is seen on the movie sceen is just the smallest part of the whole. A scene is delineated by the change in the camera position (or angle) in the movie. Hundreds (sometimes thousands!) of scenes are required to complete a film. Each scene usually takes less than an hour to prepare before it is ready to be shot. Some intricate scenes may take weeks to prepare. Scenes of this kind may involve the building of huge sets and backgrounds, special stunt preparation, rehearsals of scenes involving hundreds or thousands of extras, or huge dramatic explosion scenes. Careers and positions off-camera are just as interesting as those in front.

The camera operator is responsible for the recording of the movie on a movie camera. He or she handles the lighting effects that sets the temperature or mood of the scene being shot. He or she knows how to compose his shots by capturing the right camera angle, using the appropriate lenses and finding the best aperture reading.

Careers in the movie industry also include the production design team. They are in charge of the film's set and construction. They must make the necessary physical ambiance whether the position is a house, a burning sky-scraper, a sinking luxury ship or a haunted castle. Very truthfully, the set design, decors, background colorations, backdrops and textures all passed the eye of the production designer.

The special effects group does the construction of special sets and special devices that create visually amazing scenes. You have seen their work in films: the sinking luxury ship, the great earthquake that destroyed Los Angeles, the napalm explosion in Vietnam or the out of control bus that was rigged to explode.

Careers in post-production

As soon as the principal filming is completed and "in the can", the film is then processed and brought to a dust-free room where the movie editor can cut and edit it. It is the responsibility of the film editor and his team to put the scenes together, arranged in their correct sequence.