Principal cast member with contractual privileges including separate dressing rooms, dedicated makeup stations, and maximum 12-hour turnaround between call and shooting.
First Team talent receive separate dressing rooms with a minimum floor area of 9 m², their own make-up stations, and reserved parking spaces within 100 meters of the set. The "First Team" contract clause guarantees maximum waiting times of 12 hours between call time and the start of shooting. For exterior shoots, air-conditioned trailers with a ceiling height of 2.4 meters are available. Second Unit shots without First Team talent reduce the daily rate to 50-70% of the agreed amount.
MGM established the First Team system in 1927 to optimize costly star appearances. Louis B. Mayer introduced the strict separation between lead and supporting actors after delays caused by Greta Garbo exceeded the budget of "Flesh and the Devil" by $340,000. From 1935, the Screen Actors Guild standardized the terminology. The system reached its perfection in the 1950s when studios kept up to 8 First Team actors under long-term contracts simultaneously.
Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" (2017) worked with a 6-person First Team who were present for 89% of the 106 shooting days. Marvel Studios coordinates up to 12 First Team actors in "Avengers" productions with individual shooting schedules, allowing for a maximum of 40 shooting days per actor. Continuity requires identical costumes in triplicate and documented make-up protocols for each shooting day. Sickness of a First Team actor costs an average of 180,000 Euros per lost shooting day.
Featured Players (supporting actors with names in the opening credits) do not require a permanent set presence and work with flexible 48-hour call times. Background Artists (extras) receive communal dressing rooms and standardized catering. Ensemble films like "The Grand Budapest Hotel" blur these lines through multiple lead roles with varying shooting volumes. Streaming productions are developing new hybrid models with rotating First Teams for episodic formats.
Ich plane meine Beleuchtung um die Hauttypen und Gesichtsformen der Hauptdarsteller, teste bereits in der Prep-Phase verschiedene Lichttemperaturen zwischen 3200K und 5600K für optimale Darstellung. Bei Ensemble-Szenen positioniere ich das Key Light für den ranghöchsten Hauptdarsteller und gleiche die anderen über Fill-Light an.
Ich entwickle meine Inszenierung um die spezifischen Stärken der Hauptdarsteller – Harrison Fords naturalistische Spielweise erfordert andere Einstellungsgrößen als Gary Oldmans theatralischen Ansatz. Die Probenzeit konzentriert sich auf 80% der Szenen mit First Team-Beteiligung, da diese das narrative Rückgrat bilden.
Ich kalkuliere 65-75% des Gesamtbudgets für Hauptdarsteller-Gagen und deren Betreuung, sichere deren Verfügbarkeit durch Penalty-Klauseln ab 500.000 Euro bei unentschuldigtem Fernbleiben. Weather Days und Versicherungen gegen Ausfälle sind bei A-List-Stars obligatorisch, da ein Produktionsstopp täglich 280.000-450.000 Euro kostet.
1. Was beschreibt „Hauptdarsteller" am besten?
2. Zu welchem Department gehört „Hauptdarsteller"?
3. Wie viele verschiedene Fachperspektiven bietet dieser Eintrag?
The Lexikon is part of the Filmfarm ecosystem — alongside budgeting (FilmBalance), an industry magazine (FilmCircus) and crew networking (FilmCall, CrewMesh). One shared vocabulary for the whole production.