Film Credits: Thanks and Special Thanks

Last week our second year animation students raced for the finish line on their final year projects, putting together lists of credits, including various people to thank.

Credits are important to get right. Leave people out, spell their names wrong - there are all kinds of ways to annoy your fellow film-makers (and even make enemies).  One area where students get confused is over thanks and special thanks - whom should you thank, and when?

The key thing to remember is that thanking people costs you nothing; it is a free way to earn goodwill.  So the general rule is this: thank often, widely and generously.

The Purpose of Thanks and Special Thanks
In movie production, the people who get listed under thanks and special thanks are often people who offered a material contribution of some kind but received no financial benefit. They might have loaned a house to the cast and crew; perhaps they loaned out their camera gear or fed the production crew.  Thanks and special thanks are also a good place to reward people who don't fit neatly into any of the recognised production credits.

Thanking Our Industry Partners
At Escape Studios, "thanks" and "special thanks" should go to our industry partners who have given up their time (usually unpaid) to help us get the films finished to industry standards. Anyone who has given time, advice, or other help should be thanked. You might also thank studio assistants and helpful tutors - anyone who has helped make the project a success.

Film-making Resources
For more information on making animated short films, follow the links below:

• Why Animators Need Mood Boards
• Why Animators Need Colour Scripts
• Managing Group Projects
• Why Animators Must Wreck Their Rigs
• Why Animators Need an Animatic
• Why Animators Must Check Their Hookups
• How to Record Voice-Overs
• What are CBBs? (Could be Better)
• How to Create the Perfect One-Sheet Movie Poster (and why you need one)
• Getting Listed at IMDB

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To find out more about our new BA/MArt, now recruiting for September 2020, follow this link.   To apply, visit the official page here.