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Undercranking

The process of slowing the frame rate of a camera down, so that when the captured pictures are played at the normal frame rate the action appears to be in fast motion. Historically, cameras were operated by turning a crank at a constant speed; hence “undercranking” refers to turning the crank too slowly. See also overcranking, frames per second, judder.

Unit Production Manager

AKA: Unit Manager, UPM
An executive who is responsible to a senior producer for the administration of a particular movie. Unit Production Managers only work on one film at a time. Only DGA members can be called Unit Production Managers. See also line producer.

Unit Publicist

Member of the publicity department who works on location during the production of a movie. Duties includes working with the residents of the location where the film is being made, as well as setting up press visits and electronic press kit interviews. In addition, the unit publicist assembles the biographical materials and notes about the making of the movie that are later turned into the movie press kit. Unit publicists are itinerant — they move from production to production and are on the production payroll. They report to the filmmakers and, if the film has a releasing studio, they also report to the publicity directors. Once principal photography is over, the unit publicist moves on to another job.

Utility Person

The person responsible for various manual tasks, running errands, or performing whatever jobs other members of their crew assign them.