Technical advisor (film)

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

A technical advisor is called in as an expert for film and television productions, where he supports the producers with his special expertise. The involvement of a technical advisor can be useful or even necessary if the circumstances of the shoot result in dangers for the crew and these have to be kept as low as possible, or if a representation should convey the greatest possible authenticity . Depending on the filmed material, different numbers of technical consultants with different fields of knowledge can be involved in the production.

Typically, technical consultants come from the environment portrayed in the film or series. For example, the productions of Black Hawk Down by the US Army and Top Gun by the US Navy were reinforced by technical advisers and extras, while the Apollo astronaut David Randolph Scott advised the makers of Apollo 13 and the freediver and world record holder Jacques Mayol den Film supported by Im Rausch der Tief . In addition to this practical participation, technical consultants can also have knowledge through scientific activity (e.g. historians, physicians, natural scientists) that is required in the context of a production. Technical advisers from coaches, who prepare the actors for their roles in certain areas (e.g. in handling weapons, riding, driving certain vehicles, or the like) are to be distinguished (albeit with a smooth transition).

Sometimes technical consultants are also active in front of the camera and, in addition to their position as consultants, also play a role in the respective production. Some have achieved considerable popularity here, for example R. Lee Ermey in the role of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket . Originally, the Vietnam veteran and actual Staff Sergeant Ermey was only supposed to provide an authentic representation of the Marines training, but after Kubrick saw a film of Ermey berating the extras for minutes, he transferred the role to him. Ermey was at the Golden Globes in 1988 as a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Michael Newman , the technical advisor for the series Baywatch - The Lifeguards of Malibu, created his own fan club . Newman played a character of the same name here for several seasons and was the only real lifeguard on the show's cast. David Labrava starred as Happy Lowman in Sons of Anarchy , as well as contributing the expertise he had gained as a member of the Hells Angels .