In film-making, a swing gang is one or more persons who make last-minute changes on a
film set
A set is artificially constructed scenery used in theatre, film and TV. In the latter two cases there are many reasons to build or use a set instead of travelling to a real location, such as budget, time, the need to control the environment, or ...
. This may include construction of new portions of a set the
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
requests or simply striking large
furniture
Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fur ...
at a
set decorator
The set decorator is the head of the set decoration department in the film and television industry, responsible for selecting, designing, fabricating, and sourcing the "set dressing" elements of each set in a Feature Film, Television, or New Media ...
's request. The swing gang is part of the
set dressing
Staging is the process of selecting, designing, adapting to, or modifying the performance space for a play or film. This includes the use or absence of stagecraft elements as well as the structure of the stage and its components.
Staging is also ...
department. Sets that are not part of the "permanent" sets are called swing set. They come and go as the scripts dictate. Thus the crew that handles the set dressing elements are called the swing gang. These sets may need to be struck during the late evening or the "swing shift".
Filmmaking occupations
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