What is DIT in Film?

There are several major film roles that represent the many helping hands that come together to produce a movie or film. The DIT is one such profession that you may or may not have heard of in the past, but what is DIT in film and what does this individual do on the set? The reality is, several duties fall under the responsibilities of the DIT in film. Let’s take a look at what the DIT is and what their responsibilities are.

What is a DIT?

A DIT is a digital imaging technician. The DIT is a relatively new role on the movie or film set because digital imaging is really a new field. Prior to digital imaging, technicians used various other forms of technology to achieve similar roles and functions as needed on the set.

The digital imaging technician is responsible for actually transferring footage that is captured onto memory cards from various equipment.

This is an incredibly important responsibility that requires the following responsibilities to be met:

• Data wrangling
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• Data protection
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• Assisting the Director of Photography
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• Dailies

DITs largely carry these responsibilities in addition to various other roles and requirements that are increasingly becoming more common as the digital format becomes more advanced and more complicated in the industry.

An Assistant to DP & Camera

When you ask, “What is DIT in film,” we instantly think about the role of the digital imaging technician and acting as a liaison between the production and post-production teams.

Essentially, the DIT will help the DP and camera department during production to ensure that digital image manipulations closely contribute to the DP’s vision.

This includes overseeing camera settings, aspect ratio, codecs, LUTs, frame rates and various other settings, especially when the cinematographer is accustomed to shooting on film stock and is now responsible for digital formatting.

A Liaison Between Production & Post-Production

Another common responsibility that comes to mind when you ask, “What is a DIT in film?” is their ability to work as the liaison between production and post-production teams to ensure that workflows and processes are as efficient as possible.

The DIT is responsible for ensuring footage is delivered to the editor or assistant editor appropriately.

They’re also responsible for ensuring that filled memory cards are handed off correctly and that the footage is transferred to the appropriate drives.

This is called data wrangling and protection, and it’s one of the core functions or responsibilities of the DIT. The ensure the data is in three separate places so that if anything were to go wrong with one, there’s multiple backups.

So, when you ask, “What is a DIT in film?” We answer, a DIT is a digital imaging technician and these individuals have a lot of different responsibilities on the film set and behind the scenes.