Assistant Directing for Dummies

Hey guys. I'm going to be completely honest with you all. I'm running out of ideas. And fast. I know for a fact that I've written about directing before, but I don't believe I've ever touched on Assistant Directing. If I have, I apologize, but I'm running out of fresh topics to talk about. So, without further ado, it's time for Assistant Directing for Dummies! It's the gameshow where you don't have a ton of fun and some of the facts may be slightly inaccurate, but you leave feeling wiser nonetheless.

Today, we'll be focusing on two types of assistant directors (ADs): the first one and the second one. For those of you who don't often work on film sets, or for those of you who don't have much knowledge on the topic, my previous statement isn't as dumb as it sounds (even though it kind of is). There are in fact two assistant directors, and their positions are called 1st Assistant Director and 2nd Assistant Director. SO GET OFF MY CASE AND ENJOY THE POST. Ok? Good.

Let us begin with the first type of AD: the 1st Assistant Director. The 1st AD is very much involved in the preproduction and production processes. To best summarize their responsibilities, I turn to the handy dandy bulleted list. Once again, I apologize, but it's quite the list and I have some editing to tend to. The 1st AD's job is to:
      -Assist Unit Production Manager to prepare script breakdown and preliminary shooting schedule
      -Assist the UPM in location business
      -Check weather reports (exciting, right?)
      -Prepare daily schedules for talent and determine cast and crew calls
      -Supervise the preparation of call sheets
      -Supervise background activity and crowd control
      -Supervise the proper functioning of the set and crew

The 1st Assistant Director's job is to basically take care of everything the Director shouldn't have to worry about, allowing them to focus on making sure everything pertaining to what viewers will see is absolutely perfect.

"How does the 1st AD possibly get all of this done? It's so much stuff to get done!" You're right! It's a pretty demanding job. Luckily, though, they have a chief assistant who is in charge of conducting all the business of the set or location. This person is referred to as the 2nd Assistant Director. Go figure! How convenient is that? What exactly is the business of the set or location you ask? Well, it includes:

      -Preparing all call sheets

      -Preparing the daily production reports in collaboration with the UPM

      -Distributing all information to the cast and crew (scripts, changes, and call sheets)

      -Communicating advance scheduling to the cast and crew

      -Assisting the UPM, 1st AD, and Location Manager in location management

      -Facilitating the transportation of all equipment and personnel

      -Schedule all food, lodging, and other facilities

      -Supervise the set and location wrap

      -Maintain a liaison between the 1st Assistant Director and the Unit Production Manager

      -Assist the 1st AD with the direction of background activity and crowd control

PHEW! Glad that's over. I was beginning to just feel sorry for anyone who's a 2nd AD. I guess if you really love what you do, who's to tell you that your job is no fun. What I've gathered from this information, is that the student producers I've worked with in the past have actually been conducting the responsibilities of the Assistant Directors while the ADs have actually just been clapping the slate and keeping us on schedule. Who knew?! You do now!

Assistant Directors are wonderful people who moviegoers never really know anything about, but they're some of the most important people to have on a set. They essentially do all the things a director doesn't have time for (and probably doesn't want to do). If you're ever in the market for a career that's physically and emotionally demanding and that doesn't get much of any public recognition, Assistant Directing is the career for you!

Directing for Dummies

Welcome to the newest edition of "[insert random film crew position] for Dummies!" I'm you're host, Mike, and today we shall be delving into the world of the director. *Oooo ahhh* Now, I know what you're all thinking: "Duh! A director is the guy/girl that directs people!" You know what? You'd be correct in saying that. Go figure!

I'm sure you all know the basics of a director's job. I'm here today, though, to try to teach you a little something that you may not have already known. Let's start from the beginning. Now, after a director is hired by producers for a project, the director must then work side-by-side with the producers to cast actors for the film. This can be an extremely long and tedious process, but it's one that simply must be done. Clearly. Without quality actors, you can't possibly dream to have a quality film. Well, I guess you could, but that's all it would be: a dream.

Next up on the list of things to do, the director has to organize and select shooting locations. Of course, the director has location scouts working for him to truly find the best locations for shooting, but he has creative control and authority as to which locations will appear in the film. At the same time, the director interprets--and sometimes even writes or selects--the script for the film. The director rarely ever writes the script himself, but if he's not hired by a production house to direct the film, the director will often go out and find a script he'd like to work with. The location selections are hugely dependent on the script and the way the director interprets it, so the two steps are pretty much synonymous.

The director's next job is the last step before filming can begin. He must approve the sets, costumes, choreography (not present in most films), and music. These aspects of film are usually completely invisible to the untrained eye, or ear, because the only time most people will find them noticeable is when they are done incorrectly. If a film is set on a 1950s Japanese farm, and the actors are wearing tuxedos and sneakers with Kanye vaguely playing in the background, something went wrong...very, very wrong. It's the director's job to make sure mistakes like this never happen.

What else does the director do? Well I'm glad you asked! The rest of the director's work is pretty straight forward and most of you already know all of these things. But guess what! I'm going to tell you about it anyway! The director has a whole lot to do during production. The most obvious task is directing the actors. Whether it's explaining to actors how he wants them to portray their character in a given moment or if it's simply helping actors get into character, the director is the guy doing it. While doing this, the director also keeps the crew on track and makes sure everyone's doing what they need to be doing. Film shoots are generally tightly scheduled, so there's no time for excessive screw-ups and messing around. While doing this, the director also works with the cinematographers on shot composition and makes sure he likes what's in the frame.

Production is quite a daunting time for directors. They're basically the ringleaders for the wildest circuses on the planet. If they crack, the film is doomed to fail. The director must keep his cool so that everyone else does.

So now the film is shot. Yay! The only thing that's left for the director to do is work with the editors on creating first a rough cut and then a final cut of the film. The director gives his input throughout the process on what he thinks looks and feels better. Sometimes, this leads to reshoots of scenes or even cutting entire scenes from the film. But hey, who ever said directing was easy?

Sports Media

Over the break, a father asked me to videotape his son's football game and edit the good plays he makes into a high-light real. He gave me a hand held camera and told me the different angles to shoot at for where his son would be on the field, whether it was defense or offense. This was by far the hardest event I ever shoot at. Football is such a quick game and i was constantly losing concept of where the ball and Jon were. Jon played the running back position so he was pretty much on every play. Jon's father wanted me too be zoomed in as much as possible and to always have his son on camera.

Towards the second quarter, my hand was already starting to get tired, and there was nothing i could really do about it. A tripod would have rally been handy. After halftime, Jon rushed for a 47 yard touchdown, breaking three tackles and diving into the end zone. The best part was that he was running towards me the entire time, so the shoot does like pretty cool as i zoom out and refocus during the play.

In post, I added some music and labeled what each short bit was before playing it. Mr Struss, Jon's father, was very please with what I accomplished and said that if Jon's team makes it to the championship, he would ask me to do the same thing again. Then it hit me. There are so many parents that spend a tremendous amount of money to have highlight tapes shoot for their son or daughter. So currently, I am making a website that will be linked on my old school's website for parents interested in a highlight tape for their child's college resume. I already have gotten few phone calls, and have 3 jobs for when I go back home after christmas. I think I might really have something here. Once the site is finished, I'll post again and have a link to the main page.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

So I'm gonna tell a story about 5 park kids trying to shoot a movie and all of the unfortunate events they run into when trying to complete their movie. Last week, we were suppose to finish our movie shoot on Sunday, leaving that night and and the rest of the week to edit our final product. Sunday morning came rolling around but we couldn't get in touch with our man actor. Steve kinslow (myself) went to his apartment to find that he was not their and without his phone. His roommates had no clue where he was. We also found out that another actor of ours forgot a sweatshirt at home over fall break that he was wearing in our shoot, which would have killed our continuity. With all of that said and done, we cancelled the shoot and decided to shoot for the week and the weekend to comeThe next problem we came in counter with was scheduling conflicts. It was literally impossible to get all the actors together for more than an hour on any weekday from the hours of 12 to 4 (where we would have proper sunlight). This then meant that we had to shoot on the weekend once again.

At about 9pm on Thursday night, I got a phone call from our main actor Nate that the uniform we were using for our shoot wouldn't be available for the weekend because his roommate was going away on an ROTC trip from Thursday to Sunday night. Not a problem, we will just get another uniform from someone else. But then he mentioned that every school in our region will be attending this trip, so a similar uniform won't be available for the next couple of miles. JUST GREAT.
So Alex and I decided to try and find a surplus store where we could buy a similar uniform to use. We found one place within 50 miles, Joe's Surplus in Cortland. Not to bad. I call on Friday to make sure they have what we need in our size, just to get a voicemail in return telling me their store is closed for the weekend due to a gun show their employees will be attending. WTF. Like really.
So this Sunday (today), we had to shoot without a uniform, only showing the waist up on our main character. Not exactly what we wanted, but int he real world, you have to deal with what is given to you. I don't believe there is anything else we could have done. It is most likely our final product will not be done Tuesday. I hope all of the other groups had a smoother time than us.

God Bless

A friend in need

Steve kinslow

Comedy Shoot

This past weekend, I was part of my first freelance shoot. I had a client, a set, and a project to deliver that I would be paid for. The setting was Big Time Barber Shop in the commons on Saturday night. The owners of the place were hosting a standup comedy show that they staged, lit, and shot. After several days of planning where the stage, lights, cameras, and miss would be, I was ready for the real deal. Before the night started, I got each of the comedians to say a few words about who they were and how they got into comedy. I thought this would make for a good intro before actually cutting to their act. 8 o'clock struck, the lights were on and the camera was rolling. I have to admit, I was really nervous.

The first couple of minutes went by slowly. It was really hard for me to pay attention to the action and not get caught up in the laughter of the audience. I also had to stay alert for when the comedians moved on stage so i keep could the medium shot fit to frame. The second camera I had posted up was in the bak of the room, capturing a long shot of the stage and the audience reaction. I thought it would be good t cut back and forth from the camera every once in a while to make the video more professional. I haven't started editing yet, but I have already planned what I am going to do.

The biggest challenge I had was volume. Each performer talked differently and some even made sound affects into the mic. The levels on my camera were jumping at times, but for the most part I was able to keep it in check. I won't know for sure until I see it in post.

This was a great experience for me. The school projects we do month to month are fun, but are nothing like a live shoot were you have to capture everything that happens, because there is no going back.