The Essential Guide to Being a First Assistant Director; Second Edition
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Running the Show Whether it’s a crew of two hundred shooting a cast of thousands on horseback or a crew of twelve fi lming one person in a room, each and every successful movie production requires a strong First Assistant Director (AD) at its helm. In this new and updated edition, veteran First AD Liz Gill walks you through the entire fi lmmaking process through the perspective of the First AD, from pre-production, shoot, wrap, and everything in between. This book provides invaluable insight into working as a First Assistant Director, featuring tricks-of-the-trade for breaking down a script, creating a schedule and organizing test shoots, alongside how to use turnaround time, weather cover, split days, overtime and continuous days to balance a challenging schedule and get the most from the cast, crew and the shoot. This new edition has been fully updated and expanded throughout to provide up-to-date coverage on new equipment and software, health and safety considerations and the implications of VFX. This is the essential guide to becoming a successful First Assistant Director, ideal for professional and aspiring ADs seeking to further their career, students of directing and production looking to gain a better understanding of how this department works and anyone interested in fi lm and TV production. The accompanying eResources provide an expanded selection of sample call sheets, report templates, checklists and other useful documents. Liz Gill has been working as a First AD since 1994 for directors such as Barry Levinson, Todd Haynes, and Kevin Reynolds, working on widely seen fi lms such as The Omen and Bloody Sunday. She studied at Columbia University and NYU before beginning her career as an assistant to Martin Scorsese. She then worked as an Assistant Director on non-union and studio fi lms in New York City and Los Angeles before moving to Ireland, where she is one of the top First ADs in the country. Liz is also a Director, with feature credits Gold in the Streets and Goldfi sh Memory as well as TV work for the BBC, RTE, Starz, Encore and Hallmark, and she was most recently Producer of the feature fi lm Tomato Red and Series 5 and 6 of the TV series Vikings . Running the Show The Essential Guide to Being a First Assistant Director Second Edition Liz Gill Second edition published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Liz Gill Th e right of Liz Gill to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereaft er invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published by Routledge 2012 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Gill, Liz, author. Title: Running the show : the essential guide to being a fi rst assistant director / Liz Gill. Description: Second edition. | London ; New York : Routledge, 2020. | Includes index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2019028255 | ISBN 9780367187361 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367187385 (paperback) | ISBN 9780429197956 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Motion pictures—Production and direction—Handbooks, manuals, etc. Classifi cation: LCC PN1995.9.P7 G442 2020 | DDC 791.4302/3—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028255 ISBN: 978-0-367-18736-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-18738-5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-19795-6 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC Visit the eResources: www.routledge.com/9780367187385 To Breda and Elsie Contents Acknowledgments xi Preface xiii Chapter 1 Pre-pre-production 1 What is an assistant director? 1 How do I start? 2 Getting the job 3 Chapter 2 Pre-production 7 Week Minus Four (Week One) 8 The production offi ce 8 Reading the script 11 Breaking it down 18 The breakdown sheets 19 Meeting the director 34 The fi rst schedule 37 Sets, locations and stages 38 Cast deals 38 SAG (the Screen Actors Guild) 40 Minors 45 Crew deals 46 Continuous days/French Hours 48 Special equipment 49 Other considerations 49 The shooting schedule and the strips 51 The Day-Out-Of-Days 56 Consultation 59 Publishing the schedule 59 The bond company (Part 1) 60 Week Minus Three (Week Two) 61 The production calendar 62 Production meetings 62 Directing the director (Part 1) 64 Art department 66 Locations and scouts 67 Costume 68 vii Contents Storyboards and shotlists 69 Sex scenes and nudity (Part 1) 69 Stunts (Part 1) 70 Special effects 72 Health and safety 75 Extras 79 Tests and retests 81 Week Two (Week Minus Three) checklist 82 Week Minus Two (Week Three) 82 The current schedule 83 Tech scouts 83 Running your team: the assistant directors 88 The AD’s meeting 93 Week Three (Week Minus Two) checklist 96 Week Minus One (Week Four) 96 The call sheet (Part 1) 96 Walkies 106 Week Four (Week Minus One) checklist 107 Chapter 3 Production 109 Running the shoot 110 Starting the day 110 The rhythm of the set 115 Right of way – or how to keep the crew from killing each other 118 Lunch 121 The call sheet (Part 2) 124 Back in 131 Company moves 131 Wrap 132 Overtime (OT) 133 Dailies 134 Running the set 134 Some common phrases and practices 134 Smoke and mirrors 142 Don’t touch my stuff 143 Blacking out 144 What to wear 144 Your kit 145 viii Contents Slowpokes 145 Knowing your place 146 Set politics 148 Loving the cast 149 Enormous changes at the last minute 151 The departments 151 Directing the director (Part 2) 152 Video Village 154 The producer, line producer and production manager 156 The camera department 158 Grips and gear 166 The script supervisor 169 Lighting and electrical 172 Sound 174 Video playback 177 Hair and makeup 178 Blood, sweat and tears 180 The costume department 181 Props and art department 184 Locations 185 Stills 187 Transport 188 Visual effects 188 Catering 190 Additional elements 192 Sex scenes and nudity (Part 2) 192 Children, animals and the elderly 193 Background action 195 Stunts (Part 2) 198 Weapons 201 Cameras and cars 202 Tanks, pools and water work 206 Food styling 208 Unusual locations: underwater, mountaineering, extreme weather 209 Helicopter fi lming 209 Second units and splinter units (Part 2) 212 Union rules and the shop steward 213 International variations 214 ix Contents Coping with disasters 216 The bond company (Part 2) 217 Paperwork 217 Schedule drafts 220 Rushes clearance 220 Chapter 4 Wrap 223 The wrap party 223 Getting paid 223 Getting fi red 224 Commercials, music videos, corporates, shorts, student fi lms and demos 225 How low can you go? 227 Conclusion 228 Appendix 1: SAG tier budget thresholds 229 Appendix 2: Filmmakers’ code of professional responsibility 231 Appendix 3: Some fi lmster jokes 233 Glossary 235 Websites and other resources 239 List of illustrations 243 Index 245 x Acknowledgments I’d like to offer my sincere and unlimited thanks to Breda Walsh, Elsie Walsh, Conor McCarthy, Annie Gill, Betsy Gill, Michael Gill, Neil Winterlich, Oorlagh George, Seamus McInerney, Bryan Thomas, Noelette Buck- ley, Tim Bird, Thomas Whelan and Elsie Lau at Entertainment Partners; Sahar Moridani at the DGA; Elizabeth Moseley at SAG; and Ken Segna at Starz Encore. And especially Dennis McGonagle, Lauren Mattos and Anne McGee at Focal Press for green lighting, produc- ing and distributing this book and to Sarah Pickles and Sheni Kruger for all their help with this second edition. Special thanks to artist Stephen Daly for the cover image. xi Preface A few years ago, a friend of mine who had worked on my team for many years got her fi rst job as a First Assistant Director (AD). We spent an afternoon in my kitchen with the script of her project and her computer, going through all the basics as well as the more complicated stuff. She had a good idea of what was involved but wanted the reassurance of a more experienced person to guide her through her fi rst steps. In a sense, this book is my way of being that person at the kitchen table for all those who are about to embark on the adventure of Firsting a shoot and, whether they know a little or a lot, want the support of an encouraging friend for their fi rst time out. This book is also for anyone with an interest in the movies who wants to know how they really work. Very few civilians (that is, people who don’t work in the movie business) have even heard of a First Assistant Director, never mind key Second, Second Second, etc. Yet these team members are the backbone of the shoot and the ones who, in the most immediate sense, keep the show on the road. In fact, with a good cameraman, script supervisor and First, you can go a long way without having a director at all! So while I would hope other First ADs might enjoy reading it (and having very different opinions), this book is aimed at people who are consid- ering a career in fi lm or who want to know more about the realities of life as a First AD.