An Asst. Director’s first experience
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SHAILEE VYAS
(Mumbai, India)
EMAIL:
shaileepv [at] gmail.com
Ashwin’s post ‘Thoughts on writing / editing / acting / directing’ inspired me to publish the notes that i had made after my first ever film as an asst. director.
I was working for my first serial as an asst. director, when the EP of the serial had decided to make a film in Marathi. It was the last day of our shooting when i asked the EP if i could assist him on his film… and to my surprise the answer was ‘Yes, Of course’…
“But, what will i do there? i don’t know anything about film making !!”
“the same thing that you do here!!”
“write the TCR??”
“No dear …write the continuity book… don’t worry someone will teach you how to write that on floor…”
The shooting was to start in 3 days, i was clueless of what the other assts. were doing.. though now i know that one was making his list of properties, the other costumes, one was making the schedule…and so on..
sitting there, among these busy people, and doing nothing, i used to feel i am the only one who has no responsibilities whatsoever…and so finally i went up to the director and asked him… “sir, i don’t seem to have any work?? will i get to work at least on the sets???”
he smiled and said ” baby just chill now .. because once we start shooting you will have no time !!” and that was so true…
The only thing i did at that time, was read the screenplay first , then read the revised screenplay and then read the final script in Marathi.(today when i look back i guess this was the best thing i did ..because i was so thorough with the story by the time we started shooting that when the others had to refer to the script i had everything in my head.”
day 1 of shooting and i started making notes in my head about everything that i was learning -(certain things might look very obvious but still…..)
always discuss the dress continuity with the director in the pre production phase and have everything written… so when you go for shooting … the first thing you can do in the morning is see the scenes and ask dress dada to keep all the costumes of all the artists ready …. hence, even if we shoot anything randomly all the costumes are ready..
same goes for properties.. personally check each and every property. there may be certain things the director would have thought of but not mentioned so make a point to ask him whether there is anything other than the obvious that he wants in the scene..
when on the set.. don’t keep only the scenes with you but the entire script so you can always refer to things as and when you need them..
you must be given a particular job profile but you should, for your own sake, make your personal division of work…Eg. location wise division of scenes. keep a list where you have the scenes, short description, characters, location, properties, and if possible dress…
i guess getting acquainted with the camera that we are using is also very important.. make friends with the camera department..
understand the lenses that we are using. it will help you set the frame better and faster.
if you are maintaining the continuity sheet, you will have to keep a track of the no.of tins used . while doing that what you can do is at the end of the day make a list as to what scenes were shot in what tin no. and type. you never know you might need it at the editing table or may be the cameraman will ask you about it someday…
the camera department will keep a track of it, but still, always see how much footage remaining in the can… at times it might run down in the most important emotional scene..
when the director is explaining shot division, always try to be around and make your personal note of it … at times when we are shooting in a hurry and going angle wise, some shot from that angle might just get missed and that’s when your notes will help you to keep a track..
when taking os shots or close shots … and there are going to be counter shots… keep the lens in mind … the frame in mind ..so that the counter is shot accordingly(the cameraman will obviously take care
also keep the look ( whether right of camera or left of camera) of the artist in mind (i find this very obvious but still ..keep in mind)
keep the scripts’ xerox copies ready for the artists and give it to them as and when they come..
and you should know in what order are we going to shoot so that you can brief them. also be aware of the scene and where its placed in the film so that you are ready for any questions that they might just ask..
when giving them dresses see to it that you don’t dump all their costumes in the van and confuse them but give it to them only before the scene to avoid chaos..
there is so much more ..but can’t think of them now… they are in my head… so another important thing.. always write down everything.. don’t trust your memory so much .. you might just miss on something..
last but not the least.. amongst yourselves be a team… and be friends with all the other departments as well… it will help to function with a lot of ease…
Tags: Production
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thanks Shailee for the insights. Fascinating for an outsider like me. What’s a TCR?
yeah wats that “TCR”??? is it “time code reading”??? if u dont mind elaboratin it , pls do so !!!
nice post !!!
and the records for continuity shots .. how is it maintained .. all of it as hardcopies???
For any Assistant Director, his best friend while on sets is Movie Magic Scheduling.
Before you start your shoot, enter all the date of your script into the Movie Magic software, including the props, costumes, etc etc! EVERY DAMN DETAIL!
Next comes the scheduling. Once you sit with your director and do the scheduling of your shoots, like what scenes you are shooting on what day, depending on the locations, you create strips.
So, on day 4, all you have to pull out is the strips of day 4 shoot, containing the scenes you are going to shoot that day.
The day before the shoot, take a print out of all the props and costume list for those scenes. A smart AD also keeps extra information in case the director wants to shoot extra scenes which is not scheduled for that day.
And, print out the call sheets with the complete scenes for the next day shoot, print them in compact mini form, make copies and distribute it to all the key people one day before the shoot or in the morning before the shoot.
Make sure every department has a copy so everyone stays in the loop.
An AD should carry a digital camera, neatly organized pictures of every scene for the sake of continuity. He also should keep a stop watch to measure the time of the camera running and write it on the report book for each shot.
If the Chief AD is organized and knows his job, rest assured that everything will run smoothly on the sets. Never disturb the director for small stuff, even if you want brownie points, resist the temptation.
Information is King, make sure you have it at your finger tips.
It’s the Chief AD’s job to coordinate with the director and make sure he sticks to the schedule. But any last minute changes are inevitable.
Thanx for the post shailee. informative. first hand information.
Machchar Bhai! Pehle ke zamaane mein ADs ka kya role tha? The gizmos weren’t around …how about a post on that…am waiting
aditi ben, just because Pehle zamaane mein technology nahi tha, doesn’t mean we stop using technology now to make our lives easier…forget pehle ka zamaana, movies were still made and will always be made, irrespective of what extra help is available.
Even though I did not work as an AD in pehle ka zaamana, I was constantly on the sets of my father’s films and actually used to participate in all the discussions, pre-production work so I have a fair idea how it was then.
Well, of course it used to be more tough then. An AD had to concentrate 100% on his duty and that left no time for him to learn the actual film making. No wonder those days you see AD’s becoming directors after working for 10-15 years as an assistant.
These days, 3 to 4 movies, you are set to direct your own film and you feel confident. Just because technology helps you to take care of all the paper work etc.
And one more thing, those days, to get a break as an AD was much much tougher. There was this guy who used to come to our house daily morning for months to meet my father to work as an AD. Initially my father tried to discourage him (nicely) saying he is married and this is a very risky profession. He would not listen. I still remember, he used to come every morning, stand outside the gate, help us get into the auto-rickshaws while going to school, even be ready to do odd jobs for my family.
Finally my father relented and kept him as an AD for his next movie, doing real AD work and not as a clapper.
Those days, there were traditional black clapboards (I am sure they still are there) but now, you see vinyl and digital ones so much around and AD’s strutting around like hi-tech NAVY SEAL’s.
I read somewhere that recently, an actor got miffed when a hi-funda AD came up to him and gave him a 5 minute warning! This senior actor did not know the current jargon that warning means the time left to be on the set and got offended.
All said and done, I feel AD’s should be humble, not get carried away and use technology where it really helps, not to show off.
A Farhan Akhtar’s assistant behaves with more attitude than the director. An Ashutosh Gowarikar’s assistant thinks he is the next best thing to happen to film making after movie camera.A Raju Hirani’s assistant has more ego than Sanjay Leela Bhansali. But sadly, their work falls flat. If you really want to learn direction, work with hardcore directors, who put you to task, make you cry (Not Pooja Bhatt kinds) and get 2000% out of you.
Marcus Bartley shot brilliant movies with a Mitchell Camera and Ashok Mehta is shooting great visuals with a 535. We just go ahead with the times and make the best use of technology.
machcharbhai and shailee thanks for the inside information. this will really help to starters.
:d/:d/:d/:d/:d/:d/
hey
when one shoots for TV .. they usually shoot on sony D50 or D35.. these donot have magzines attached to them unlike ARRI etc..
so they are recorded in tapes .. which has a ‘ time code recording ‘TCR displayed on the recorder as well as the monitor.. which halps you keep a note of where exactly is a particular shot recorded in a tape..and so its a job of one of the assts. to keep a track of it..
Am an enlightened soul now. Thanks a ton on the insight. Machchar Bhai Zindabad!!!!