What it's like being an AD in a movie set
For those wondering what these pictures are all about. It's from a test shoot I did earlier today for a scary cow documentary.
Scary Cow is an independent movie co-op that brings together amateur talent (such as myself) in pursuit of creating a movie, documentary or short film. Most folks contributing have day jobs, but choose to spend the time they would have otherwise spent watching movies, making movies.
Unfortunately, I can't share much about the documentary I'm a part of right now, but I'll continue sharing tidbits on the movie making process in subsequent posts of mine.
How are movies made?
Here are my first impressions from today's shoot:
1. Chain of Command: There are three key people running day-to-day operations of a shoot. We're a small crew so this is just a microcosm of what one would experience on a feature film's shoot.
Today's shoot had three key players ably assisted by the crew:
- Executive Producer who also plays a key role in the documentary.
- Director
- Director of Photography or DP The DP is supported by x number of camera operators who are helped by production assistants (admin stuff - tracking time, etc.)
The AD is the key liaison who helps connect these different individuals on the day of the shoot. I was helping the AD today and have also volunteered to help with various aspects of promoting the film. The DP and AD report to the Director whose primary role on the day of the shoot is to manage the creative process by dealing with the talent. If it's a feature film, the Director's role is to ensure the script is being realized on camera as envisioned.
2. The devil is in the detail: Seriously, this is key to the success of a day's shoot. Period. It's the role of the AD to plan a day's shoot well in advance, being the administrative lead on keeping every team informed and aware of what's happening (talent, DP, and others) both before and on the day of the shoot.
3. Murphy's law rules: If something could go wrong on a day's shoot, it will. Given that we're doing a documentary there were problems with sound, obstacles in your line of sight, etc. but none too serious. That said, planning helps mitigate problems and deal with them effectively. These are my initial thoughts from today's shoot and I wish I'd taken more pictures, but hey, when you're on a set, it's go-time and there's not much time to goof around. Stay tuned for more from the world of movie making in the months to come.
Comments [0]