Directors Tell the Story

by Bethany Rooney

  You, the director, are the only one judging whether the performance by the actors is telling your story. And you are the only one who is nurturing them, loving them, making them feel secure. You are the only one leading them where you want them to go.

  But the main responsibility of the director is to focus on performance, because the director is the only one doing that. All the other aspects of filmmaking have someone to look after them. The DP will watch the light; the camera operator will make sure that the shot is perfect. The prop assistant will make sure that each hand prop is in place. The wardrobe assistant will not allow lint on a jacket; the hairdresser will make sure that not a hair is out of place. You, the director, are the only one judging whether the performance by the actors is telling your story. And you are the only one who is nurturing them, loving them, making them feel secure. You are the only one leading them where you want them to go.

  PERSONALITY IN THE PROCESS

  The process will work best if you exhibit the good old-fashioned values of respect, manners, and positive thinking. Remember that everyone on the set is looking to you for signs of how the day is going and how he should feel. If you’re grumpy, they will be too. If you’re rude, you give them permission to be the same. But if you say please and thank you, if you praise and encourage your actors and your crew, and most importantly, as we talked about in Section One, if you come to set well-prepared, then the magic can happen. You can have a plan, follow it, and release yourself and everyone else from the stress of figuring things out on the fly. And you can be free to deviate from your preparation and allow the inspiration (most especially from your actors) of the moment to elevate what was previously an intellectual exercise. Although you have pictured the scene in your head, the reality will undoubtedly be different.

  Remember that everyone on the set is looking to you for signs of how the day is going and how he should feel. If you’r grumpy, they will be too. If you’re rude, you give them permission to be the same. But if you say please and thank you, if you praise and encourage your actors and your crew, and most importantly, as we talked about in Section One, if you come to set well-prepared, then the magic can happen.

  This work is what makes the job of the director so exciting. You get to see your vision become a reality. But there are so many variables that the end product becomes unpredictable ahead of time. Is your lead actress in a good mood or bad mood? Did the piece of equipment you ordered come in? Was there a late rewrite that affected your preparation? Are there internal feuds, or perhaps love affairs? Are the producers at war with the studio, and both at war with the network, leaving you unsure to whom you’re answering? For every scene, there are as many variables as the people involved at every level. And it is your job as director to navigate all that with grace, diplomacy, and the determination that it is your creative vision to which all must adhere. It’s challenging, and it’s fun. There is no greater creative high than being the director, if you have the temperament and multitasking skills to achieve consummate filmmaking.

  We’ll give you the insight on how to be that kind of person in Section 4—right after we talk about postproduction and taking storytelling to a new level.

  Insider Info

  How Do You Work with Directors?

  Each director and each show is unique. I try to get the directors to let me know how they like to work. Some like to prep by themselves at the beginning and give out info as prep goes on. Others like to share all of their thoughts from day 1. From an assistant director’s standpoint, it is preferable to have a bit of a medium. I prefer it when a director has thought out the script, then we can get together and discuss the episode. From this point on, I welcome as much information as I can get. No detail is too small.

  At the beginning of prep, I like to walk the sets with the director to give him a basic overview of the show and let him know which are wild and any other logistical consideration we have on the show. We discuss the cast. We go over how each cast member likes to rehearse and shoot. We also discuss the do’s and don’ts of the show.

  After the usual preproduction meetings with various departments, it is good to revisit the sets with a general idea of how to shoot each scene. Some more experienced directors may want to go over larger or more complicated scenes and skip over simpler two-person scenes. We will go over the directions we hope to shoot. This is when the director should share which scenes have specialty shots and/or equipment needs.

  What Would You Like Directors to Know About the 1St AD Position and its Responsibilities?

  I would like directors in television to remember that we are there for them. We want the director to be able to deliver their vision, yet we have an obligation to the producers of the show to accomplish this task in a timely manner.

  The best directors understand that we can help them only if we are aware of all their special requirements as soon as possible. We might not be able to get them what they want for a shot but might have an alternative solution to their request.

  What is Your Advice for Young Directors?

  Know the script forward and backward. Make sure that you know where each character was in their previous scene and where the characters are going in their next scene. This knowledge will help answer some of the cast questions. Be aware of what you want to make a scene and know what you need to make a scene. And know the difference!

  Remember that on any given set, the crew has years and years of experience that they are willing to share with their director. Do not be afraid to ask for help. If the director is successful, so are we.

  Last but not least, be polite. We work long, hard hours and the crew is much more willing to give an extra effort to a nice director than a tyrant.

  Jim Goldthwait

  1st Assistant Director

  Private Practice, Sleeper Cell

  Vocabulary

  Abby Singer or the Abby

  action

  aged

  bell

  check the gate

  cue

  cut

  final touches

  flyaways

  foreground (fg) wipe

  from the top

  full mag

  get it on its feet

  grace period

  hair in the gate

  last looks

  martini shot

  meal penalty

  moving on

  one more for fun

  pickup

  picture up

  print it

  private rehearsal

  proscenium

  read through

  rolling

  running the tape

  second meal

  sides

  speeding

  still rolling … reset

  stop-and-go rehearsal

  synced

  turning around

  wall in, wall out

  wild

  wrap

  Section Two Review

  Shoot

  The week or ten days when you actually are in production and doing the principal photography is the shoot. During this time, you run the set, shape the actors’ performances, and oversee all aspects of telling the story with the camera and sound recording equipment on the sets or on location. You do all this in an orderly and efficient way to stay on time and within budget while expressing your creative vision as you interpret the script.

  You use your knowledge of the how the actors prepare and work so that you can speak to them in their language. You provide a closed set so that they can do that work in a protected and safe environment. You have the bigger picture in mind so that you are mindful of pacing and tone, and you pay special attention to their rhythm and timing if you are doing a comedy.

  During the shoot, you work closely with your key trio on the set: your AD, the DP, and the script supervisor. These three are there for every rehearsal. The AD is your lieutenant who sees that all your instructions are communicated. The DP is your captain who oversees the crew and the actual execution o
f how you tell the story with the camera and sound recording equipment. Your script supervisor oversees continuity and can be your backup person to make sure you haven’t missed any critical coverage.

  When you shoot with animals and kids, quiet spontaneity is your friend; when you shoot special effects, stunts, CGI, blue screen, and choreography, careful planning is key to efficient and safe shooting.

  The shoot is the time when all the troops rally together to create the director’s vision. It is the time you show how well you lead and how well you capture the elements you need to tell a story.

  Section Three

  Post

  Overview

  What is “post”? “Post” is the time following production when a film is assembled and readied for delivery so that it can be shown or broadcast. It is the director’s final chance to reinterpret the script. It is also known as the postproduction phase.

  What does a director do during post? The director works closely with the editor to make sure that the film is cut together so that it clearly and artfully tells the story. Together, they add temporary music and sound effects so that the director’s cut clearly shows the director’s vision. The director may continue to oversee his vision during the other postproduction processes such as color correcting, working with the composer, and dubbing, or simply hand over his cut to the producers, having delivered everything within his power to fulfill.

  Chapter 14

  Working with the Editor

  During postproduction, you get to reinterpret the script when you work with the editor. This is an opportunity to tell your story in a new, fresh, and possibly better way than you originally conceived it. The important thing to remember is that the editor is trying to make you look good by putting together the best episode possible from the footage you have shot. He has no preconceived notions but is simply dealing with putting the pieces of the story together. The editor, aided by his assistants, has done a lot of work before you ever see his initial cut, which is called the editor’s assembly.

  BEFORE YOUR CUT: THE EDITOR’S ASSEMBLY

  Although technology changes the medium on which the picture is recorded (tape, film, digital tape, digital hard drive), the editor still usually receives either a master tape or copy of the master tape. If the footage was shot on film or memory card, it has been transferred to a hard drive. The editor gets a copy of the footage along with the camera report, sound report, and script supervisor’s notes for what you have shot. The script supervisor’s notes are a blueprint for finding and retrieving the information about all the footage shot and especially about the footage the director printed. It is all organized by nonlinear editing methods (NLEs) in consecutive bins, or giant files, on the editor’s computer that follow the order of the script. (In the old days, prior to 1990, when dramas and features were shot and edited on film, the individual strips of film hung from hooks in a literal canvas bin.) Each scene has a separate bin. If all the footage for that scene is shot, a bin is said to be complete, but if an insert or special effects shot is missing, that bin is still incomplete. Once the assistant editor gets the final shooting script, the appropriate words of the script also go into the bin. Certain editing programs have the capacity for the editor to lay the cursor over a certain line of dialog and automatically see the various footage that has been shot containing the line in that selection.

  You get a copy of the unassembled footage when you are handed a DVD containing dailies or printed daily footage. Unassembled footage is so named because the producers and the director used to have a daily screening of the film that was shot the day before. You don’t need to look at every minute of what you shot. You should look at dailies to make sure that you got the specific shots or performances that are critical to your story. The editor takes the dailies and cuts them together scene by scene (not necessarily in order) using his fresh eyes to either take an educated guess as to how you saw your footage fitting together, or assembling the footage to tell the story so it makes sense to him. If you have specific ins and outs and it is clear where you anticipated cutting out of the master, it will be apparent to the editor how you intended your episode to be cut together. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle and you both are looking at the same picture on the box lid.

  But sometimes what you intended might not be apparent to the editor. Steve Welke, coproducer on Eureka, suggests that the editor really wants to know the director’s plan or vision. He reports editors saying, “I have all this footage. I wish I knew what the director was thinking when he/she shot it. It would help me put it together if I knew how they want to see it.” So touch base with your editor prior to you coming in for your cut to see if the editor wants some guidance from you before working his magic.

  If you have specific ins and outs and it is clear where you anticipated cutting out of the master, it will be apparent to the editor how you intended your episode to be cut together. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle and you both are looking at the same picture on the box lid

  You can avoid the editor’s picture being radically different if you know the look of the show and have shot your footage appropriately to mesh with that established look. During prep, you will have discussed in your tone meeting with the showrunner what the style preferences are. (See Chapter 6.) As a freelance director, it is your job to give the producer and the network exactly what they’re looking for while expressing your individual creativity within those parameters. The exception, of course, would be a pilot, for which you create the look of the show.

  Recognizing the Edits

  Record an episode of any one-hour TV show—preferably one that has a lot of action and that is not shot in handheld style. Play it back without the sound, starting and stopping so you can write every time there is an edit. Describe the shots using the list we gave you in Chapter 7: establishing shot, master, mini-master, 50/50, two-shot, insert, OS, CU. With CU, note if it is cowboy, waist, two-t, choker, or extreme. When you are done with the list, go back with a highlighter and note any patterns that you see within scenes and within acts. Record another episode of a different show and describe the shots. Compare and contrast the styles of the shows.

  KNOWING THE CLASSIC PRINCIPLES OF EDITING

  The look of the show dictates how the show gets put together. Although some shows deliberately break the classic rules of editing, it is always important to know a rule—and why it exists—before you break it. Here are the traditional rules that editors begin with:

  Change size or change angles between shots that will be cut together.

  Cut back and forth between complementary shots.

  Cut into a tighter shot when the information gets more important or the mood more intimate.

  Cut wider to show movement or geography.

  Match for continuity.

  Don’t cross the line.

  Cut on movement.

  Pace (time between edits) is part of the storytelling.

  Nearly all these rules exist so that the edit seems seamless; that is, it doesn’t draw attention to itself when the picture is changing. You want your audience to be enthralled by your story, not noticing how a scene was shot or how it was edited. If they’re noticing those things, they’re looking at your technique, which should be invisible. Having said that, there are times when a director wants to break the rules for effect: to startle or otherwise alert the audience to storytelling points. When you feel the need to break these rules, we encourage you to do it artfully.

  As you’ll recall from Chapters 7 and 8, the director plans not only how to shoot the scene, but also how those shots will be edited together. The director specifically shoots an opening visual and an ending visual, and although that visual should be clear to the editor when looking at the footage, you can also instruct the script supervisor to include that information in her notes. The director also has in mind where the first cut is from the master or opening shot because that begins to dictate the cutting pattern and rhythm of the scene.

  Every scene is like a piece o
f music that is carefully constructed to be structurally sound and tell the story. The pattern and rhythm is a part of that. Is the scene legato, or is it staccato? The editor brings a “fresh eye” to the footage and may discover things you never anticipated. But ideally, the editor is assembling the film according to your vision while following the accepted rules.

  Every scene is like a piece of music that is carefully constructed to be structurally sound and tell the story. The pattern and rhythm is a part of that.

  The first rule—“Change size or change angles between shots that will be cut together”—assures that there will not be a jump cut, which is two shots in a row of the same subject from nearly the same camera position. If edited sequentially, these subjects appear to jump, hence the name. Changing angles prevents this problem; the suggestion is to change that angle by at least 30 degrees. Some editors also believe that it helps to avoid a jump cut if you change the size of the shot.

  Following the next rule—“Cut back and forth between complementary shots”—also makes the edit seamless. Imagine an intimate moment between the Soldier and his Wife standing at the door facing each other. Complementary shots would be their matching OS or CUs (whether they are cowboys, waists, two-ts, or chokers). What makes them match or complement each other is that their faces are the same size when you cut back and forth. Ideally, they should also be shot with the same lens and at the same depth of field to ensure not just that the faces fill the same amount of space in the frame, but also that the background behind the faces is equally sharp or blurred. This approach ensures that the complementary shots have the same feel. Bethany experienced this on Ally McBeal, on which the camera department didn’t even carry a lens wider than 75mm. They wanted a “filmic” look, but it was challenging to shoot masters on that kind of long lens. Nevertheless, by not even offering another option, the show’s producers ensured that all of the episodes had a similar look. Conversely, a director can exploit the difference between a shot and its reverse for emphasis and point of view.