by Alana Jessop

Created on: January 10, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Assistant Director Workshop

The role of the First Assistant Director is a complex one, requiring the varied skills of time management, flexibility, good communication and patience! This guide has been developed to give readers an understanding of the process of Assistant Directing for short film projects to feature film projects. Some diagrams and examples are missing in this format but can be provided upon request.

Respect & Chain of Command

The First Assistant Director is the Head of the Assistant Directing and Unit departments, but must be respected as an overall manager of the entire crew.

Crew may not respect the person giving the orders on set (hopefully they do!) but they must at all times respect the position/role and overall importance of the schedule/plan or the shoot could very well fall apart.

- 1st Assistant Director: Immediately under the Producer and Director, should be considered on-par with the other Heads of Departments, including the Director of Photography, Continuity, Art Dept etc. Primarily in charge of the overall schedule, call sheets, and first point of contact for main actors and crew.

It is the 1st AD's job to recognize the contributions of all the departments and to help balance the needs of the departments and the appreciation that is afforded to the departments so that everyone is respected, efficient and pulling their weight.

A 1st AD must always take a non-personal approach, have efficient time-management skills and be a good communicator with a variety of personality types. The most important thing to keep in mind is the value of the project no department or individual should ever feel that their needs are more important than anyone else, as this will significantly impact the importance of the project (Diagram examples A).

- 2nd Assistant Director: The 1st AD's assistant, primarily in charge of extras and administrative support (call sheets). Can also be in charge of 2nd Unit, unless units have own AD's.
- 3rd Assistant Director: 2nd's assistant, usually on days with many extras

The Schedule

Getting Started
- Read the script!
- Colour code all requirements (or use a system you are comfortable with) Scene Breakdown Sheet for categories of requirements (ie, props, costumes, special equipment, sound, etc.)
- Keep notes while going through the script notes on the script itself, any questions and notes on any requirements (props etc)
- Break down according to the rule of 8ths
- Move on to Scene Breakdown

The Rule of 8ths
- Basically 1 page = 8/8 or

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