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The Ins-and-Outs of Principal Photography
The time has come. Weeks of preparation have produced locations, schedules, actors, storyboards, costumes, and shot lists. Ready or not, Pete Jones is headed into principal photography, full steam ahead.
Principal photography is the point in production when the film is actually being shot. The cast and crew report to set and shoot pages of the script. Cameras, lights, lunch breaks, etc. It can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months or longer. Shooting can take place through the night, at dawn, on weekends, and anywhere in the world.
Production crews can be as large as hundreds of people, depending on the scope of a film. Low-budget independent films require smaller crews, but studio films that require building of sets, stunts, explosives, extras, or other complicated production elements often demand teams of experts to execute a director's vision.
So who is typically on a set? And who runs the ship?
Obviously, the director sits at the helm of a production. He or she is the driving force of the shoot, as it is his or her vision that all these people are there to carry out. But every director has a first assistant director, sort of a henchman who does the actual steering of the ship while the director looks at the horizon with binoculars.
It is the first assistant director who often is the one putting scene changes in motion, calling for the talent to take their places, or calling for lunch. The first AD will also keep track of the shot list, a detailed inventory of what must be shot on any given day. The first AD will also draft the call sheet. This tells everyone what time they are expected to arrive on set, the location of the workday, emergency information (i.e. hospital locations), maps, and contacts.
Sitting very close to the director and the first AD is the script supervisor. This person treats the script as the Bible, taking great care to ensure that what is put to print is exactly as it is written in the script. Writer/directors are good at doing this themselves but, often times, directors who are shooting someone else's script need a script supervisor to keep them in check.
The cinematographer, or director of photography (DP), also works very closely with the director. The DP composes the actual framing of a shot, with a keen understanding of the lighting needs to accomplish the desired effect. Under the DP is a lighting team who will set up a series of lights, per the DP's instruction.
To be sure, there are a million different pressures on a set. For budgetary reasons alone, it is crucial to stay on schedule. Every day, there is a specific set of pages or scenes to shoot. Anything can delay shooting. Sometimes it is uncooperative weather or a broken generator. An actor could be late, or forgetful of their lines.
Other factors may hasten shooting. When a crew is on location somewhere, they may have a finite amount of time to shoot before their permit expires. Or daylight may be running out, or the eight year-old leads won't be able to work past a certain time.
Nonetheless, there is no substitute for diligent preparation. Equally as important is that the cast and crew are all on the same page. There are stories of runaway productions where the director suddenly requires certain shots on the fly. The DP will act quickly to meet the directors needs, but mobilizing a lighting crew takes time and as neither the producer nor the studio knows of these whimsical moves, this is likely to cause tension, as well as delays.
Conversely, smooth sets are products of communication and organization. Delivering a movie "in the can" on time and on budget means that the director executed the game plan.
Time will tell what kind of head coach Pete Jones will be, if the game plan developed in prep was good enough, and if all the players and special teams of "Stolen Summer" can really come together in a winning combination.
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