So my movie script is about... making movies. :) i know a little bit of camera lingo, but not much. i'm not too worried about that overall since that's the kind of thing i can look up and replace later, but what i'd really like to know is if anyone has any idea what it's really like on a shooting set. There would be some studio work, some on-site work... How do all the various people interact? Does the director communicate directly with the head of each "department" (ie cameraman, sound, props, etc) or through somebody else? What kind of rigs do crews haul around in when they're going to on-site shots?

Also, does anyone know anything about how the Academy Awards work? What's the choosing process for nominees? If you're invited to the event itself, how does "check-in" and security work?

And, most importantly, could an assistant to a director (someone who has worked with this particular director for years) have enough clout to be running some of the director's duties? And not necessarily get credit for them? This is the pivotal thing about my plot...

Wow, HUGE question. Far too much for me to go into in detail, but I'll try to think of some resources.

The director interfaces with all departments. Meetings are often held in pre-production on a regular basis where the direction checks out the costume choices, casts the major roles and usually the minor ones (but sometimes trusts the casting director for that), storyboards the movie with the cinematographer, checks out locations (either in person for major locations or via photographs & video for minor ones with the location manager), looks at set designs & prop choices (for major props). Usually most of this is located in a studio somewhere, usually with the production offices attached.

Crews haul huge amounts of stuff around in production trucks for location work. These are sometimes little panel vans but often 18 wheelers with all sorts of cables, set pieces, whole trucks full of costumes, dressing rooms, bathrooms, catering trucks, offices (basically tricked out RVs) ... it's simply huge the amount of stuff hauled to remote locations (or even just down the street). A feature film can have 20 or more vehicles associated with it, with each major department with a truck of their own plus all the associated support vehicles.

For the Academy Awards, members are mailed nomination ballots. They choose from the list of eligible candidates (the studios or producers send in a list of those people that they think should win an award ... basically everyone.) Often the studio will arrange for free screenings for academy members, especially if the movie came out a while ago to remind them of the great costumes or performances.

Members vote in their field - actors vote for acting, directors vote for directing, make up artists vote for make up. Everyone votes for best picture.

The member fills out the nomination form, they're tallied by whatever that accounting company is these days, then they announce the nominees, lots of ads are taken out and more screenings. Another round of voting. Ceremony.

I don't know much about attending the Oscars, but in essence any who is just attending goes and gets screened and checked off a list when they enter. The list is pretty small, as they moved to the Kodak theater a few years ago which holds about 1,500 fewer people than the old Shrine space. So it's a hard ticket to get.

If you're presenting or nominated there's a rehearsal that they're encouraged to attend (you can probably tell which presenters didn't go to the rehearsal). They get detailed instructions on where to enter, where to go, where to stand, how to exit etc. There are handlers assigned to each (someone will go out into the audience and fetch a presenter if they're not backstage on time, etc.) and the stage manager controls the huge puppet show.

Even with all that managing, things still happen. People go off script and insert political messages, things don't always happen as planned, but hey, that's live TV for you.

Assistant Directors have a huge role on a film. Yes, ADs often do lots of work that a director might do himself. Some ADs actually direct portions of the film. Directors are not allowed to direct extras, so the AD does the directing (and is still not allowed to give too many notes or else the extra is considered a featured actor and must be paid accordingly). ADs also do "second unit" work, which are scenes where another crew goes off an shoots stuff. It's usually establishing shots or maybe a character getting into his car and driving off ... leaving the house, maybe insert shots where someone's turning the pages of a book.

Some directors are extremely dependent on their ADs (to the point that it may be considered like a marriage), so your plot should have no problem at all with that.

NaNoWriMo Staff

Ah, brilliant. Thank you so much - that's almost exactly what i needed to know. The scale, the scope of the thing.

Heh, the "marriage" comment is great - my poor Assistant Director has been with her director for years, and her latest project with him was his MegaBlockbuster "farewell", supposedly his last film before retiring. He's a bit of a space case anymore, and while not actually mean or anything often incorporates her ideas and such, getting all the credit himself because he forgets who suggested the ideas in the first place. She's invited to the Oscars but the director (totally unthinking) gives her seat to someone else, so she ends up watching the Awards from a diner/sushi joint. i had this wonderful moment in mind where she groans because the scene they show for her movie's "best picture" bit is one she shot because the director was too clobbered to work that day. Heh.

Thanks so much, this gives me a lot to work with!

"They say the snow on the roof is too heavy. They say the ceiling will cave in. His brains are in terrible danger!"
~River

I don't have a lot to add but I'm a film student and I was once a 2nd AD on a indie shoot, so if you ever have specific questions feel free to frenzymail me.

I just wanted to mention two things. One, if you want to see for yourself some really interesting interaction between a (awesome) director and an AD, see if you can find a copy of the movie Lost in La Mancha. It's about Terry Gilliam's failed film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Second, the assistant director and the asssistant to the director are two different roles. In American films, we don't usually have an assistant to the director. But in Europe they do sometimes. Generally, they are someone the director trusts completely, old freinds or someone they are mentoring. And they just hang around the director and give him advice. The director bounces ideas off them. They often direct scenes (especially those who are there to learn to direct themselves). It's a damned good job if you can get it.

Assistant directors are mostly just into management stuff. Call sheets and schedules and lists... lots and lots of lists. It's very very rare for an AD to ever move on to be a director. A lot of the ADs out there right now went into that line of work expecting it to be a good way to start directing only to find themselves ADs forever.

Ah, interesting. She would be an Assistant Director, then... Somebody who usually wouldn't advance on to Directorship themselves, but who would actually be a great director and has actually been functioning more like an unofficial Assistant to the Director (only without the perks). She's got to get through that pervading sense of doom that she'll never be doing anything more, anyway. :)

i have seen Lost in La Mancha, actually, but i was watching it with a completely different eye... i'll have to put that back on the NetFlix queue.

"They say the snow on the roof is too heavy. They say the ceiling will cave in. His brains are in terrible danger!"
~River