The director has the main creative responsibility for the
film. He or she is normally involved in the project from
an early stage and participates in hiring the heads of
departments, the casting process, and working with one
or more writers to perfect the script. During filming,
directors direct the actors, supervise the activities of the
crew, and decide which takes to print. Directors often
remain involved after shooting ends, working with the
editor and other postproduction personnel to ensure that
the film is completed in accordance with their design.
Because the director’s scope of responsibility is wide
and diverse, he or she normally has several assistants, each
with designated roles. During preproduction, the first
assistant director breaks the script down into shots and
prepares the shooting schedule. During production, he or
she conveys the director’s instructions to the cast and
crew, coordinating their performance in order to keep
pace with the schedule. The second assistant director is
responsible to the first assistant director. His or her many
duties may involve the preparation of call sheets and the
distribution of scripts. The second second assistant director, or third assistant director, focuses on such floor
duties as managing the movement of extras. This can
be an enormous task, as in Gandhi (1982), which used
an estimated 300,000 extras.
The script supervisor, or continuity girl, keeps track
of the progress of filming and any deviations from the
written script. He or she also helps the director remember
the details of shots that have already been made, ensuring
that details such as hair and makeup remain the same
from one shot or scene to the next. In order to do this, a
detailed continuity report is maintained.
Specialized crew members may be employed to
assist the director in eliciting the desired performances
from the actors. They include the choreographer, who
designs any dance sequences, the dialogue coach, who
trains the actors in the creation of appropriate accents or
dialects, an animal trainer, who coaches the animal
actors, and a wrangler, who handles babies, animals,
or other participants, such as vehicles, that do not
respond to verbal instruction. A stunt coordinator is
responsible for designing stunt work and ensuring that it is conducted safely. An action vehicles coordinator or
fight director may also be employed. A creative consultant or technical adviser may offer specialized advice
about a range of topics.
Many films use a second unit, headed by a second
unit director. This self-contained subsidiary crew comes
complete with all the personnel required for filming. It is
normally used for shooting such material as street scenes
that do not feature the main actors.