COURTESY

When showing up en masse at a location, behave quietly and respectfully. Location owners don’t always understand the number of people and vehicles a production entails. Remembering that you are a guest helps ensure that a location agreement won’t be rescinded by prior to shooting.

The 1st AD should organize mandatory carpools by department, reducing the vehicle footprint and allowing for ideas and work to flow during transit. You can check out from the ER a large car magnet with the FSU logo and “Location Scouting Vehicle” that you can put on your car door.

DOCUMENTS

The night before the prep, the 1st AD posts the Tech Scout Schedule document to the production’s Slack channel. This document lets students and faculty know the travel schedule for the day and which scenes will be done at which location, as well as the approximate amount of time it will take at each location for all departments to adequately plan for production. Ideally one starts with the most distant location from the Film School and then works backward geographically closer to home. D2 Preps are mornings-only, so there’s no need to include lunch in the Tech Scout Schedule document.

The night before the prep, the 1st AD also posts to the Slack channel the One-Line Schedule (strip board) and the Production Draft of the script (with locked scene numbers).

RESPONSIBILITIES

Upon arriving at the location, the 2nd AD will clock the crew in using the 2D iPad.

During the prep, it is the Producer’s responsibility to proactively be in contact with the next location (if applicable) and anticipate any changes to the schedule throughout the day. Location owners must be made aware in advance that a window of time is needed rather than a specific time, as preps can run ahead or behind schedule. The Producer must have telephone numbers for all location owners for this purpose.

During the prep it is the responsibility of the 1st AD and 2nd AD to take notes on behalf of the Director regarding any questions from faculty and department heads about items that will need to be addressed after the prep.

SCENE-BY-SCENE DETAIL

For each and every scene number, the 1st AD’s responsibility is to, in an orderly and organized fashion, physically walk the crew to the exact location for each scene heading. After detailing which scenes will be done there, how many pages will be covered, and on which day of shooting, the 1st AD turns to the Director for the Action Overview (explaining the action to be covered) and then manages the necessary time needed for Departmental Exploration (technical considerations to execute).

ACTION OVERVIEW

For each scene number, the Director describes and stages the proposed action of the scene, while the DP and the crew watch. The 1st AD fields any questions from any departments regarding the scene, which are generally answered by the Director or Director of Photography. When there are no more questions, the 1st AD describes the next scene number at that location (usually in story chronology) and the Director repeats the same process until the action of all scenes in that particular area have been described.

DEPARTMENTAL EXPLORATION

When all the Action in an area has been described, before moving on to the next area the 1st AD allows time (usually 10 minutes) for departments to explore and manage any technical considerations and challenges. The 1st AD watches department heads and faculty problem-solve and explore, and makes sure all departments have time, even if some have already finished.

Since the BTL will not be present, students should also take into consideration each department’s needs; e.g., listening for sound issues, deciding where equipment is staging, deciding where camlock will run.

When all departments are satisfied, the 1st AD walks the crew to the next area and repeats this entire process (see Scene-by-Scene Detail, above). This process is repeated for all scene numbers no matter how small the size (bathrooms, etc.) or short the scene (establishing shots, etc.).

DEPARTMENTAL NOTES

While the 1st AD takes general notes on questions from faculty, it is important for all crew members to take notes on their script, detailing specific departmental necessities of each scene. Examples of what to note include:

• logistical factors (distance diagrams, outlet locations, etc.)
• details from the script relevant to the department
• changes to the script based on discoveries at the location
• production limitations and rules (location of staging areas, greenroom, craft services, parking, etc.)

LOCATION OVERVIEW

When all scenes have been described, Departments should have a final chance to go outside and review any larger technical considerations related to the overall location (crew parking, truck parking, etc.) prior to departing and travel to the next major Location.

RELEASING FOR TRANSIT

At the end of a location overview, or at the end of the day, the 1st AD should gather the crew and offer all Department Heads a chance for any final observations or questions before releasing the crew to drive to the next location, lunch, or home for the day.

At this time, the 2nd AD will clock the crew out using the 2D iPad.