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Historically the role of an assistant to the director was a stepping stone to directing work; Alfred Hitchcock was an AD, as was James McTeigue . This transition into film directing is no longer common in feature films, but remains an avenue for television work, particularly in Australia and Britain. It is more common now for ADs to transition to Production Management and Producer roles than to directing. The role of AD has also expanded to become a separate technical profession.


SUB-ROLES


Often, the role of assistant director is broken down into the following sub-roles:

  • The First Assistant Director ("First" or 1st AD) has overall AD responsibilities and supervises the Second AD. The "first" is directly responsible to the producer and "runs" the floor or set. The 1st AD and the Production Manager are two of the highest " Below The Line " technical roles in filmmaking (as opposed to creative or " Above The Line " roles) and so, in this strict sense, the role of 1AD is non-creative.


  • The Second Assistant Director ( "Second" or 2AD) creates the Daily Call Sheet s from the Production Schedule , in cooperation with the production coordinator. The "second" also serves as the "backstage manager", liaising with actors, putting cast through make-up and wardrobe, which relieves the "first" of these duties. Supervision of the second second assistant director, third assistant director, assistant director trainees, and the setting of background (extras) are parts of the "second's" duties.


  • The Second Second Assistant Director ("Second Second" or 22AD) deals with the increased workload of a large or complicated production. For example, a production with a large number of cast may require the division of the aspects of "backstage manager" and the call sheet production work to two separate people.


  • The Third Assistant Director ("Third" or 3rd AD) works on set with the "First" and may liaise with the "Second" to move actors from "base camp" (the area containing the production, cast, and hair and makeup trailers), organize crowd scenes, and supervise one or more production assistants (PA). There is sometimes no clear distinction between a 2AD and a 3AD. Although some industry bodies (American DGA) have defined the roles in an objective way, others believe it to be a subjective distinction.


  • The Additional Assistant Director (AAD or "Additional") or '''Fourth Assistant Director''' (4AD or "Fourth") or "Key Production Assistant" ("Key PA") may have a number of duties. Most commonly, the AAD has two broad job functions. One is the contraction of the duties of an AD where the AD acts as both 2nd AD and 3rd AD simultaneously. For example, a production with a large number of cast may pass the 2AD call sheet production work to that of the AAD, especially when the 2AD is already performing the additional work of a 3rd AD. The other main use of an AAD is as an adjunct to the 3AD and 1AD for logistically large scenes where more ADs are needed to control large numbers of extras. The "Additional" may also serve where the complexity of the scene or specialized elements within it (stunts, period work) require or are best served by a dedicated AD in most respects equal to a 1st AD - directing and controlling a number of other ADs to direct action to the satisfaction of the 1AD and the director.


  • A Production Assistant is the lowest on the crew's hierarchy in terms of salary and authority. They perform various duties required of them by ADs.


The sub-roles of assistant directors differ among nations. For example, the distinction between second second AD and third AD is more common in North America. British and Australian productions, rather than having a second second AD, will hire a "second" 2AD to fulfill the same duties. 3ADs in Britain and Australia have different duties from a second second AD, and the terms are not synonymous.


CALLING THE ROLL


One of the 1st AD's responsibilities is to "call the roll". Over the years, special procedures have been developed for this task to achieve maximum efficiency during shooting, which is usually some variant on the following dialog:

1) "Waiting on..." Though not technically part of calling the roll, 1st AD's keep the set focused by constantly calling out which department is responsible for delays in rolling a take. If the lights need to be adjusted, the 1st AD calls out, "waiting on gaffers". If the actors are still in their trailer, the 1st AD calls out, "waiting on talent", etc.

2) "Final checks, please." (or "Last looks") Once everyone is in place, and rehearsals and Blocking have finished, the 1st AD calls out, "Final checks" or often "Checks". This allows for last minute changes, whether to the set, to hair and makeup, to the lights, or elsewhere.

3) "Quiet on the set." (or "Lock it down" or "Picture is up") The 1st AD calls out, "Quiet on the set" to alert everyone that the take is ready to be filmed. "Lock it down" is also a signal (particularly on location) to ensure nothing interrupts the take. This is crucial for Third Assistant Directors as it is their primary responsibility during a take.

4) "Turnover." While some sets say "Roll Camera" and "Roll Sound", "Turnover" is also signals both to the camera and sound department to start rolling: the sound department will be first, yelling "speed", after which the camera operator will turnover the camera and yell for the Clapper Loader to "Mark it" (or "smack it", "bang it:, "tag it", etc.), after which the clapper reads the slate. The Camera Operator yells "Set" or "Frame" to indicate the shot is ready.

5) The Assistant Director says, "Action", although a Director might perform this function if the Director prefers it.

6) Only the director says "Cut".

After the director has said cut, the AD will conclude the roll with a direction such as "Going again" or "that's a take two" if another take is required, "checking that" if the director is happy, or "moving on" if the scene is complete. These announcements cue all departments and the AD's on set as to the next steps they must take. For example, "Going again" may require a "reset" of elements in the frame (extras, cars... anything that moved) back to where they started, which the Third AD will oversee.


THE LOW-BUDGET 1ST AD'S ETERNAL DILEMMA


On low-budget productions, the means are often not enough to realise the director's vision. It is for the 1st AD to work between the director and heads of department (HoD's) to call the necessary compromises when they need to be made, without jeopardising the integrity of the director's vision. This process can begin as early as the scriptwriting phase, with the AD suggesting such practical compromises as combining sets or reducing the number of story days, and may progress through to the actual shooting of a scene, at which time the AD may call for the director and DoP to refine the blocking of a scene in such a way that it can be adequately shot within the time available. This can be the most indirectly creative an AD gets, and may gain great understanding of the conflict between resources and vision. This can prove a useful skill to AD's who move on to production.


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