294 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Media- Unit Production Manager (UPM) – Unit production managers are
responsible for the supervision of personnel and budgetary aspects
of principal photography. UPMs oversee the negotiation of contracts
and purchases for the production, and they must make sure that
the shooting schedule and budget are maintained. On a large
project, there may also be production supervisors or secondary unit
managers who oversee particular aspects of production or second
unit work. - Assistant Director (AD) – Th e fi rst assistant director, or fi rst AD,
is vital to scheduling during pre-production and running principal
photography eff ectively. First ADs assist both the director and unit
production manager in assuring smooth management of the set.
Th ey devise a production board to set an overall schedule using a
standard color-coded format. From that point, fi rst ADs must work
to ensure that the fi lm is completed on schedule, which includes
watching the clock during shooting. Th ey are in charge of making
sure that crew and actors are where they need to go when they need
to be there. Th ey also coordinate extras and may direct background
action. Helping to maintain a focused collaborative environment is
the second assistant director, or second AD, who assists the fi rst AD,
takes direct charge of getting actors to and from their shots, and
creates call sheets to inform the crew and actors about the locations
and schedule on a day-to-day basis.
Th e system is designed so that budgetary decisions are overseen by the
producers, directed by the unit production manager from offi ces and through
various communication devices, and administered daily on the set by the fi rst
assistant director. First ADs take these responsibilities right to the point of
shooting, for they are the ones who “call out roll” on the set. Th ey announce
fi nal checks to begin shooting and are the ones to declare “quiet on the set”
or “picture is up” or “lock it down” right before shooting. Finally, fi rst ADs
are the ones to initiate the sound and camera when they call out “roll sound”
and “roll camera.”
Starting the Process
Before a project can move from the early stages of development to pre-
production, administrators must greenlight it for fi nancing. During development,
certain creative and administrative decisions that will drive the making of
the motion picture are researched, debated, and formulated by writers and
by the team gathered at that time. In order to assure the support of studio
executives or fi nanciers, it is general practice to confi rm lead performers
and key creative personnel, such as the director and cinematographer. Th e
matter of casting is an interesting issue in motion picture production, since
fi nancing of a project can depend signifi cantly on the presence of particular
actors. During development, the casting director may work with the director
and producer of the project to select the actors who will play the principal
roles of the feature fi lm or show.VIEWFINDER
“I’m genuinely awestruck
by what my technicians
are capable of doing, by
the very nature of what
fi lm is, by the phenomenon
of light recorded on a
photographic plate, to the
extent that I want simply
to stand back and fi lm
what I’m fi lming, rejoicing
in the hall of mirrors that
the studio has suddenly
become.”–Federico Fellini–
Italian director of numerous
classic fi lms including La
Strada (1954), La Dolce
Vita (1960), 8 ½ (1963), and
Amarcord (1973)Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).