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An assistant director (AD) is a person who helps the film director in the making of a movie. The duties of an AD include setting the shooting schedule, tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking the arrival of cast and crew, maintaining order on the set, rehearsing cast, and directing extras (Ascher, 209). In Australia, the first assistant director may carry a legal responsibility for health and safety as the "responsible person" and representative to the producer on set.

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.

Contents 1 Sub-roles 2 Calling the Roll 3 The Low-Budget 1st AD's Eternal Dilemma 4 Notes 5 References

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 sheets 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.

One of the 1st AD's responsibilities is to "call the roll"; when all of the relevant heads of department (HODs) and above the line people seem ready to perform, the 1st AD initiates the take. 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..." First AD's are constantly calling out which department is responsible for any delays. If the lights need to be adjusted, the 1st AD calls out, "waiting on grips". If the actors are still in their trailer, the 1st AD calls out, "waiting on talent". If a mascara smear needs attention, the 1st AD calls out, "waiting on makeup".

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

3) "Quiet on the set." The 1st AD calls out, "quiet on the set" to alert everyone that the take is ready to be filmed.

4) "Roll sound." The 1st AD waits for complete quiet, then signals the production sound mixer to "roll sound", after which the mixer rolls his sound gear, verifies its status, and replies, "rolling" or "speed".

5a) "Roll camera." The 1st AD then signals the director of photography (DoP) to "roll camera"; the DoP starts his camera, verifies its status by watching the timecode for three seconds, and replies, "rolling" or "speed".

5b) "Lock it down." Right before the DoP says "Speed", sometimes the 1st AD will also call out, "lock it down" to ensure all objects on the set are "locked down" and will not drop during the take. At this point, everyone must be totally quiet and move out of the frame.

6) "Marker." The 1st AD signals the clapper loader, or 2nd Camera Assistant (2nd AC), by saying, "marker" or "slate it". The 2nd AC marks the shot by clapping the clapperboard or slate, and announces the scene for editing purposes ("Scene 67, Take 4").

7) The director says, "action", although a 1st AD might perform this function if the director prefers it. Only the director says "Cut".

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.

• Ascher, Steven, and Edward Pincus. The Filmmaker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age. New York: Plume, 1999.