Chapter 9

Blocking and Shot Listing, Part Two

Now that you’ve imagined how the actors will move in the scene (blocking), it’s time to imagine how you will shoot the scene (shot listing). Come to the set with your plan and enlist the services of the DP. If it’s an exterior location (where the light is less controllable because no one has figured out yet how to manage the sun), the DP will definitely have an opinion about in which direction he would like to shoot first. If it’s a night exterior or an interior set, the DP will give you more options.

Your DP will generally prefer to light the widest shot first and condense the scope of the lighting as you go on. So in your shot list, go from wide to tight. The DP will also want to light directionally, that is, to shoot everything in one direction, using the same group of lights, before you turn around to have the camera look in the opposite direction. If you have multiple scenes in the same area (like a courtroom), you may want to block shoot those scenes, that is, to shoot every scene with the witnesses on the stand before you turn around to shoot the attorneys. You begin your shot list by indicating where you want to put the camera to establish the scene; then you ask yourself, “What would be the next shot while lighting in this same direction?” After you have continued that process and listed all shots, finishing with your tightest/last shot in your first direction, you note on your shot list that you are going to turn around/reverse, and you begin again with the widest shot and work your way down to the tightest shot. When you have completed the shot list, double-check the work by indicating next to the dialogue or scene description on the script page which shot you anticipate using—this method helps make sure that you haven’t forgotten anything. It is important to note that your shot list is created in the order in which you plan to shoot it, not the order in which it will be edited. For example, you may be putting an insert shot or montage first (like in our first scene with the Soldier) when you cut it together, but you would shoot the widest shot first, (in that case, that is probably the dolly shot that leads the Soldier to the porch). So your shot list will be in shooting order, but when you double-check your work and put a shot number in your script next to each piece of dialogue or stage direction, that will illustrate your editing order.

Once you have all your shots, you can edit it in multiple ways (more to come on this in Chapter 14). Your job as a director on the shooting day is to make sure that you have all the coverage you need. The best way to ensure this is to plan it out ahead of time (block and shot list) so you’re able to focus on understanding the subtext and providing all the shots required to illustrate the story.

You could also storyboard this scene, which would be a literal depiction of the blocking and the shots, shown in a succession of boxes (frames). This step can be done by skilled artists who listen to the director describe the scene and then translate it by drawing a picture of each shot onto storyboards. (Or if you can draw, you can do it for yourself.) Since Bethany can draw nothing but stick figures, a talented artist named Joe Mason drew the storyboard for the opening sequence of an episode of Castle she directed (Figures 9.1 and 9.2).

The storyboards essentially show in still frames what the finished product will look like. A storyboard is a visual representation, rather than the logical/literal method of shot listing. You then shoot it so the shots resemble the storyboard.

You will probably want to storyboard when the scene calls for major stunt work or substantial visual effects, because it’s a way of determining exactly what you need in production. In Figure 9.3 you can see part of a storyboard for a scene in The Originals.

This depiction helped the department heads understand the sequence (a picture is worth a thousand words sometimes) and allowed accurate budgeting for the VFX. (After all the work that went into the scene both in prep and in production, it was cut in post because the episode was too long.) If you choose storyboarding, there are several computer programs for this, including Google Sketchup and Adobe Photoshop. There is even a Hitchcock storyboarding application for the smartphone or tablet.

The reason Mary Lou and Bethany prefer shot lists is that they better illustrate how shots are reused during scenes. In the example from Chapter 8, you would cut back and forth between shots #2 and #4, between the Wife and the Soldier, and as you wanted to go tighter, you would cut back and forth between shots #3 and #5. But storyboards might help you “see” the finished film better because with computer programs, you get a better three-dimensional sense of the set in which the actors are moving. Whether you shot list or storyboard, the point is to “see” the movie in your head before shooting a single shot.

FIGURE 9.1 The first storyboard panel from the opening sequence of an episode of Castle that Bethany directed.
Castle copyrighted material is used with the permission of ABC Studios

FIGURE 9.2 This frame from the episode matches the third frame on the storyboard panel.
Castle copyrighted material is used with the permission of ABC Studios

FIGURE 9.3 A storyboard artist’s skill (in this case, John Lund) helps a director to “see” what elements are to be done in production and which are postproduction visual effects (VFX; the last shot of the steeple was planned to be a visual effect).

Just as blocking and shot listing utilize two separate abilities of a director (feeling and logic), shots deliver two kinds of impression: objective or subjective. Objective means the camera is merely recording the scene as an unseen and non-participatory observer. The audience should not be aware of what the camera is doing; that is, the camera movement is organic to the action and does not call attention to itself. Subjective camera is used when the lens of the camera is the eye of a character; that is, the camera is a character. This impression is prevalent in action or horror sequences and in cases in which the director wants the audience to feel as if they are “in” the scene with the actors. So when planning the shot list, the director should take into consideration the kind of feeling the script requires and know how to integrate the camera with the actors in front of it to provide either an objective or subjective point of view.

The most subjective type of shot is when the camera is photographing a character’s point of view. It is extremely personal and subjective. The audience members feel as if they are in the story—almost as if the camera is not only the character, but also the audience’s perspective. The next most subjective shot is when the actor looks directly into the lens, making each member of the audience feel as if the character is speaking personally to him. The shot starts to become more objective when characters talk to each other and the camera records that interaction, showing the audience the story but not making them feel inside of it. This sense of objectivity or subjectivity is achieved not only with the camera, but with the object of the actors’ focus—where they are looking during the scene. When two characters are talking to each other and there’s a sense of intimacy, you’ll want a tight eyeline, meaning that when Character A looks to Character B, she is looking very close to the camera lens. The wider the eyeline, the more objective the feel.

Let’s go back to one of our scenarios with the Soldier and his Wife, the one that ended on the 50/50 shot of them embracing. If you want to see what each of them is thinking after they embrace, you have the choice of where to place your camera to get these reactions. The closer the camera is to the Soldier’s or the Wife’s eyeline, the more subjective the shot will be and the more the audience will be placed inside the feelings of the character. The farther you move the camera from the eyeline, the more objectively observant the shot will be (Figure 9.4).

To summarize, the farther away the camera is placed from the action, the more objective the feel. (The exception would be a close-up on a long lens, which—because it throws the background out of focus—can make the storytelling intimate, even though the camera is far away from the actor. More on that to come.) Conversely, the closer the camera is to being inside the character(s), the more subjective an impression it gives.

FIGURE 9.4 Camera placement for subjective and objective shots.

THE CAMERA AND OTHER EQUIPMENT

The director needs to know not only how the actors will move and what shots are planned, but also what equipment is used to achieve those shots. (We’ll go over this subject next, but understand that only a general knowledge is needed.) The director has an entire crew behind him that specializes in different areas of equipment, and they do not need to be told how to use that equipment. They need to be told only what shot the director is looking to achieve; they know how to best utilize their resources.

•  Camera: The device for recording pictures. These used to be primarily film cameras (35 mm or 16 mm) but now are generally digital, using a hard drive or memory cards as the recording element. For a better quality of recording, cameras are now usually high-definition (HD).

•  Dolly: The platform or wagon on wheels to which the camera is attached.

•  Steadicam: A handheld product for moving the camera; the operator wears a harness and the camera is attached to a floating head. This approach is used for tracking shots that move with the actor, particularly over unsteady terrain. Dolly track: Looks like a railroad track. It comes in sections and is laid by the grip department. (We talk about crewmembers and their jobs in Chapter 11.) The wheels of the dolly move on the track, enabling the camera to move in a straight line backward or forward in a smooth way (Figure 9.5). It collapses together on an angle for easy storage and portability.

•  Dance floor: Used when the camera movement is not in a straight line. The grips lay a floor of plywood or plastic over the existing floor to create a smooth surface.

FIGURE 9.5 The camera waits at the end of the dolly track.
Photo by Paul Snider, NCIS

You can also choose to use the camera handheld, which tends to create a bit of a bumpy frame. The camera operator simply holds the camera and moves to create the best shot as the actors move, for a very subjective feel that is an increasingly popular method of shooting.

Bethany and Mary Lou favor it only when the story truly warrants it, as it tends to call attention to the method of shooting. The audience becomes aware of the shot, rather than the story. It’s essential that the audience loses any thought that interferes with their immersion in the story; they should not think about how it was done. As director Mike Nichols said about his classic movie The Graduate, “We did a lot of fancy camera shit, but nobody has ever mentioned it in 40 years because if you have events that are compelling you’re completely unaware of what the camera is doing, which is the idea.”

A shot is the sum of two things: (1) what is in the frame, the actors, the set, and every production design element, and (2) how those things are recorded by the camera. The camera isn’t simply a box with a recording element inside of it. It is a box with lenses on it that change the size and feel of the shot. So the director also needs to know what lenses can do and what perceptions they create. (Even though most shows today are shot digitally, the lenses used are adaptations of 35 mm film lenses, and are therefore referred to in those terms.)

Lenses are the curved glass circles set into a tube and attached to the front of the camera that bend and refract light and “see” the scene, just as the lenses in your eyes do for you. The difference is that if you are standing and looking at the front of the house as if you were the Soldier in our story, your vision dictates that you will see with roughly a 35 mm lens. You can’t zoom your eyes in to suddenly see an up-close version of the house. But a camera lens can. Wide lenses (9–50 mm) are short and squat. They show a picture that opens up peripherally (on the sides) but can’t look deep (long). Long lenses (75–250 mm) show the up-close version. So if you are shooting from the point of view of the Soldier standing on the sidewalk, 50 feet away from the front door, a wide lens will show you the whole house. A 75 mm lens (which is a long lens because the number refers to the length of the lens, i.e. a bigger number is a longer lens) would show you the full figure of the Wife as she opens the door. A 250 mm lens from the same camera position would photograph her close up.

Why would a director choose to shoot the Wife’s close-up with a long lens from far away, rather than moving the camera closer to her and shooting her with a wider lens? Both are valid choices, but lenses have properties that lend different feelings to their shots; they provide different-looking shots. A wide lens can hold focus for the foreground, middle ground, and background of a shot. In our Soldier’s house example, both the flowers in front of the porch (35 feet away from the camera) and the door (50 feet away from the camera) would be in focus.

Wide lenses are used for establishing shots and masters whenever you want to see the “big picture.” Conversely, long lenses have a shallow depth of field. The longer the lens you use, the more shallow the focus. (This is an oversimplification in that depth of field is determined by f-stop, focusing distance, and format size. But the director need only say, “I’m looking for a close-up on a long lens,” and the DP will set up the shot. The director can then assess whether that shot is really what he’s looking for and continue the discussion with the DP, refining the shot until it corresponds to what the director sees in his mind’s eye.) So on a 250 mm lens, the Wife’s eyes might be in focus, but her nose will not be. But the feeling that a long lens gives is more filmic because the background is out of focus, bringing the viewer’s attention precisely to the point that is in focus. Figures 9.6 and 9.7 show the different feelings that two lenses can give you when the framing is identical.

FIGURE 9.6 A close-up shot with a wide lens.
Actress Katie Enright, photo by Matthew Collins

FIGURE 9.7 A close-up shot with a long lens.
Actress Katie Enright, photo by Matthew Collins

There are extremes at both ends of the lens continuum. At the wide end is the fish-eye lens, which distorts what is in front of it. It is often used when a character is looking through a peephole in a door. At the long end, you can use an extender, which doubles or quadruples the capability of the lens so that a 250 mm lens becomes a 500 mm lens. The best use for this type of lens is when you want to give the impression that the subject in front of the lens is being watched from a distance, as by a paparazzo.

There are two types of lenses: fixed (prime) and zoom. A fixed lens gives you only one focal length (25 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 75mm, 100 mm, and so on). A zoom lens is a continuum of sizes. Most often used is a 5:1 (five to one), which provides any focal length between 20 mm and 100 mm. The other favorite lens is the 10:1, which runs from 25 mm to 250 mm. The advantage to a zoom lens is that you have every shot possibility at the first assistant camera’s fingertips. The disadvantage is that the lens may not be quite as crisp as a fixed lens because of the optical compromises required by the necessity of light passing through three times as many glass elements, making it difficult for a zoom lens to match the optical quality of a prime lens.

Therefore, your DP is more likely to used fixed lenses in a low-light situation such as a night exterior. However, the quality distinction between these two types of lenses is decreasing as the zoom lenses are improved, and whether you use one or the other is primarily a matter of the DP’s preference.

Let’s say you’re shooting something like The Bourne Identity, in which your main character is hunting for another character in the environment of New York’s Grand Central Station. You want to show the audience where you are. So you’ll shoot an establishing shot, probably from a high angle, on a wide lens, which shows the space and the people in the space and gives the feeling of the crowds and urgency. You then might shoot both a master (full figure plus some of the environment) and a mini-master (the main character who is being hunted plus whomever he interacts with) so that the audience understands the action but still has a sense of the environment. Then you might shoot the close-ups in various sizes to show the hunted’s physicality and expression so that the audience can see how that character is feeling, and if you want to show how frantic or disoriented the character is, you might dutch (tilt) the angle. If the director wants to show that the hunted one is being watched from a distance, he will use a long lens. If, instead, the director wants to depict immediacy and have the audience feel as if they are in the same space as the character, he will use wider lenses and be closer to the actor. You might even go handheld and get right up in the actor’s face. All of this would be intercut with the other character who is watching: the hunter. You would choose lenses, shot size, and shot movement in order to tell his side of the story.

MOVING THE SHOT

What is shot movement? We have already briefly mentioned push-ins and pull-outs, which means that the camera goes closer to the actor or withdraws from the actor. These are dolly shots because the camera is mounted on the dolly. These shots are storytelling devices in that they help give a feeling to the audience. A push-in says, “This is important, let’s get closer.” A pull-out says, “All’s well that end’s well.” (Or it could say, “This character is all alone in this space.”) Another kind of dolly shot is the lateral dolly, in which the camera moves sideways across the plane in front of the actor(s). This shot is used when characters are in one place for a long time, like sitting on a park bench side by side and you want to be graceful and lyrical in movement, not static. A type of lateral dolly is the counter, in which the camera moves in the opposite direction from a walking actor. All of these shots can be done on a dolly, Steadicam, handheld, or crane.

There are various types of crane available, ranging from the kind that was used in Gone With the Wind in 1939 to the technocrane of today, which has a hydraulic arm and is operated remotely.

Your crew can usually figure out a way to achieve any shot that you can imagine. And they want to do so because helping the director achieve her vision engages their own creativity and ingenuity. They will use their knowledge and skills so that the director will say what she wants to see, but not how to achieve that look. The DP and his crew will give you your shot, often in ways you didn’t know about or hadn’t foreseen.

There are ways to move the camera that don’t involve moving the dolly; that is, the camera stays in one place, but it “looks around.” The camera operator steers it, using control wheels.

One wheel is for up-and-down movement or tilt. The other wheel controls side-to-side movement or pan. You can imagine how this works if you picture an actor walking into a room and the camera is placed in the middle of the room. The actor enters left-to-right and the camera pans with him as he walks. When he sits down, the camera would tilt down to continue to hold him in the shot. If you wanted an extremely low or high angle, you could take the camera off the dolly and attach it to a flat mounting device called a high-hat. The high-hat can sit on the floor, or it can be attached to the top of a ladder.

If the camera doesn’t move, but the lens does, that is a zoom: the physical act of rotating the lens so the frame of the picture squeezes in or pulls out. If it’s done quickly, that’s a snap-zoom, a storytelling device that tells the audience, “Quick! Pay attention! Look at this!” Generally, zooms are for effect: a way of saying, “I want you to be aware of what the camera is doing so that you will see what I want you to see.” A dolly move is less visible, and if done correctly, the audience will never be aware that in one shot, they have seen a two-shot become a close-up because they are so involved in watching the story. This move is a coordinated effort by the camera operator, the dolly grip (who physically manipulates the dolly), and the 1st camera assistant (focus puller). We talk more about this in Chapter 11.

After you have blocked the entire script, go back through it to check all your ins and outs (for both acts and scenes) and look at all your transitions, or how you get from one scene to the next. Unless it’s a specific story point, you don’t want to end a scene on a close-up of a character and then start the next scene in the same way or same shot. To determine the visual, look at the feeling of the scene. If it’s fast and funny, you might want to have a character make a sudden entrance or even actually pop into the frame. If there’s a story point you want to make, you might want to begin with that. For example, if a young woman just received some money, you could start on her (new and fancy) shoes as she enters. If the scene is somber, you would talk to your DP about the lighting, and perhaps plan a shot that showed the isolation of the character. And then check all the endings of the scenes to make sure that you have a compelling visual and have told the story and that the ending works with the beginning of the next scene.

During prep for a one-hour drama (which is usually seven days), there is much to be done. One of your most critical tasks is blocking the scenes and shot listing or storyboarding. The entire script should ideally be prepared in this way before beginning to shoot. But before you begin, you have to understand the concept of screen direction.

Because each shot is done separately (often not even in the same space and time) but ultimately must fit seamlessly into the edited end product, the director needs to adhere to the proper screen direction. That is, each character seems to be in the right place looking in the right direction in order for the audience to believe that the characters haven’t crossed the line. The “line” is a figurative one that ensures that when your footage is cut together, it will appear that Character A and Character B are actually looking at one another. Picture two people facing each other, and in the rectangle of your frame, Character A (let’s call her Alice) is looking left-to-right to Character B (Bob) who is looking right-to-left (Figures 9.8–9.11).

The “line” would run through the center of their figures, best seen if you imagine that you are looking at them from overhead.

In its most basic form, the important thing to understand is when you are cutting between the close-ups of Alice and Bob, they need to look at opposite sides of the frame to create the illusion they are talking to each other. So Alice looks right, and Bob looks left, and the audience believes they are facing each other and talking. When you shoot the close-up of Alice, put Bob on the right side of camera (“camera right”) and vice versa. Seems simple enough, until Alice and Bob move around the set, and leave their cozy face-to-face position. Then how do you know where the line is?

FIGURE 9.8 Character A (Alice) looking left-to-right to Character B (Bob), who is looking right-to-left.

FIGURE 9.9 An aerial view of Alice looking at Bob, with an imaginary line running through their bodies.

FIGURE 9.10 Alice looks left-to-right.

FIGURE 9.11 Bob looks right-to-left.

What you have to do is cut the scene together in your head while you are shooting it, so you know which shot you will be cutting from and which shot you will be cutting to. If a character looks camera right to the other character, you would set up the reverse shot in the opposite direction. (Character A looks right, Character B looks left.) For example, in our ongoing story of the Soldier and Wife from Chapter 8, we know the line was set up in the master so the Wife looked right to the Soldier, and the Soldier looked left to the Wife (Figure 9.12).

The camera angles on the diagram show that although the first shot is next to (or over the shoulder [OLS]) of the Soldier, the lens is seeing the Wife, who looks camera right, and the camera next to/ORS the Wife depicts the Soldier looking camera left (Figure 9.13).

So it would be incorrect to place a camera on the other side of the line, because then the Wife would look left and the Soldier would look right. (Stick with us here; we know it’s confusing, but once you get this, it’s easy.) In your shot list, you might write: OLS Soldier to Wife, ORS Wife to Soldier. However, it’s best to pay attention not to the “shoulder” aspect but to their looks: the Wife looks right, the Soldier looks left. That is how the footage will appear in the edited version in your head as well as the finished film.

FIGURE 9.12 The “line” runs through the characters and the cameras are placed to the left of the line.

But what if the story took a turn, and the Soldier decided he wasn’t ready to reunite with his Wife, and he wanted to walk away? He could turn 180 degrees and exit, and because he’s on the same plane/trajectory, nothing would change. The Wife would still look camera right to him. He could choose to walk off down the sidewalk in a straight line towards camera from where he was standing at the door. Again, because the Wife would still look right to him, that is acceptable blocking. But if the Soldier reached the end of the path and turned camera left on the sidewalk and crossed camera (Figure 9.14), the Wife would no longer be looking camera right. She’d be looking camera left, and that is crossing the line because it has been established that she looks camera right to him.

FIGURE 9.13 What the camera sees.

At that point, the director has three options. The first is to let it be incorrect. We advise against this option, because it’s jarring for the audience when the scene is cut together. The audience registers subconsciously that the Wife always looked camera right to the Soldier, so to have her suddenly look left makes it seem wrong. The second option is to move the camera (dolly) left with the Soldier, always keeping him on camera right. So the looks stay in the same direction, even though the actors have moved. The third option is to show the Soldier crossing the lens, and then shoot another shot of the Wife’s close up and have her look camera left. That way, when it’s cut together, and the audience sees the Soldier cross the lens, and then the next shot is of her looking left, it still cuts together, and everyone follows the flow and the story.

FIGURE 9.14 The incorrect camera placement. It demonstrates “crossing the line.”

FIGURE 9.15 The two ways the Soldier might cross and why one cross maintains the correct screen direction and the other does not.

Most directors will choose option 2 when shooting a scene, in which the actors move so as to maintain the established screen direction. Remember, as long as the characters are looking in the same directions (Wife looks right, Soldier looks left) throughout the scene, it will cut together seamlessly. It doesn’t matter so much exactly where they are but rather that the looks are consistent. So while you are shooting, keep in mind how the scene will cut together—which shot you are cutting from, which shot you are cutting to, and know that as long as your characters are consistent—or you show the change in screen direction—all will be well.

It sounds complicated, and it can be—especially when you are shooting a party scene, or a Thanksgiving dinner scene, or any scene with multiple characters who move around within the set. One of Mary Lou’s mentors, Michael Lembeck, told her, “You’re not a director until you’ve shot a poker game.” But you will have done your blocking and shot listing in prep, and you’ll feel confident that you have a handle on it because you have indicated in your script which shot you anticipate using on every line. And your script supervisor will help you keep track of this line, or screen direction, especially if the blocking deviates from the way you have planned.

The other person who can assist you in this is the DP, who is very aware of screen direction. If you question whether you’ve crossed the line, it warrants discussion with your script supervisor and DP. The DP will also help you place the cameras and the actors to get the shot with the correct screen direction. For example, if you need a character to look camera right (as the Wife does), then you would put the actor playing the Soldier to the right side of the camera, which means the camera is on the actor’s left. Or if it’s an OS shot, the camera would again be on the actor’s left side, looking over his left shoulder and incorporating his body in foreground (fg), but most of the frame would be filled by and focused on the Wife. This is written in your shot list as OLS Soldier to Wife. If, however, you make a mistake, and put the camera on the right side of the actor, that would make the Wife look left to the Soldier, which would be crossing the line. Generally, the script supervisor or the DP will catch the mistake. But as always, the final responsibility rests with the director. So while you are shooting the scene, it’s best to continually be double-checking yourself by cutting and recutting the scene in your head. Where are you cutting from, and where are you cutting to?

No matter how long a person has been directing, these questions of crossing the line continue to come up, especially in a scene in which the blocking is complex. When that happens, imagine cutting the scene together and what the previous shot screen direction is. The difficulty happens when you haven’t yet shot the previous shot because in the shooting order, lighting takes precedence. As you may remember from Chapter 8, you ask your DP to light the widest shot (probably the master) in one direction and then continue lighting in that same direction. After you and the crew have lit and shot everything in one direction, you’ll turn around to shoot in another direction. If, however, you are not on one axis, but looking in all four directions, the screen direction becomes complicated. Just know that you can discuss it with your script supervisor and DP and agree on the correct looks. But sometimes you end up shooting a close-up “both ways,” meaning that you do it twice, once with the actor looking right, and once with the actor looking left. Then you know that in the editing room, you are protected and the film will cut together.

COVERING A TRIANGLE

When two people are talking in a scene, they are often facing each other, and we call that a 50/50 or a two-shot. But when three people are in a scene, they usually get into one of two configurations. Either one person faces the other two, or they get into a triangle (Figure 9.16). This formation can seem difficult to shoot, but there is a way to cover a triangle in just three set-ups (with two cameras).

A director will plan to put the pivot character, the one with the weight of the scene and/or the most dialogue, at the top point of the triangle. That character is usually talking to both of the other characters equally (often trying to convince them of something). In this case, Alice is making her case to Bob and Carl. So then your shot list would look like this:

1a:  med. wide three shot with the pivot character furthest from camera

1b:  clean single pivot person in center (with split looks, that is, to both sides of the camera; Alice looks camera left to Bob and camera right to Carl)

2a:  OLS Carl to Bob (Bob looks right to all)

2b:  OLS Alice to Bob

3a:  ORS Bob to Carl (Carl looks left to all)

3b:  ORS Alice to Carl.

This is a very efficient and clear way to cover a triangle. (It is also easy for the DP, because each setup is looking in one direction, not divergent ones.) The main reason for doing a clean single on the pivot person is that when cutting the scene together, you will want to have special emphasis on that character, and you’ll have the added benefit of having one angle that doesn’t have a shoulder in it. It’s a little like the story about covering a conversation at a table that has a lit candle in the middle. You don’t want that candle in every shot, because it would be jumping around: in one frame it would be on the left, in the opposite coverage it would be on the right, and soon the audience is just looking at the jumping candle, and not the characters talking in its background. Similarly, when watching a scene with three characters which was shot only in overs, it becomes a scene about a lot of foreground shoulders. It’s helpful to have the three shot and the single to intercut with the overs to make it a more dynamic scene.

FIGURE 9.16 Illustrating camera positions when shooting a triangle formation.

There is so much to think about when doing your shot listing, isn’t there? Complicating your already arduous thought process as you shoot is another consideration: How much time do you have to shoot?

MAKING THE DAY

In an average 12-hour single-camera production day (7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.), most television shows average about 25 setups (individual shots) per day. It takes that long because each scene must be rehearsed, blocked, and shot. There is also time allotted for things like hair and makeup touchups. Uncomplicated shots take a minimum of 30 minutes. Depending on the lighting, and what kind of shot it is, it could take far longer than that—up to 2 hours. (Feature films usually top out at 10 setups a day.)

But then there are complicated shots, plus things can go wrong, which is statistically likely because of the sheer number of people involved. If there are 50 crewmembers, plus let’s say 5 actors, that’s 55 opportunities for obstacles, not to mention the equipment snafus. So let’s say that almost every TV production can accomplish 25 setups within the usual 12-hour day. If two cameras are used, obviously you could double the amount of setups. You are normally expected to shoot 4 to 7 scenes in a day.

What if, in your prep, you planned to shoot 12 setups in each scene? Well, 4 (scenes) times 12 (setups) is already 48 setups, which is generally not possible. If you have two cameras, you might make it. But what if you have 6 scenes, not 4? Logistically, you have to look at your day and know that only a certain amount of sausage will fit in the casing. You have to add up the shots you planned in all the scenes scheduled for the day and determine whether what you have planned is feasible. You also have to restrict the number of takes, or tries, of each shot. Three good takes require much less time than ten takes, especially if you know what you’re looking for in terms of performance or shot execution. If you have overloaded your day, then you have to make adjustments to your plans. If you stubbornly don’t adjust your shot planning and think, “I’ll just make it somehow,” you run the danger of having the producers pull the plug. That’s a pretty literal description: suddenly, it’s all over, and you may have to drop a scene and not finish your planned work.

So now you are over budget and you didn’t make the day (complete the scheduled work while staying on time and on budget). Not a good place for a responsible director to be in. So let’s go back: How could you have figured out what to do in order to tell the story in the time allotted? Perhaps you get less coverage, which refers to the number of shots it takes to do a good job of telling the story. You might choose to shoot a scene as a oner, with only one shot. This is generally effective if it’s a walk ’n’ talk, when two characters stroll in a straight line while talking. You could either have the camera at the end point on a long lens, or dolly alongside the actors, or you could do both at the same time if you have two cameras, and that would be a very effective and efficient way of covering the scene.

A director going for less coverage as a means to save time (and therefore, money) might play a moment of a scene in a two-shot (one shot, thirty minutes) rather than getting the two-shot plus two singles (three shots, ninety minutes). But less coverage is potentially dicey because you’ll want as much film as possible in the editing room—more choices could mean better storytelling. We say “could,” because there is also a case to be made for spare, decisive directing, like that of Clint Eastwood. It’s a little like that old game show Name that Tune, in which a contestant would say, “I can name that tune in four notes.” Well, a director like Eastwood might tell the story in only four shots, but they are magnificently perfect ones. And he might print only two circled takes of each shot (which means that only two completed shots are forwarded to the editor), but he is confident that the performance is the best it can be and that no more takes are needed. As actor Matt Damon said of Eastwood, “He’s so prepared and expects everyone else to be, and so there’s nothing wasted, ever. It’s a real lesson in how to run a super-efficient set.”¹

The other method of condensing your shot list so that you can make the day is to block the scene more efficiently. The way to do that is to try to make sure all of the movement by the actors in a scene is on the same axis, which allows you to shoot in two directions instead of four. And that means less lighting and fewer setups. In other words, in a two-person scene, both actors may move north and south, but not east and west. Another way to say it is that the actors can come closer to the camera or go farther away from the camera, but cannot go side-to-side in front of the camera. There is nothing to be gained by shooting all four directions because, as we know, every time the DP and his crew have to light in a different direction, it takes more of the director’s precious time. But sometimes it is necessary, given the scripted action or if there are multiple characters, to shoot in all four directions. All we’re saying here is that if you can block it on the same axis, it will serve you well. Playing all the action on the same axis will not dumb down the energy of the scene because it will still register with the audience as movement. The audience is not counting how many directions or shots it takes to tell the story. The audience is just caught up in performance, going along with the story.

Bethany directed a scene in Brothers & Sisters that is a good model for the work process in prep, both on the director’s part and the 1st AD’s part. The script called for a happy occasion (a charity event) to turn bad when one of the main characters punched someone—the wrong someone. Figures 9.17 and 9.18 show a script page from this scene. The undulating marks on the left side of the page are made by the script supervisor during production to indicate which lines of dialogue were covered in which shot.

The script supervisor kept all the data about the coverage, including the slate, the shot description, and how many takes, as a facing page at the beginning of both scenes.

FIGURE 9.17 The marked script supervisor’s page 41 of the Brothers & Sisters script entitled “An Ideal Husband.”
Brothers & Sisters trademarks and copyrighted material have been used with the permission of ABC Studios

FIGURE 9.18 The facing page of page 41.

With the script and floor plan in hand, Bethany sketched a small version of the floor plan on her shot list page and gave each of her characters a starting point, then imagined where each of them would go during the scene (Figure 9.19).

She then began shot listing the scene. By the time she was finished, she had 12 shots planned, which was extremely economical because several shots evolved to become multiple-use coverage (Figures 9.20 and 9.21).

Meanwhile, after the appropriate concept, department head, and production meetings, the 1st AD (Sally Sue Lander) initiated a shooting schedule and later the call sheet (Figures 9.22 and 9.23).

FIGURE 9.19 The floor plan for Café 429 and Kevin’s office of the Brothers & Sisters script entitled “An Ideal Husband.”
Brothers & Sisters trademarks and copyrighted material have been used with the permission of ABC Studios

FIGURE 9.20 Bethany’s shot list for scenes 25 and 26 of the Brothers & Sisters script entitled “An Ideal Husband.”
Brothers & Sisters trademarks and copyrighted material have been used with the permission of ABC Studios

FIGURE 9.21 The starting points for all the principals in scene 25 of the Brothers & Sisters script entitled “An Ideal Husband.”
Brothers & Sisters trademarks and copyrighted material have been used with the permission of ABC Studios

FIGURE 9.22 An excerpt from the shooting schedule for that day’s work on Brothers & Sisters.
Brothers & Sisters trademarks and copyrighted material have been used with the permission of ABC Studios

FIGURE 9.23 An excerpt from the 1st AD’s call sheet of the Brothers & Sisters script.
Brothers & Sisters trademarks and copyrighted material have been used with the permission of ABC Studios

It requires a fair amount of effort to stay focused and creative while deciding how to block and shot list every scene in a script. Some people might refer to it as the drudgery of the job, compared to the excitement of being on set, saying “action” and “cut,” being the boss, and making movies. But by blocking and shot listing ahead of time, during your prep period, you free yourself to live in the moment on set and allow the magic to happen. You will understand the script and the story you’re telling so thoroughly that you can adapt to whatever may come up on your shooting day and embrace the difficulties, knowing that in this collaborative effort, it probably won’t go exactly as you planned it. But if you haven’t done blocking and shot listing in prep, you’ll be all knotted up in anxiety on set, wondering how to shoot a scene, unsure whether you’ve really told the story. It’s hard to be a leader when you’re not sure where you’re going.

NOTES

1  Iain Blair, “Matt Damon: ‘Good Will Blessings,’” Daily Variety, March 26, 2010.

Section One Review

Prep

During the week to ten days of prep, the director does critical work to prepare for the upcoming shoot. You intensely dissect the script, you discuss the tone of the show with the writer or showrunner, and you make creative decisions about how the story you’re telling should be translated to the screen, selecting every element that will appear in the frame. You also interact and share your vision with the team that you are now leading.

Before you can do anything else, you break down the script for story and character. This is where your good reading skills come into play so that you can understand the structure, beginning with the inciting action and following the plot complications that propel you to the climax and wrap up in the dénouement. You identify the plot and subplots as well as the protagonist and antagonist of the story. You figure out how all these things fit together.

You break down each character based on what the writer tells you, what the characters say about themselves, and what other characters say about the character. Then you examine what each character wants in each scene and what are the obstacles to that character achieving his intention. By the time you’ve done this, you are ready to cast the guest actors for your episode.

Casting goes on throughout your prep or even until the very day an actor works. Not only does the actor have to be right for the role, but the casting director must also be able to close the deal. It is a time for you to select and sometimes fight for whom you want in the part. You get the opportunity in a casting session to evaluate talent and expand your knowledge of the character by critically watching the choices that every actor makes.

Prep is when you work with the three key elements of the production design: style, color, and impact. You meet with your department heads for a concept meeting, which allows them to get the ball rolling in their individual areas of expertise. Most important, you interact with the production designer to create the overall look for the show. You give the costume designer an idea of how the characters are to be dressed, and the prop master starts finding or creating the things those characters will handle. You also discuss with the transportation coordinator any vehicles that you need for an episode, so he can find them. Prep is a time of answering questions and making decisions.

It is also a time for creating a bond with your assistant director (AD) because this relationship is key when you are shooting. During prep, your 1st AD will walk you through the sets, board the script, and create a shooting schedule. He will also arrange all your meetings, including your location and technical scout (at which you will be determining what will happen when you come back to shoot, which you later communicate to the crew).

The single most important thing you do during prep is block and shot list or storyboard. You visualize each scene and create motivated movement for the actors. Then you decide how you will shoot the script, paying specific attention to the beginning and ending of scenes and acts.

This preparation work is fundamental to the next part of your directing job: the shoot.