Film Directing 116: The Director's Assistant Director

LEVEL 100 blogs are for film students and first-time directors taking on the directing role for a short film. The series is designed to help and guide new filmmakers through the director’s prep duties, pre-production activities, and principle photography dynamics.

Treat your Assistant Director like Gold

The first assistant director and their team is the engine that keeps your production running. Treat them like gold. They are worth it!

Your best chance at getting good performances from your actors and having an organized shoot that runs smoothy – on time and on budget – is to have an informed assistant director. All the work you have produced so far in prep must be revealed to them: your shotlist, your thumbnails, and your schematics.

The director and assistant director walk in lock step through pre-production. It’s imperative for them to know what you’re thinking in order to make sure that your creative ideas can be realized.

The communication between the director and the assistant director must be detailed and thorough. It is your responsibility to have the answers to the questions, provide the preferences for scheduling, and to communicate issues and concerns about aspects of the production where the first assistant can facilitate communication.

For your assistant director to shape your best schedule, they need to have information from you. How many shots in a scene? What kind of shots are planned? How much time do you need to complete the work?

In addition to creating all the key planning documents – like the schedule, the one-liner, the call sheet, etc. – they liaise with all departments to organize the technical and personnel requirements for the entirety of principle photography.

They know all the details for each scene and every location – because you have provided it to them: which direction the camera will be looking, where the actors will be moving to and from, where the lights are going, design elements to make the locations work, etc.

Stand by, because there may be surprises and changes at any given point in the production, but at least you and the assistant director have a solid plan going in.

The last, big meeting before you begin principle photography is called the final production meeting. The first assistant director runs this meeting, and it’s the most important meeting of all in pre-production.

The script is tabled along with the schedule details and the plans for shooting. Every department is represented. Everyone takes relevant notes. Questions may be asked. Answers are essential. The more precise the details, the more clarity for the crew.

It’s best to have this meeting at least one day before the camera rolls in case there are questions or concerns that need to be addressed. Creative problem-solving is easier when there’s a cohesive director/assistant director team at the head of the table.

From the concept meeting to the final production meeting, the first assistant director is the field general of the filmmaking team. They run the show. Their voice is the one most often heard on the set – or it should be.

Everyone listens for the first assistant director’s instructions. They announce when everyone is ‘on the clock’, when blocking is up, when the cast is moving, when the director has ‘cut’, the lunch break, the last shot, the wrap for the day, etc.  

Planning and managing all the moving parts of a film production and having everything in the right place at the right time is like a paramilitary operation: camera equipment, lighting and grip equipment, sound mixing gear, all personnel, cast, wardrobe, makeup, catering, transportation, etc. Everything has been planned. Everything and everyone is ready on the day.

Your show will only be as good as the teamwork and communication between you and your first assistant director.

Treat your assistant director like gold – because they make your creative plans come to life.