An Evening with Craig Huston: The Life of a Career Assistant Director

Craig Huston is a name you might know and might not. He’s not an actor or director or producer, but he’s had a career spanning decades. He has worked on 25 feature films and several TV series. I had the incredible opportunity to listen to him on Monday (7 December, 2009) at the December IFASA meeting.

Visit Craig’s IMDB page. He is a long-time career AD. What an amazing career!

The purpose of Mr. Huston’s discussion was to enlighten the Tucson indie film community on what it is an AD does for a production. Many things I learned I did not know and many I kind of guessed, but he definitely filled in many of the details. His experiences seem to mirror that of another career AD, Peter D. Marshall.

Craig started with some of the basics of what an Assistant Director is and does: first of all, the AD is NOT the director’s assistant (that’s listed in the credits as “Assistant to the Director”). Many seem to think an AD is there for the Producer. This is closer to the truth, but it isn’t the whole truth. Craig drew a diagram on the whiteboard in the room we were in. The circles intersected so there was a small space shared by both circles. On the left, he wrote “director” and “creative” and on the right, “producer” and “money.” In between is where the AD lives.

Some of the duties an AD performs are detailed below:

• Break down the script (using something like Movie Magic) - maintain overall cohesion with the script. The AD in this case needs to know the script better than anyone else on crew.
• Do the location scouts; figure out where and when to shoot and, more importantly, figure out where you will NOT be shooting so the crew can determine where things like equipment will rest, cables can run, lights can stand, microphones can record sound, cameras can record visuals, effects can go, etc.
• Manage extras - determine where, how many, and the overall look of the “crowd.”
• Get the department heads (like costume, makeup, effects, grips, the producer, director, DP/Cinematographer, etc) and break down everything in a meeting.
• Handle production reports to the producer who will want to ensure the production does not go over budget.
• Act as Tech Scout - take the production heads to the various locations so they can see where they will be shooting to take care of any technical details before shooting begins.
• Handle pre-production rehearsals if possible.
• Manage the hair, makeup, and hair tests so the cameraman can determine which lenses, f-stops, and film stock(s) to use.
• Manage photo sessions
• Handle any pre- or post-production second unit footage (B-Roll).
• Handle all the scheduling for cast and crew. This is a ridiculously important part of the AD’s duties. A good AD shines like mad here. A good AD can get the schedule to within 30 minutes of real time. The AD may also have to speak with the director to ensure the production continues on time (and on-budget). There is a massive amount of work involved here - juggling crew, cast, sets, locations, and budget to fit within a pre-designated schedule (ie: you have xyz number of days to shoot for the budget…).
• Talk with the producer. Something interesting Craig mentioned: in film, the director usually picks the AD; in TV, the producer picks the AD. Talking to the producer could mean having a schedule to keep and the AD will need to report.
• Fun info I didn’t know: The final shot is called the Martini Shot. The second-to-last shot is called the “Abbey Singer” because this famous AD would always report to producers phoning in to the production (then largely done on soundstages) that they had just this shot to do and one more to prevent the producers coming to the set. Craig related a cool story of shooting in Russia where the crew spoke no english, but still knew what an “Abbey Singer” was.
• The AD is responsible for safety and security on-set.
• The AD is generally the most visible and vocal person on-set.
• The more communication the AD has with the director, producer, and other persons on set and involved with the production, the better the AD will be at their job (important for those who have never really worked with an AD in the past).
• Some important notes: take care of your cast and crew. Show them you value their time by not taking outrageous breaks, have a schedule and keep to it. Don’t think that you can keep beating a cast and crew to do their thing when you aren’t paying them. If you can’t afford to pay cast and crew, treat them as if you were, anyway.
• The AD can be a whip-bearer here; telling everyone what to do and when. Also, the AD can develop a schedule that works for everyone so they don’t have to.

Finally, I know I am good on-set, but I am not this good. Craig has shown me I don’t really want to be an AD, I really want to direct. I’m better at it. I like being able to trust the people on my crew to do their job(s) without concern.

Thanks for your time and effort, Craig, it is greatly appreciated! Later I hope to do a more formal interview here.

Are you and AD? Would you like to share your experiences? Let me know here!

Anticipation

Well, that's it. I'm getting ready for yet another production. This time, it's a web series about an alien and some interviews. That's all I have right now. No script (even though I usually request to see a finished script prior to starting any new project), no money (that, I'm used to), but some great talent. I feel that usual trepidation over the new project. Will it be fun, will it be work, will it be a waste of time? Gads I hope not.

Keep yourself in line with yourself and you will be good to go. Dig this article: Ten Commandments of Filmmaking by Peter D. Marshall. If you don't already subscribe to his blog or site, make a point of doing so. You can also follow him on Facebook and he makes some great links for you to check out. He's an industry insider and has been for decades.

So on to the anticipation and using it to your advantage. I like to imagine what the shoot will be like long before the shoot actually begins. I imagine the set, how it will look on the script, how it will shoot out, how we can get it done on time, under budget, and with extreme professionalism. There are so many factors involved, it can make your head spin.

First, make a list of everything you think can and/or will happen. Since they're all running about in your head, write it down and elaborate wherever you can. Next, you should be having meetings of some kind with your producer, director, DP, costume, makeup, lights, grips, etc., etc. to nail down the details for the shoot. Now, you're getting prepared. Turn that nervous "I don't know" energy into something that will help you rather than harm you.

Next, let's do some blocking: you have the script, let's get it all blocked out so it looks good. Lean on the director for that one. Figure out what they have in mind. Now, take charge: Get the direction from the director and make it all happen. Don't be afraid to yell or make mistakes - it's gonna happen. Just go with it.

Now, get the crew ready once the blocking is done. Let the actors get ready and rehearse. Let them run lines and prepare. Now, you get the crew ready to light it, record it, shoot it, etc. Ready? Good. Ask the director if they're ready. When they are, make your calls: quiet on set, roll camera (get confirmation), roll audio (get confirmation), places, cue any other pre-action things ready (like effects or crowds), slate (if you are using external audio) - call scene, take, audio track, and wait for the director to call action. Watch and listen to everything.

I usually wind up doing script supervision, too (when I'm AD) so I'll end up doing that as well. Sometimes you get your own script sup/continuity supervisor, too. That's like disco, baby.

My ramble is nearly done. All that nervous energy can translate into real results for your production. Make it all happen the best way humanly possible. Imagine everyone saying they couldn't have done it without you. It happens. I know. It feels good and I thank everyone profusely for their kind words and assistance. Remember you are a team no matter what happens.

Be a team.

Just F%¢#!*@ Shoot It!

Today is Pet Peeve day. Not like any kind of official holiday or anything, but today I'll be covering one of my pet peeves: timid, pontificating, micromanaging, pretentious, and/or incapable directors. I've worked with a few directors in my time and most are decent folks who trust their people to do their job without a lot of interference or micromanagement. Then there are the "art" directors. You know the ones: they talk endlessly about the look and feel of their films (they say "film" and not "video"); they make art not commercial garbage; they tell stories with deep meaning; they make shit.

Whoa! They make shit? Hell yes, they make shit. These are the guys and gals who have some vague dream of being a "Broadway" filmmaker smoking cigarettes on long holders a la Hunter S. Thompson, wearing 1920's styled hats, talking endlessly about their life's drama, saying snarky little things about famous people (as if they were qualified to speak about them), and being generally jealous of everyone who has actually made a name for themselves while they remain obscure. Nobody knows them (though they expect people to know their name) and nobody really cares, but working with them is a nightmare.

Imagine a set. Indoor or outdoor is immaterial. You have actors ready to go, crew ready to work, and a director holding everything up. The director is screaming at everyone to get everything straight. The actors have done the lines 50 different ways (some good, some average, but passable) and the director is saying the same things over and over: "I want more feeling...more depth...make me feel what you are saying..." Yeah, this guy is a douche bag.

I was on set for a film about 3 or 4 months ago and we had the lighting guy like this. He was not a native English speaker (he was from a Spanish-speaking South American country I forgot the name of) so I initially cut him some slack, but when his inability to set up a simple 3-light configuration halted the set for 2 hours, I cut him no slack whatsoever. We were in a house with some odd lighting requirements and we had a director who was completely inexperienced. On the other hand, this guy was claiming to have some kind of degree in lighting. He would explain his actions endlessly, forcing people to sit and wait while he explained it again and again. How strange the lights never got set up. He would move it an inch, wander off, come back, move it another inch...rinse, repeat, you get the idea.

So what's my point? Other than that I hate time wasters, I would say: learn to make mistakes. What? That just goes in the face of all that is holy and American! Whoa there, dude. Breathe. Relax. Have a Valium, Zanex or some heroin. How do you learn? If you are like most Americans, we learn in school by rote memorization and regurgitation until you hit the real world and discover nobody gives a shit what your grades were in high school (unless you want to work with a university or college) and nobody cares what you CAN do unless you've DONE it. So what happened? We got out of school, hit the real world and found out there is a dual standard - one we've been told to expect from our schools and the real one we hit after school is out.

I suppose if you hit some big professional studio right out of film school, you would be great - that's pretty much how they set you up. Me? I didn't go to film school. I read about filmmaking in books from people like Lenny Lipton and Stu Maschwitz and then tried it out on my own with a cheap Super-8 camera and, later, video. I have failed far more times than I have succeeded. I am proud of that fact. Each time I failed, I learned something. Each time I did it right, I only learned one way to do it right whereas my failures yielded piles of educational material and a number of ways of doing things "the right way."

So, to our wanna-be director, I say, "Just fucking shoot it!" This is video! It's not like were wasting a buck a minute here, tapes run less than $5 - just get it wrong and edit out the parts you don't like. You'd be surprised how many films I've worked on where nothing went right on set, but the final version looked amazing. Conversely, I've worked on a lot of sets where everything went just the way it was supposed to, but the final version is flat, drab, and boring. Your lack of vision disturbs me!

New YouTube Video - A Quick Trip Through Sedona

I made this video to experiement with Motion and Final Cut Pro. I've been self-teaching myself both of these applications and I've been experimenting with After Effects, though this video is done with Motion and FCP. Please have a look and tell me what you think. More videos on the way!

Here's the link: A Quick Trip Through Sedona.

Giving a Talk

So we, meaning myself and Melissa, were invited to speak on Thursday (August 27, 2009) for a small group of media students at the Art Institute here in Tucson. My experience with students is a bit jaded, having been one myself several times, and the desire to show as much as humanly possible is there. We had typical students and somewhat atypical students so it all seemed to play out nicely. So now what?

Well, the class didn't turn out to be media students per se, but, rather, art and culinary students taking a sort of introductory media or some kind of media overview class. Not sure if this was revealed to anyone - I didn't know until the day of the class. Regardless, a web series is pretty much the newest of the new medias out there, so we're pretty well covered.

The class was initially a little rude; interruptions, chatter, texting. All pretty much what I would expect from a modern student. I remember we got yelled at and occasionally "tapped" on the head for such behavior, but now we don't get that luxury. It's all strong words and idle threats. So much for capital punishment.

Melissa started the game out by talking about the set up, writing, and pre-production aspect of the show, then led into formal production. Jonathan Northover was there to discuss things from an actor's perspective. Then, that's where I came into play. I talked about audio. I talked about our little Zoom device, boom mics, a good set of headphones, and the importance of getting everything together in one sort of package. I talked about tape-hiss and pointing the boom and other things. The students seemed to glaze over at this.

Back to Melissa to talk about post-production and marketing. We screwed the pooch on marketing didn't we. yes we did.

I remember a bit at the end where I gave an impassioned plea to just get out there and shoot. Get the practice, learn as much as you can, and then dive straight in again and again. I enjoyed it, it was fun. :)

Finding Good People

Finding good people is an incredible task. You have to be part producer and you have to know the job at hand. In other words, who knows the job, who thinks they know the job, and who can do the job. I've met professionals that couldn't do the job unless they had XYZ equipment. Is that really being able to do the job? I generally do either sound or work the camera (or do grip work). I'm good doing any of them, really, though I prefer something that lets me be mobile - working a boom pole is not so mobile with all the equipment you have on you (headphones and cables at the least and often some kind of sound recording device - a Zoom H4 in the case of my most recent project) and doing grip work is often completely thankless (who remembers the grip who saved the day? Nobody, that's who) and the camera is a touchy, unforgiving mistress of pain. I'm complaining, but I'm also just being melodramatic. I guess I didn't get enough drama in high school.

I look for dedication to the art. You know, the person that can do anything with any equipment and manage to squeeze the absolute most out of every possible square inch of the thing (whatever it might be). Figure out the specific limitations of the equipment for your circumstances and figure out how to tweak it.

Then I like the people who are always ready at the drop of a hat to do anything for me at any time. They aren't always great at what they do, but they make up for it with constant repetition - that ability to do it over and over until they get it right and smile and remain enthusiastic. It's not perfect, but they do learn and by the end of the production, they are fast and efficient. I like people who learn fast. It warms my heart.

The Camera: I like a camera person who sets up the camera with minimal direction from the director, asks a few key questions and says, "ready!" This, of course, depends on a director with enough sack to rely on his/her people versus the director who has to micromanage every tiny little detail of the production (move the camera an inch - there, it's perfect - c'mon, I'm certain that inch had NOTHING to do with the quality, it's just your need to micromanage). You have to have confidence in your people or why else are you there? It's not the director's show, it's a team effort and you need to never forget that. The director will still take all the credit for everything so they needn't worry about their team if they trust them.

The Sound Guy: Sound is usually a pretty basic setup: get your equipment ready, stand around and wait for everyone else to get their shit together, heft up the boom and hope it's a quick shot not some 12 minute monologue where you'll have to heft the damn boom-pole around for 50 positions while trying to keep it just outside the camera's view and keep the mic pointed at the actor's noise hole. Your arms get tired, your legs start to shake and you hear the magic words: "CUT!" Followed by, "boom in the shot..." Depression sets in and you wonder if you should just polish off your resume again and try for something other than boom-pole operator. Is that mixing position still open?

Eat Before You Go

When I'm on set, I will often let every other aspect of my life dwindle to a minimum. Financially, I'm a wreck right now: I haven't made any real money in weeks. The last time I was on set (last night) I had forgotten to eat. Whoops. Dunno what happened, but I forgot to eat. So we meet at 3:30 to start shooting one scene for Limbo.

First off, Melissa is great - the director. She has a great vision and is an amazing writer. I think she's floundering a bit here in sunny Tucson rather than spending her time with the "big boys" marketing scripts and sipping cocktails with the big players in Hollywoodland. Then again, she's here and she likes it here so, cool, lets make some great stuff right here in Tucson. I feel a little like I'm riding on someone else's coattails, but she likes my work and asks me back again and again.

I have my own personal feelings on how I think things should be shot: I don't like handheld, Melissa does (the makeshift stabilizer is a strange compromise); I despise wide angle shots (put the camera as far away from the action and zoom in so everything doesn't look all bulbous and distorted) - Melissa uses lots of close-up, handheld, wide angle shots. Then she goes and uses a jib to shoot and I love it: the camera is far away and zoomed in and I think it looks great. My point is that there are times when I'm chomping at the bit for a different camera angle and when I'm not the director, it can get a little frustrating. Especially when I'm hungry.

I usually do sound. I'm good at it, I have a really good ear and such, but NOBODY respects the sound guy. Actors treat you like a leper, cameramen dismiss you (what? sound guy? fah! he will follow my lead...), directors know they need you, but everyone is soooo concerned with the visual, they completely ignore the audio and set up these scenes that make it completely impossible to get good sound with a boom mic and pole (yeah, this is indie film). Who do they blame when they can't hear something? The sound guy. In fact, despite having perfect audio for several weeks of shooting, I only hear about the quality of my work as "boom in the shot..." Yeah, boy am I jazzed. Grips have more respect than this. Seriously.

And then I was really hungry. Some people just fall asleep when they're hungry. Not me. I get into a tare and take everyone with me. I am not a pleasant hungry person. I get tired and weak and I clench my jaw which gives me a headache. I drink water to offset the hunger and alleviate the oncoming migraine, but I really just need food. Sometimes we are pretty remote. Sometimes, despite all the nastiness described, I just plain FORGET to eat. If I can't have a cigarette, it's pushing up to a potentially lethal scenario.

Now, I feel disrespected (okay, I know I'm not, but I FEEL that way), ravenous, nicotine deficient, and I'm starting to have issues with the director's choice of shots. I'm good friends with Melissa: we worked for a very long time on Crewing Up at Access Tucson, but that doesn't change the fact that the last 4 takes were exactly the same as the first one and minor details like hair are not so important (to me) and we're shooting it wide angle...AGAIN! I am filled with adolescent rage and I may kill one of the actors if they can't keep their FUCKING LINES STRAIGHT...AAAAAUUUGGGH!

Melissa looks at me and I can see her eyes do a mental triple-take. She stops everything and smacks me for not eating. I think she said something like, "what they hell is wrong with you?" I'm immediately calm...well, calmer. I apologize for not eating, but not for the delicious, evil thoughts running around my mind. I'm normally so calm.

Until next time, bring a snack with you - like a granola bar, candy bar, bag o' sugar, soda, sandwich, whatever. Food is a great equalizer: we need it or we die. Melissa is the only one I know who can drop like 30 pounds during a production because she forgets to eat entirely and must weigh in at like 70 pounds at production's end. I have a Klaxon alarm system in my stomach that won't let me ignore it unless I'm heavily caffeinated which is not a good place for me to be. There is usually some kind of food on set, but not always or always what you want to eat. So bring something small that doesn't need refrigeration. The life you save could be the director's.