In defense of script supervisors
In the comments following yesterday’s article, someone suggested that a screenwriter looking for a no-experience-required job on a film set should look in to being a script supervisor.
This is absurd. Being a scripty isn’t a job for a screenwriter. It’s a job for a masochist. While not physically demanding in the way being a grip or a gaffer is, it’s still a lot of hard work, which if done correctly, is completely invisible to the audience.
In an Actual Movie, as opposed to a student film, you can’t just suddenly be a propmaster or an assistant director or script supervisor. That’s why in yesterday’s answer, I was careful to pick jobs that J.R. could theoretically land without experience to back it up.
Sure, given 20 minutes, you could probably figure out how to write down the information about various takes. But that’s a tiny fraction of a script supervisor’s job. They’re the field goal kickers of filmmaking, staying out of everyone’s way until needed in a crunch:
Quick, which hand did Margaret pick up the glass with, and after which line did she take a sip? And did she do that in take 4 or 5? Okay, that’s the master take. Let’s match that in the rest of the coverage we shoot today, Saturday, and three months from now in reshoots.
Wait, did he say, “my friend’s cousin, Bob” or “my cousin’s friend, Bob?”
Oh, and we need those camera reports now, because we’re breaking the film for the run tonight.
I’ve met great script supervisors, and ones I’ve wanted to throw off bridges. But screenwriters should never undervalue the scripty’s job, because she (or he, but usually she) is often the last defense against our scripts being mangled.
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October 10th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Well, my first film gig (first time on set, first everything) I got “trained” on being script supervisor in about three minutes. I happened to have a camera phone on me which saved my arse over and over again. Sure, it’s not rocket science, but it’s no walk in the park either. This was a 20-minute short that took place entirely in one room and I certainly broke a sweat more than once. The thought of doing this on a big-budget (or any budget) feature length movie boggles my mind. My hat is off to all the scriptys!!
October 10th, 2006 at 11:35 am
And that’s why the California Scriptmanglers have been training hard all summer long.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
I’ll just put that on the list of jobs I could never be good at. I’m the guy on the couch who when my girlfriend asks “What did that guy just say?” I give her a blank stare when I realize the words have already slipped away into the vast empty space of my mind.
October 10th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
Great post, and as a scripty myself, I agree with all of it: a good scripty can make or break a film if the hero shot needs continuity.
One excellent reason to become a scripty is to meet other people in the business during the down time (like the director, whom you will probably be sitting next to for weeks at a time) — networking on a shoot is 100 times better than a film schmooze social because you actually get to bond with the cast and crew… and that’s how job referrals happen. If you’re a screenwriter and have your own blog, wearing a shirt on set with your blog url printed on it is a fantastic way to build contacts over time.
October 10th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Hey John,
Please understand that I never trivialized the job of script super or underestimated its importance. I just claimed it was a job that could be learned. Whereas I realize you feel that my opinion is absurd, and hell, it’s your website - you most certainly can cogitate however you please - I still think a sharp guy can pick up scrip supering quickly. Especially someone with writing experience.
And no, I don’t make student films. Thanks for capitalizing “Actual Movie” as an insinuation that everyone else’s work was anything but an Actual Movie. It’s called Independent Film.
October 10th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
I must agree with adam on this one… I too am sure a smart guy can learn “scrip supering” in a flash.
October 10th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Wow Johnny, you really missed your calling. Comedy Central is looking pretty blase these days - why don’t you give it a try.
October 10th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
Please, please, please (!!!) do NOT ruin your friend’s film by trying to be his script supervisor. An experienced one (assuming he/she has skill and patience) will do more to help him as a first time director than possibly anyone on set (next to a talented DP, a fiercely good 1st AD, a thrifty Production Designer, and a UPM who can handle three phones at once). The script supervisor is the only person on set who is there to represent the editor’s needs. And we all know how important editors are… they’re the final rewrite.
October 10th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Don’t know why, but the scripty’s almost always a woman. Maybe guys are too distractible, or can’t sit quietly unnoticed until someone asks them an urgent detail question to which they absolutely must have the right answer.
The question can come at any time, and can be about any detail in the scene. Who did what when? Who was wearing what? Was the hand in the pocket or out? Better have the right answer, or get on your cel and start looking for your next job. The scripty’s a department of one. No backup.
The job can be a way into either editing or directing. The TV director Martha Mitchell got started as a script supervisor on Law and Order.
Do the Brits still call them Continuity? As in, the Continuity girl, or the Continuity Supervisor?
October 10th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
No way guys. I directed my first film a few years ago and was blown away by the importance of the script supervisor. If this is a weak link, its over and frankly, you’re fucked.
Learning it in a flash?…not even close, Johnny.
October 11th, 2006 at 6:31 am
I’m not sure I’m quite catching the connection between writer and script super. As someone who does/has done both, I don’t see many similarities at all. Perhaps if you could detail what the link is, more people would agree.
October 11th, 2006 at 6:32 am
I never realized how essential it was to have a good script supervisor until I directed a 20 minute film last year. In all the chaos he was able to remember the tiniest details, like which hand did the actress use to pick up her drink three takes ago, and on which word of dialogue did she put it down.
He was so good that the crew began trying to trip him up by adding props to the set that weren’t there in the previous take. Before each take he would scan the set and detect the new addition, such as an ashtray on the desk. Or sometimes they would just move a coffee mug a foot from where it was, and he’d pick that up too. I’m not sure if he had a photographic memory, or whether it was just training and experience.
He did many(!) other things that helped me a great deal, and he proved to be the most valuable person on set when it came to keeping straight what had been shot and what was still needed (yes, despite extensive storyboarding and a detailed shot list, mistakes were still made — that he caught).
So I have an incredible amount of respect for those who do that job well. And no, I don’t think most people could pick it up easily without an awful lot of training/practice. So add script supervisor to the list of unsung heroes of filmmaking.
John, I hope to meet you at Austin.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
I worked on a film as a PA then got promoted to 2nd assistant camera which was an awesome job. I was slating shots and doing camera reports. That meant I was always right next to the action. Unlike the other set PAs who would hang around craft services all day, I got to meet everyone and time flew by since I was always doing something. Maybe try to get that job.
October 11th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
I think it’s time J.R. reveals how big the production is he wants to work on… If it’s a studio pic, or even an independent with a decent budget, the 2nd AC job is not something a kid off the street will get hired for, either. It’s a career job - leading to focus puller, 1st ac, operator, gaffer, dp (not necessarily in that order, but pretty much).
October 11th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
The difference between a script super and a screenwriter are VAST, ha ha
This explains a lot though. I took a screenwriting course at the city college here in San Francisco, and the only credits to the teacher’s name were that of script supervisor on a couple of no name productions in the 80’s. And this I found out after already dropping the course because I figured out how worthless her teaching methods were.
Learn from other screenwriters, or develop your own methods if you think they work, but don’t let some hack try and mold you to the formula.
October 11th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
1st AC is a focus puller. 2nd AC is a clapper.
October 14th, 2006 at 10:10 am
My mother was a script supervisor, so disrespecting or belittling the job is, to these ears, like saying “yo mama.” It’s a thankless job–you do it well, nobody notices, you fuck up once, you fear you may never work again. But it’s not an easy job, or a trivial one.
I know directors who wouldn’t know where to point the camera, or when they can cut away, or where the “line” is, or what might or might not match, without quietly consulting their script supervisors. Some of them–particularly those who migrated over from still photography–would be lost without their favorite script supervisors.
Other script supervisors–the amazing Mary Bailey comes to mind–perform their job so well that they take on producing roles.
Looking for easy work on a film set? There isn’t any.
October 14th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
Great convo—obviously a ripe topic for its own blog.
Fact #1:
A good script super will make an editor’s job easy whereas a mediocre script super will make an editor’s job impossible. You make your bed and sleep in it—keep your editor sane by using a good scripty.
Fact #2:
While anyone can pick up the basics of being a scripty—timing shots, taking notes about each shot, keeping continuity—not everyone has the temperment and persistence to pick up the advanced parts like keeping annotated and organized pictures of each take, watching if the actors crossed the line, matching eyelines, etc. A good scripty focuses on all the details… obsesses about them, really… so the director can focus on performance.
Fact #3:
Most of the time, continuity simply doesn’t matter. That’s probably blasphemous to many, but as long as the actors are wearing the correct costumes and haven’t recently gotten a haircuts, the average viewer will only notice continuity errorrs if the director hasn’t told a riveting story. Zach Braff said editors on Scrubs wouldn’t use certain shots because they broke continuity, and that’s a mistake—Garden State is full of continuity errors, but did anyone notice? (Hey, that doesn’t mean that I, as a scripty, don’t care about catching continuity errors—I do, and very much so. It’s just that, as a director, I wouldn’t care that much. Unless it’s the hero shot!)
October 16th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
I was surfing and found your blog and decided to respond. I’m a female scripty in the southeast area. It is a hard job, but I see it more along the lines of challenging and fun. I’m not jaded yet. Note taking isn’t hard for me, organization is a snap, but continuity with actors who ad-lib a lot is tough, and the 180 is tricky some times. I take A LOT of continuity pictures and download them to my computer because hey…I’m only human. I’ve been in very stressful moments, moments that have made me want to pull my hair out, and moments that have made me rethink about this whole job. But when I land those jobs with the amazing directors, actors, crew, it’s all worth it.
I will only give computerized notes to production and editorial. I refuse to write everything by hand. I make it a big point in what I do to communicate everything I can to sound and camera so we’re all on the same page, and I’ve learned to document EVERYTHING regarding what happens on set so I don’t get blamed for it.
I’m a competitive person, and most of my down time on set is rushing to finish up the previous notes before the grips and electric have set up the next shot. I have to be 100% on my game at any moment in the 12+ hour day. I’ve learned to eat in 10 minutes, so I can get back to set to finish up any paperwork that needs to be done before everyone is back in from lunch. And I’m usually close to the last one to leave every night.
It sounds like a big headache, but for me it isn’t. I love this job…I still have a lot of fun doing it. I’ll only stop when it’s not fun anymore.
December 20th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
Yeah, I just finished my first Scripty job…it was SCARY! Luckily, the other crew were very good to me and would give me hints and tips that come from years of being scriptys themselves…alI have to say is that camera phones and postit notes rock!
June 21st, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Where can I get lessons/learn to do script supervising work?
June 21st, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Most script supervisors learn from other script supers. If you’re in an area that makes movies (LA, NYC, Austin, Seattle…and a lot of other places), track down a script supervisor and beg her to teach you the craft. You need on-set training. Eventually, there will be a no-budget feature she can recommend you for, and you’ll get your start.