Comments on: What job should I beg for?

By: Ehxun

Ehxun — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:30:38 +0000

I want to be a blogger now. But i still havent earn much money yet. Thanks for your job guide

By: James Sivils, Script Supervisor

James Sivils, Script Supervisor — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 04:24:15 +0000

Sorry to have found this conversation so late, but I was surfing around the web and found you. As a Union Script Supervisor for 17 years, I can tell you this is not a job for the faint of heart. I don’t know “Adam” and his bona fides, but in Tinsletown, EVERYONE thinks they can write and direct. On every film set I have worked, I ALWAYS have one or more or many fellow crew members and actors tell me they could NEVER do the job of Script Supervisor. In fact, I have known many people who have spend thousands of dollars studying for the job (including the wife of a director I worked for), only to find once they get on set that they couldn’t handle it and quit after only one day!! Sure, the job of directing, AD & DP are hard jobs. But they all have STAFF too!! The job of Script Supervisor is the most difficult job on the set and you are a department of ONE. You oversee ALL aspects of continuity of all departments (hair, make-up, wardrobe, set-dressing, props, sound, camera, actors) as well as handle the volumes of intricate, minute detail of the story, coverage & notes. You can’t take a PA and have him do Script on a $100 million dollar feature!! A mistake on the part of a Script Supervisor could cost a production company tens even hundreds of thousands of dollars in re-shoots to correct a continuity error!! If I screw up on the set, my mistake will live on forever on film barring re-shoots to correct it. The irony of the job of Script Supervisor is that, if we do our jobs correctly and well, no one will ever know that we were ever there. But one mistake, and EVERYONE notices and your reputation could be shot to hell!! That’s a lot of responsibility. The written word on a webpage may tend to sound belligerant, so forgive me if this sounds so. But I can point to many occasions where I have (happily!) saved the butt of many a writer, director, DP, camera operator, costumer and actor due to the dilligence of my attention to detail, memory and notes. I may be the only one on a film set who have any idea what coverage is still needed and how to shoot it – who looks to whom in what screen direction, and so forth. Ordinarily, if I have done my job well on the set, the editor will have no problem and the film will cut itself. I would not trust that responsibility to someone with no training or skills. Also, most people simply do not have the temperment to be a Script Supervisor. On the set, ALL of your attention is devoted to performing your job! Forget idle chit-chat. And to end our day, we have reams of paperwork to submit daily to production and the editors. Not a job for the faint of heart. Try it sometime! But well before your 100 million dollar feature or television series. Trust those only to seasoned, trained professionals.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 19:56:28 +0000

Adam,

You clearly have little or no "real" set experience. Sure, it's easy to be a scripty on a student film, anyone could do it. Anyone who has been on the set and understands the complexity of the job knows how difficult it is to be a good script supervisor. There's a reason this person sits right next to the director! It's more than remembering what hand Joe held his coffee cup in. Most Script Supervisors are an integral part of story continuity and dialogue, not to mention shot selection. A goos scripty will often remind the directot and DP of scene coverage that is needed to be shot. I am a DGA Assistand Director, my knowlegde comes from years of experience on real sets, making real movies. Adam, your ignorant comments scream nothing but "I have no experience on the set". Keep watching movies bro.

By: al

al — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:26:23 +0000

The scripty suggestion is absurd. I’m a produced screenwriter and have directed a handfull of films, and have been a producer that’s hired the entire crew. The scripty is vital and demands someone with experience to multitask and think on their toes. This job should be as a PA, hands down. And not an office PA as suggested, as they have a crappy, boring, uneventful job. I worked my way from the bottom. I set PA’d the biggest shows, and the smallest. It’s a brainless job. You have 1-3 AD’s telling you exactly what to do and when, and trust me, it’s every two minutes so you’ll be working hands on, with everything and with little ‘need to know’. For the most part you’ll be chasing down the talent and running lunch bags around. To say your friend cant pull this off is an insult to him. Just my 2 cents.

By: casey moore

casey moore — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:39:04 +0000

I have worked as the Office PA on the last two projects I was on. While I also did a lot of errand runs, I also got to the producers very well. On my last project I even got to know the screenwriter pretty well since I was the one with a printer and he was in the office right next to my desk/table. I have also had the opportunity to drive execs around and end up eating lunch or dinner with the director and department heads. So, Office PA can be a really good gig.

Also, I worked my way up to production coordinator for a show which was interrupted by Katirna. When they came back to finish in January, I was the coordinator.

I am currently on Benjamin Buttons working as the accounting dept PA, which while not exciting is certainly eye opening seeing what goes into a major Hollywood film.

So my advice is just echoing what John said. Director's Assistant is great, if you get to shadow him. Although, I have know director's and producer's assistants who spent a lot of time doing personal runs for the person they were working for.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:57:32 +0000

Well, maybe “radically” isn’t the right word. It’s the same in one particular place. But also different.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:56:44 +0000

Alex Epstein answered this exact same question today, with a radically different answer.

http://complicationsensue.blogspot.com/2006/10/fly-on-wall.html

By: Jacob Estes

Jacob Estes — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:35:48 +0000

Johnny you just said "hog the blog."

Look I just came here for the juice.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:25:24 +0000

Who proposed the notion that the job of script supervisor is conveyed by a birthright akin to an Aaronic priesthood…?! (sorry John, didn’t mean to hog the blog, but I think you can see what bugs me).

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:15:44 +0000

'course I respect everyone else's job. I just don't subscribe to the notion that a job is conveyed by a birthright akin to an Aaronic priesthood. Anyone can learn any job on set including the job of director with enough patient training. And script super is simply not that hard of a job when compared to something like DP, Gaffer, or 1st AD.

Essential - yes. Difficult - no.

It would be the perfect job for a young, sharp writer on his toes wanting to be on set.

End hijack.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:09:25 +0000

Next week, on Adam’s crash course for filmmakers, the craft of the screenwriter: Simply buy final draft. Start typing. Stop when you reach circa 100 pages. Oh, and make it a dramatic masterpiece that entertains the masses.