After getting to know the script, try to find out the director’s plans for coverage of a scene.
Important Junctions
If you know where the important junctions for cuts will be, you can pay particular attention to the continuity at those points.
The director, of course, may not have any plans, except, one assumes, in his head.
Circulated Shot Lists
Almost every director I have worked with has started shooting in an incredibly efficient way by having lists of their proposed shots circulated to the unit. After a few days the unit thank you profusely for these lists, fold them up neatly and put them away ‘in a safe place’, never to be looked at again, and the director then confines his lists to himself and you.
After two weeks or so, even these lists, which have become vaguer day by day, cease, and you must find other ways of determining what sort of shot is being planned.
Shooting Script
There are occasions, however, when you might find yourself working for a very well-organised director, one who plans well in advance exactly what he is going to shoot and works out each angle with meticulous care. You should of course, think yourself very lucky to be working for such a paragon – but do watch out for one thing.
Such a script can be of immense help in giving a very good idea of what the director intends to do, but do beware of following it too slavishly as it may well differ quite considerably from what he actually does on the day of shooting. Your job is to note down what actually happened and not what your director’s intentions were some five weeks or even five days before the shooting.
Storyboard
Some directors work out a storyboard – sometimes with the help of the graphics designer. A storyboard plots out the story in picture form, showing all the different angles the director plans to shoot. It is a very useful tool as everyone can instantly understand a picture, even if it is just a very simple line drawing, whereas some people might find it harder to visualise a written shot description. The storyboard is used extensively in planning commercials.
The Director’s Plans
There are a number of ways of finding out how the director plans to cover the script.