MFJF map · UK
The assistant directors' department: the people and the day
Every set has one department whose job is not to make the picture look or sound a certain way but to make sure the picture gets made at all. The director decides what the film needs; the ADs make sure the cast, the crew, the background, the vehicles and the clock are where they need to be. Their business is movement, schedule and logistics.
The three ADsWho runs the department
You will be working for all three at once. When the 1st speaks on the walkie, the whole department echoes it.
The running teamOn a bigger production
On a low or micro-budget film there are simply floor runners, and you do everything: four or five of you. On a studio picture there can be eighteen, and the team is divided.
Through a productionPrep, shoot, wrap
There is no AD work in post-production, so the department's life runs job to job. The 2nd who hires you this time is the 2nd who rings you next time.
The paperwork in your handFour documents run a day
You are expected to have read all four before crew call.
The day, hour by hourBase before dawn to a clean wrap
Runners are called with the ADs, before the rest of the crew. Arrive before your call, not at it.
What good looks likeAnd what ends an engagement
In demand and expendable at once: good runners are never short of offers, and a runner whose phone rings in a take can be gone by lunch. Your reputation is the only thing that changes that balance.
