Week 5
1. A tech scout is someone that scouts locations with the technical aspects of the production in mind. They are looking at power sources, light sources, potential noise, and really anything else that could impact the lighting, sound, or overall efficiency of the production.
2. The Director, 1st AD, Director of Photography, Production Designer, Gaffer, Key Grip, and Unit Production Manager should be involved in tech scouts.
3. A sound mixer/recorder may be inquiring about many things that can impact the sound of a film. One is any sounds present in the physical environment, such as loud construction nearby or a busy highway. Another could be the way sound is reflected in the environment; for example, if the shoot is in a large, enclosed metal hangar, sounds will echo rather easily.
4. When it comes to rehearsals with director-actor collaboration, it starts with the table read. Later on, blocking rehearsals will allow the director to work with actors on how the scenes will take place in the physical space. Run-throughs are then helpful for working with the actors on their character’s arc throughout the story. Finally, dress rehearsals put it all together and are a good opportunity to make adjustments with costumes, lighting, and the overall feel of shooting conditions.
5. A director should use simple language when working with child actors because an actor can’t make adjustments if they don’t understand the direction. A child is unlikely to have a vast collection of memories they can call on to give the emotion needed, so it’s best to simplify it. For example, instead of telling them “there’s an inner conflict with your character, so you should play it as if you’re masking the way you really feel”, you might just say, “pretend someone else got the last cookie, but you have to act okay with it or you may never get one”.
6. Set dressing refers to parts of the physical environment that don’t move during the scene. This could be couches, tables, curtains, a large rock, etc. Costume refers to the clothing, makeup, and accessories worn by the characters. These remain a part of the character for the entirety of the scene. A prop, on the other hand, is any physical object being used in some way by the characters. For example, if one were to take of their glasses and throw them, for that scene, the glasses would be a prop, not a part of costume.
7. Understanding an A-list actor’s brand is important because people tend to have expectations of A-list actors. For example, if your movie is rated R and has tons of gore, casting an A-list family movie actor is probably not a great idea. This isn’t to say you should strictly keep actors in the roles people are used to, but when the brand of the actor is completely incompatible with your film, it's not as helpful marketing-wise to have an A-lister anyway.
In Uncut Gems, Adam Sandler is casted as manic, loud jeweler living in constant chaos. This strayed from his brand of being a goofy comedy star, which in this case, worked in the film’s favor. This is a good example of the actor’s brand not matching perfectly, but not being an egregious casting mistake like it would be to cast him in a pure romance movie.
