Script Supervisor Research

Pre production
  • Timing breakdown
  • Continuity breakdown
  • Screen day breakdown 
  • Page count breakdown
  • Attending rehearsals
  • Make sure any changes in dialogue/action in rehearsals are given to heads of department and production office and cast as pink pages
  • Check all aspects of continuity are in place before shooting to prevent errors happening in the edit
  • Attend production meeting prior to principle photography


Production
  • Matching action and dialogue in shooting
  • Taking reference via photographic info for matching purposes
  • Knowledge of scene coverage and sometimes producing a shot list
  • Ensuring all shots have matching eyelines
  • Make sure execution and completing of master coverage and offer advice when/if additional coverage is required/or when a shot doesn’t work
  • Provide editor with shot info on continuity reports and on a marked up script also known as a lined script
  • Provide editor with all info regarding script changes to dialogue/action during shooting on a marked up script
  • Providing info on a daily production report
  • Keep running totals of scene timings and page counts so script runs approximately to overall time
  • Tell the second AC what to write on the slate
  • Master shot = a shot that includes all of the actors in the scene and runs the entire length of the action


Post Production
  • {Assistant editor role}

Responsibilities


  • Whilst shooting, make sure actions and dialogue match up
  • Costumes/make up/hair/props/story/plots match up
  • Liase with relevant departments to make sure they do match up and correct them
  • Give notes to actors of dialogue mistakes and bring continuity mistakes to attention of director and actors
  • Ensure when shooting out of sequence that storyline is consistent
  • Workable coverage of dialogue and actions
  • Editor has notes to cover shots taken that day;
    • Continuity reports sheet per shot
    • Description for shot and dialogue
    • Notes regarding each take
    • Timings of each take
    • Info on lenses and filters used
    • Script pages marked with shots that cover the scenes
    • Editors daily log
    • Slate number/scene number
    • One-line description of shot
    • Printed/selected takes
    • Sync/MOS
    • Camera speeds/how many used
    • Marked up script pages – lined script

  • You include all pages of scenes covered and correct any dialogue changes/additions and deletions
  • Indicate which shots (slate numbers) cover which piece of dialogue by lines and what part of shot is on and what part of shot is off camera
  • Keep record of continuity of costume, props and sets in master continuity script. Take photos of these and keep records and keep notes on the script pages with info of what actors did in a scene with what hand, where they moved, on what line.
  • Ensure camera/sound have relevant info of which takes are to be selected for the lab reports
  • Keep record of shots to be picked up at a later stage
  • Provide info to 2nd/3rd unit of what shots are required and matching info
  • Provide a production report at the end of each shooting day confirming scenes completed or partially covered, screen time for each scene and totals of the day, page count for each scene and totals of the day, overall totals completed and still to be completed. Also includes a brief diary of the days events and times in and out
Lining a Script
  • A copy of the shooting script to indicate exactly what coverage has been shot
  • Created prior and during production 
  • During production, track the length of each take with a vertical line
  • Draw a vertical line indicating desired camera angle through dialogue and action description
  • Each line represents anticipated duration of the shot. It starts when the character starts and ends when the director says cut.
  • The line represents camera set up and take
  • Labelled with the type of desired shot
  • Close ups = CU
  • Medium/ long shot = MS/LS
  • Identify redundant coverage and areas that lack coverage
  • Each line refers to a shot and are identified with a letter (not I or O)
  • A straight line means coverage for the action has been shot
  • At the top of each line is the slate number and amount of takes e.g 23-5





Pat P. Miller - Script Supervising and Film Continuity second edition
Mary Cybulski foreword by David Mamet - Beyond Continuity

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