Speaker 1: Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Amber Living Vlog. This is Beyond Film School, and today we're talking about the Script Supervisor. All right, so before we jump into the video, I just want to tell you about my brand spanking new PA course, my Set Production Assistant training course that you can do online. It's only going to take you a few hours to do it. You don't have to come to New York City. Super convenient for you. So check it out. The link's going to be below. So be sure to hit up that PayPal link. It really helps me out. It helps me grow Beyond Film School. And if you like this video, like what I do for the film community, please donate to that PayPal link. Be sure to hit up beyondfilmschool.com. So many different resources for people just starting out in film. I redid my website. It's super pretty. Please go visit it just to see how pretty it is. If you don't even want to go do anything else for the website, just go to see how pretty it is. It has been requested from 1Marco0 to do a video on Script Supervisor. Ask and you shall receive. So we're hopping into the Script Supervisor. So what is the Script Supervisor? The Script Supervisor also is known as the Scripty on set.

Speaker 2: A Script Supervisor is the person that tells everyone to stay on script and keeps careful notes to prevent logical inconsistencies. So basically the star.

Speaker 1: They are an army of one. They are a one-man army, one-woman army. They are a department of one. There is only one person doing their job on any film set. In a nutshell, the Script Supervisor is going to be the record keeper on set. They are the eyes of the editing department and they're the protector of the script. All right, let's jump into the responsibilities of a Script Supervisor. And I hope you're ready because there's a lot of them. The Script Supervisor does a whole lot. So we're going to start with pre-production for the Scripty. They take the script and what they start doing is they start breaking down the script. What's breaking down a script? They are taking note. They're highlighting. They're making sure they're aware of all the elements in a scene. Props, actors, certain special effects, maybe there's visual effects, all of the elements in a scene they're taking note of. Any story that you see on screen could happen in a 24-hour period, could be a week, could be years. And the Script Supervisor is keeping track of what time in the story are we in. Are we on day one? Are we on day seven? And this really comes into play when something is changing and we really have to keep track of where it is and what day that thing is hitting. Now, for example, in a feature film I did, the main character got punched in the face and then the bruise was healing as the story went on. So obviously we shoot things out of order when we're making film and television. We might be shooting day 20 with a healed bruise, but then we shoot day 15 after the fact and that is a fresh bruise. So it is very important for the Script Supervisor to keep us on track on what story day we are shooting. This is really helpful for me as a first AD when I do the shooting schedule and I give my shooting schedule to the Script Supervisor and they are going to make sure that every scene in that script is accounted for and scheduled within the shooting schedule. So it's a really good thing for me to have that person just double check my work and I really appreciate it. So that's another thing they do in prep. Now we're going to jump into the responsibilities of a Script Supervisor while we're shooting, while we're in production. The first thing I have to say for a scriptee is that they're taking a massive amount of notes while on set. Now those notes are really, really important because those notes go to the post-production department and I can't tell you how much the post-production department really appreciates those notes because it really saves them a lot of time when they're editing. Some of the things that a Script Supervisor is keeping track of is the movement of the actors, what actors are in the scene, what coverage we've got for a scene, what size of lenses we're using, what filters we might be on, what camera roll we're on. They're also taking note of whether it's going to be scene sound or MOS, meaning do we have sound or is there no sound for the scene? There's so many different things that a scriptee is keeping record of. One really important thing that the scriptee does is they keep track of the coverage and They make sure that a scene is done in its entirety, meaning do we have what we need to make a scene look complete on screen? Has everything been covered? Do we have coverage of all the actors? Do we have all the elements that we need to make the scene make sense to the audience? If you take a look at this example of scriptee notes, this is a script page and they're telling you what has been shot and what coverage of what scene and who's in the scene all on this script page. A squiggly line means that the actor is talking, but you don't see their lips moving on screen. And a straight line means that you're seeing their lips move on screen. Just a quick note of what the squiggly and straight lines mean. But those lines mean that either way, whether you see the lips moving or not, that part of the scene was covered. If you were to Google a picture of a script supervisor, you will see them with either a, they're going to have a binder, they're going to have a pen, they're going to have highlighters, and they're also going to have a stopwatch. And what are they doing with the stopwatch? They are keeping time. They are keeping track of how long the scene takes. And it's not necessarily when the director calls action and cut. It's actually when the scene starts and when the scene ends. So sometimes the director might yell action, but then there might be a slight delay a few seconds before the actor actually starts moving or starts talking. We're going to jump into eye lines because the scriptee is going to be keeping track of eye lines. Now, what is an eye line? Now, the eye line I have right now is I'm speaking directly to you. Now, if my eyes shift over here, you will probably think that I'm talking to someone else. And if I'm over here, then my eyes are somewhere else and you're like, who is she talking to? She's not talking to me. Those are eye lines. And they are keeping track of where the actor's eyes, and if it makes sense where their eyes are, when you watch a scene, you can tell that the actor is supposed to be looking at the character that they're talking to. So you want to make sure those eye lines make sense. This is very, very big because there's nothing worse than getting coverage and then it doesn't make sense because the actor's eyes, their eye line is off a little bit and you're like, wait a minute. They're looking at the person they're talking to in the wide shot. So eye lines are super important and the scripty is keeping track of eye lines as well. On top of all of that, they are getting reference shots. So they're taking a picture of the monitor or they're getting a screen grab of the monitor, depending on if they're digital or not. And they're getting a reference photo of the shot that they're doing at that moment. So could be, this would be the wide, and then this is a close, and a close up. And the scripty is going to have reference photos of what coverage we got and what we sort of saw in the frame. Those reference photos are really important because I can't tell you how many times as a first AD and working with DPs and director, how many times we had to refer back to those reference photos that the scripty took. This is a really big one. The scripty is going to be asking the director after each take, whether they liked it or not, whether or not it might be their favorite take because they're going to record that in their notes. It's very important for the post-production to know that because then if there are favorite takes, they'll look at those ones first and they might fit better in the edit. So they are making sure to write down how the director feels about each take. They're also making notes on whether an actor flubbed the line, maybe the camera was out of focus. So every take, there are notes on what happened with that take. So if you're on scene three, take five, and the actor missed a line, then when it's written down in the notes, the editor can just skip right over that take because they can't use it anyways. It saves a lot of time for the post-production department. Those are all the things that they're keeping record of. But on top of keeping meticulous notes, they're also keeping track of basically everything on set. A lot of the times what can happen is the director or the director of photography might want to add in some coverage or might want to add something into the story. And this is the time that the script supervisor might step in and talk to the powers that be and say, hey, this doesn't add up or this doesn't match the character, or this might be out of the story pacing. And they might also have notes on continuity, like this, what we're about to do is going to break continuity. So they're stepping up and they're stepping in as the defender of a script saying, this kind of falls out of place. And what can happen is that the director and DP might take their advice and they might nix it. But what also can happen is that the director can choose to ignore that comment on the script protection. And a really famous scene from Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg knew exactly what he was doing, but from shot to shot, it doesn't make sense. There's a scene where the T-Rex is coming over the fence. And then the next thing you know, the car is on the edge of a cliff somehow, but the cliff never existed.

Speaker 3: In this scene where we are introduced to the T-Rex, she easily walks through the barricades indicating they're on the same level as her, yet in the same scene later on, you can quite clearly see that the enclosure is on the edge of a cliff.

Speaker 1: So the director can choose to ignore things that might be out of place for the script for the sake of the art of his vision or her vision. They've said their piece. They've tried to protect the script as it's written, but sometimes things happen and they just go forward in a different direction. When it comes to the actors, the script supervisor is going to be filling in the lines or saying the lines for the actors while they're rolling if an actor is not present. So for example, an actor might be on the phone, the script supervisor might be doing the lines of the person on the other end of that phone. And also if the actor might forget a line, they yell, line, and the script supervisor will remind them of their line and they will feed the lines to the actor if needed.

Speaker 3: Line, go, go fetch her and tell her what?

Speaker 2: Go fetch her and tell her I'll give her a fat $5 gold piece.

Speaker 3: Right, right. Go fetch her and tell her I'll give her a fat, fat, fat $5 gold piece. She play her little chili pepper heart out, right? Right.

Speaker 1: Got it. A really important element that they are in charge of is the labeling system of all the files. And the files mean the actual footage that is shot and the labeling system is very, very important because you have camera and then you have sound and they have to come together. So if they don't have the same labeling system, things get really disorganized and then you're like trying to figure out what belongs where and they make sure what goes on the slate, that sound has the same thing and the same number and same labeling system is in their notes. Three things, camera, sound, and their notes all connect and are all the same. So everyone's on the same page. It makes it super, super easier on the post-production department, on the editors. For example, a labeling system might be, okay, we're on scene three. This is the first shot. So it might be three prime, meaning just the three on the slate, then we move on to the next shot. Then it's three apple, then three beta, then Charlie, then Delta. Then we just go through letters of how many shots are in the scene. And the scriptee is the decider if we change a letter. So for example, it might be the same camera setup, but they might change a lens. So if we change sizes, that means we usually are changing the letter on the slate and for sound and on the notes. But they are the ones that decide whether or not we are moving up a letter or calling it something different. So when you think about it, the scriptee is really keeping production super organized and the editors cannot thank them enough. As a first AD, I can't tell you how many times I've referred back to the scriptee for labeling, eye lines, continuity. Good scriptees will have all the answers, bad scriptees will not be paying attention and they won't have all the answers. We're going to jump into some of the characteristics and skills of a script supervisor. And we're just going to start with detail oriented because they take meticulous notes and they have to pay attention to every small detail. So if you're not detail oriented, maybe you shouldn't be a script supervisor. They are super, super organized and without their organization, really it might be a mess for post-production. It really might be. Now, I hate saying the word multitasking, but if any position I will say yes, they multitask, it's going to be the script supervisor. Because really a lot of scriptees say that they do the job of three different people that could help them out. And the only one person does their job on set. So multitasking, their brain has to switch tasks like every half second to something that's going on in the scene, something that's going on outside behind the scenes that they have to address. Maybe wardrobe might have mistakes, camera needs this, sound doesn't know what scene label we're on. So it's a lot of things that they're doing all at once. I mean, this goes without saying, but they're taking great meticulous notes. I mean, they're like the record keeper. I hate saying secretary, but some people have called it the film set secretary and they really do much more than that. But taking great notes. I cannot stress this enough. Great notes equals a great supervisor. That's all I'm going to say. They have to pay attention fiercely. They pay attention to the fullest extent that they can. Because if they're not paying attention and the DP has a question about eyelines and they're not looking at the monitor, then oh my goodness, they look really, really bad because they have one job. Well, I mean, they really have more than one job, but you see what I'm saying is that that falls on them. Eyelines fall on the scriptee. If they don't know the answers to all the things that people might be asking them, then they really look really bad for a scriptee. So they pay attention to everything that's happening in the scene. One thing I really want to say, and I'll end the characteristics on this note, is that they have to be confident and they have to be willing to speak up. Because when there is that thing that might break continuity that the director has decided or the DP has decided, they have to step up and say something like, hey, this doesn't make sense or that doesn't match. We shouldn't be doing this. And a lot of the times that might cause a little bit of friction on set, but it needs to be said because if you're not following the script, what are we doing? We have to stay true to the script as much as possible and the scriptee is there doing that. So they can't be afraid to speak up and they have to be confident individuals. Now we just have a few odds and ends, some side notes for the script supervisor. Like I mentioned before, the script supervisor notes are going to go to the post-production department. Not only do they go there, they also go to production. They go on the production report because producers and UPMs like to know what coverage we got and the scriptee has that down. They have it in their notes. What coverage we got, what scenes were completed, and they want to know how many pages we got done for the day. Were the pages that were scheduled, were they completed? Or did we have extra time and we do more pages? So producers and production wants to know, did we complete the day successfully? Did we get what we were supposed to get? And the scriptee notes are very important to tell them that. Where do we find the scriptee on set? They are always usually at video village. They're standing next to the director, they're taking notes, they're watching the scene happen. They should always have a monitor by the way. So if you're a producer or whatever of an indie film feature, short film, whatever is happening, make sure that the scriptee has access to a monitor because they are going to catch the things that no one else catches and those little things make the movie or project you're working on just a little bit better in the end result. The subtleties are really what make the movie and the script supervisor will catch those things if they're watching the monitor. Just make sure that the scriptee has a front seat to the monitor. Like I said to the indie producers out there, make sure your scriptee has a monitor, but what I will say is make sure you have a scriptee. If you don't have a scriptee on your project, things get really, really disorganized very quickly on set and not only on set, but also in the post world. When your project starts to reach post production, you're going to be in a world of hurt if you did not have a scriptee on set. They really, really are important. They really are important. Don't skip in the indie world because I see this a lot on a lot of different productions that have crewed up and they decided that they're just going to have a brand new PA as a scriptee and they have no idea what they're doing and they just tell them, oh, just take some notes. They're not going to know what to do people. Make sure you hire a script supervisor for your film. For all you aspiring directors out there, the scriptee position is not a bad idea for you because you are going to be right next to the director throughout the duration of the project. So you are going to learn firsthand why a director is doing what they're doing. You're going to hear the decisions that they're making. You're going to be communicating with the director. A lot of scriptees I know went from scriptee to director. So it is not a bad place to start if you're trying to get your feet wet as a director. Sometimes the only way you're going to learn how to be a director is working with other directors and the scriptee is a perfect position for that. If you want to become a script supervisor, you can do that. They have workshops online that are now being done virtually and actually at a discount. So I'll leave a link below to one of the workshops I found that is actually a workshop that a lot of the scriptees that come up in the union and come up in the film world have actually taken and been successful by doing it. The script supervisor is not an easy job and if this video told you anything, it told you how important the script supervisor is to any production. Music video, commercial, movie, TV, pilot, web series, whatever it is, they are super important to have on set. They are super important to a production. So that is it on the video. Let me know if you guys have any questions, questions, comments, concerns, leave them in the comments below. Visit my website beyondfilmschool.com. I have my new PA course, happy to share it with you. That is it for now. I shall see you guys next time.