“Light bulb? No one told me there was a light bulb in this scene!”
This AD light bulb joke, which happens to be my personal favorite film set light bulb joke, tells a lot about the position of AD on a set. The AD is always on his toes, knowing that just around the corner, disaster waits.
The AD is in charge of the AD department, which has responsibility for everything from blocking and scheduling background, to scheduling actors, to overseeing company moves, to getting call sheets out, determining call times, and coordinating with the transportation department. On a low budget film, they may be the de-facto transportation department, determining which PAs pick up actors and crew.
The AD’s responsibility can be summed up as follows: create the schedule, and make sure you keep to the schedule. Basically, the AD makes sure everything runs right.
Before I get too far into what an AD is, I’d like to clear up a misconception. The greatest misconception is that the AD is a drill sergeant, and that he makes the schedule by intimidating, scaring, and yelling at people. I once heard the AD position described as “a gaffer with an attitude.” This notion obviously came out of bad ADs who problems with people skills, because it hardly describes the good ADs that I know.
An AD needs the respect of his crew, and respect must be earned. It is earned by the AD showing that he has a firm grasp of what needs to be done, he is prepared each and day for whatever comes up. Most crews want the AD to succeed, because if he does, their day becomes easier.
ADs who are “screamers” are much like bad substitute teachers: they have let a situation get out of hand, and now they are overreacted. Much like the class that gets used to the screaming, crews begin to ignore screamers.
For the record, I keep using the term “he” to avoid the annoying “he/she.” I know as many good female ADs as male ADs.
That being said, an AD needs to be clear and firm. Gathering information is the key to being a good AD. Know what everyone is doing. Talk often to your department heads. Learn which department heads always give you time estimates that are off, and by how much. Look for potential problems when you scout the location. Ask questions. Ask more questions. Keep asking questions until there are no answers you don’t have.
