How To Shoot A Scene In 5 Steps
INTRODUCTION
The first time you step onto a film set it’ll likely seem like utter bedlam. Different people, hustling around, performing tasks, at a speed, seemingly at random. It may seem chaotic but there is in fact a method to this madness.
Whether you’re on a student film or on an industry film set, each production should follow a standard process which can be broken down into five easy steps: blocking, technical setup, rehearsal, final checks, and shooting. Let's go over these five steps in detail to show you how to shoot a scene.
1 - BLOCKING
Constructing a scene is a very technical process that involves input from multiple departments, and shooting multiple camera angles, or pieces of a puzzle, which can later be assembled into a scene through editing.
It’s of utmost importance that before you begin shooting, everyone on set knows how the scene will unfold and how it will be shot.
A classic beginner, student filmmaker mistake is to just start shooting a scene straight away. This can become a problem if, halfway through shooting you suddenly realise that the actor moves outside of an area of the set which doesn’t have any lighting, that a key prop that the actor needs to interact with is missing, or that an actor performs the scene very differently to how the director imagined it.
To avoid any number of these mistakes, which could mean starting over shooting the scene from scratch and losing a bunch of time, the first step is to perform what is called a ‘blocking’.
Blocking a scene involves planning the choreography, movements and positions of the actors - while also considering their relationship and proximity to the camera, props, set and other elements.
Industry sets are run and organised by a crew member called the first assistant director, or 1st AD. They will make an announcement that there will be a ‘blocking’ and say that it is ‘the director’s floor’.
This signals that all other technical crew, besides the 1st AD, director, actors, continuity supervisor, cinematographer and perhaps the camera operator are to clear the space and be quiet to allow for a creative focus.
The director will then explain the scene to the actors and tell them the positions and movement they imagine them making. The actors will then do a run through of the scene, performing their dialogue and moving through the set. During this process the director may interject with ideas for their actions, performance or position.
If the actors struggle to remember any lines the continuity supervisor will be there to cue them. During the blocking the director and DP may also communicate about the different shots and angles they want to film.
If there are specific positions that the actors need to land on during the scene, then the 2nd AC will place a tape mark - with a different colour for each actor - down on the floor for them as a reference point for where they must stand.
After the key creative crew have viewed the scene it’s time to move to step number two.
2 - TECHNICAL SETUP
The 1st AD will announce that it is now a ‘technical floor’. This is a cue for the actors to leave the space and for crew members to enter and begin setting up for the shot.
By now, the director and cinematographer should have worked out all the shots that they will need to get for the scene - either based on a shot list or storyboard they created during pre-production, or based on ideas they got from watching the blocking.
The cinematographer will then communicate the technical setups that they require to his technical lighting, grips and camera team based on the planned shots. This will include things like deciding on a position for the camera or type of camera movement and what grips equipment is needed for that. Communicating to the camera team what focal length lens, filters or type of camera build they need for the first shot.
And what lights they require for the scene and where they need to be positioned and set up.
DPs who are well prepared may have already created a lighting diagram, or briefed their lighting team on what is needed prior to them arriving at the location. The reason cinematographers will often pre-light is because the time it typically takes to set up lights will be longer than the time it takes to set up the camera or grips equipment.
However, if there is a more complex grip setup for a shot that has been predetermined, like laying a large amount of dolly track, then the grips team may be sent to prepare this prior to the blocking to save on time.
In the case that the electrical team has already ‘pre-lit’ the set before the blocking, at this stage the DP may ask for additional lamps, or repositioning of the fixtures now that they’ve seen the space that the actors will move in it.
Once a camera is placed in position DPs will be able to adjust settings like exposure and white balance. They may also ask for a ‘stand in’ - someone who will position themselves on the actors mark so that they can adjust their lighting or camera positioning to them.
This stand in will often be a crew member, although for high budget, long form jobs they may even hire a person as a ‘stand in’ specifically for each main actor - who has a similar body size and skin tone - so that the exposure and camera height will be matched when the actors come to shoot the scene.
Other departments, like art - who dress and design the look of the set, wardrobe and make up will now also perform their technical tasks. Depending on scheduling and prep time, they may have already done the bulk of their setups and will use this time to refine things based on the blocking.
Once the camera has been positioned for the first shot, lighting is set up and the actors and set have been dressed, it’s now time to move onto the next step.
3 - REHEARSAL
With tech setup out the way, the 1st AD will call the actors to set, who will now all be in wardrobe and make up. It’s time to run a full technical rehearsal which is where actors will fully play out the scene, and the camera operator will practice following the action of the actors.
Rehearsal also gives a chance for other departments to prepare for the first take. For example, focus pullers will be able to find distances for the various marks that the actors will hit during filming.
If any complex actions are involved, such as running, it also gives both the technical operators of the camera and the actors a chance to find a speed which works - syncing the timing of the performance with the speed of the camera movement.
The rehearsal is also a legacy from the days of shooting on film stock, before high quality monitors for focus pullers - when they had to pull focus by using marks, their eyes and distance perception.
Rehearsing and making sure all aspects of the take would be correct before actually starting to film, helped to minimise the use of the precious and expensive 35mm film as they would get a take the director was happy with in fewer attempts.
Now although this step is pretty vital, if I’m completely honest, it is a step which in my experience is gradually phasing out of productions - which these days almost always use digital cinema cameras and no expensive film stock.
In order to maximise the amounts of takes in the edit and potentially save time if technicians get a lucky first take where everything lines up, many modern 1st ADs will push to immediately shoot straight after the technical setup - which is called ‘shooting the rehearsal’.
4 - FINAL CHECKS
Now everyone should almost be ready to shoot. This is the time to do any final touches which were noticed during the rehearsal, and could include things like slightly altering the mark of an actor, moving dressing around in the back of the shot, slightly dimming up or down on a light, or adjusting how the camera will be operated during the take.
At this stage the 1st AD will call for ‘final checks’. This term applies to make-up and wardrobe and gives them a chance to make any minor adjustments to the appearance of those in front of the camera before shooting.
In most cases these adjustments will be small tweaks, like neatening up the wardrobe, or setting the hair in its perfect position. However, for certain specialist shots, which involve more extensive make-up, such as fake blood, this will now be applied.
5 - SHOOTING
With final checks done it’s now time to shoot. To start this process the 1st AD will announce, ‘board in, roll sound’. This is the cue for the 2nd AC to put their clapperboard into frame and for the recordist to roll audio.
Audio is rolled first as, again, in a throwback to the old days of film, audio tape was cheap, but 35mm film was much more expensive and you’d therefore wait until the last second to roll the camera to avoid wasting money.
With the board positioned in the centre of the frame and the sound rolling, the 1st AD will call ‘roll camera’. The focus puller will press the red button and announce ‘speed’, the 2nd AC will then announce the shot numbers on the board and once ‘mark’ is called will give it a clap.
The final thing left to do is to call ‘action’. Depending on the director, they may call this themselves or prefer to let the 1st AD call it. On this cue the actors will play out the scene until the end when ‘cut’ is called and you’ll have your first take in the bag.
At this point either the director will be fully satisfied and ready to move onto the next shot, or, more than likely, would have found an adjustment they’d like to make and would like to shoot another take.
Here they will provide notes as to what they want changed on the next take. This could either be a performance note for the actors, a technical note for the crew, or notes to both.
Between each take, the final two steps in the process will be repeated. So, after each take the director will give notes, the 1st AD will call for ‘final checks’ and then they will shoot another take.
Once the director is satisfied with the take, the crew can start setting up for the next shot, setup or camera angle. Before everyone begins to move though, the old school AD phrase at this time is ‘check the gate’ - another relic from the days of film where after each successful shot the focus puller would check the film’s gate to ensure it was free of dust, dirt, hair or any artefacts which would make the footage unusable. If everything is clean the response from the 1st AC is ‘good gate’.
Although these days, unless you’re actually shooting on film, this phrase is only used metaphorically or met with a confused look by younger crew.
If it’s a very quick, simple setup change which should take a couple of minutes, like keeping the camera in the same position but changing to a longer focal length lens, or changing to a different angle with a handheld camera - then the actors will likely wait on set.
However, if the crew needs time to reposition gear, then the 1st AD will tell actors to ‘stand down’ - a nice way of getting them out the way and giving space for the grips to reposition heavy pieces of gear.
Between each new shot a condensed version of steps two to five will be repeated. So, a mini tech setup where the angle, lens or camera movement is changed, the 2nd AC ‘slates up’ their board, the 1st AC checks their new focus marks and the DP tweaks their lighting based on the new frame. This is followed by final checks and shooting.
Once the director has a good take of all the angles that are required to cut the scene together, the 1st AD will announce ‘scene complete’ and give instructions about the next scene or location move.