First Guest: Dan Whalen.

We were lucky enough to have Dan Whalen stop by and give us a talk about "Script Breakdown". Dan is often a Location scout; he looks for locations where the film crew can film, locations that best fit the scene. He also does other things on the side, like being a Assistant Director for a recent TV show.

Whalen was kind enough to share with us how to break down a script and form a healthy shooting schedule. The different kinds of scripts released to the crew and cast. I didn't know they had color code: White for final draft, Blue: revised, Pink: re-revised etc etc...it gets sort of confusing but I'm sure the more and more a person is exposed to it the easier it is to learn it.

Then there is breaking down the script's scenes into 8ths, so the AD (assistant director) can have a better idea on what or how long the shooting days will be on the schedule.

The Shooting Schedule is for of like the index of everything thats going to be done in the time of the whole making of the film. The crew call: when everyone needs to be on set, the scene, the location The actors that are in the scene the props and what kind of Effects they will be doing. Among other things.
It isn't in depth, its just to give the crew and idea/reminder on how its going to go on that day of shooting.

I also got to learn the difference between a prop and a set design. A simple way to think about it is: Everything is a set design until the character/actor touches it, this includes if a character is wearing a watch, it's part of a wardrobe until the character touches it.

I'm learning that a ton of layers of rules goes into filming, It's sort of like how much work goes into the human body. The pumping of a heart, every cell working to keep the body from getting sick, muscles, lungs, bones and the stomach working on your meal.  All so a person can have a normal day.
Same goes to film making, each person has a part. The Assistant Director works for the Director but someone also works for the Assistant Director, a second AD and a second second AD.
Each working harder than the last.

Knowing now how much work goes into making movie or show, I think twice when I see a bad movie. I think so many came together to make this, and I bet it wasn't easy, but just like all the hard work that goes into a human body, just because the body does a great job keeping the body alive, it doesn't automatically mean it's going to be a good person.