Becoming a 2nd unit director

R

rc444

Well-known member
The 2nd unit director is a bit of a mystery to me. My understanding is he directs action sequences, cutaways or stuff that the director is too busy to shoot on the day. Is this right?

This is a loaded question, but what's the best pathway to becoming a 2nd unit director?

What do 2nd unit directors generally start out as?

Thanks,
rc444
 
The 2nd unit director is often, but not always, the 1st AD from the main unit. They cover various shots such as beauty shots, aerial, underwater etc. On low budget films the 2nd Unit is usually just a 1st AD and an AC because of the hecktic shooting schedule. In higher budget productions it can be a crew of over 100 people.
 
More often the 2nd Unit director is also a/the stunt coordinator. He may be a stunt coordinator that has been hired just to 2nd Unit direct and then there is an additional stunt coordinator, or the coordinator may do double duty.

Often on bigger films or ones with more action they will use a seperate coordinator to direct 2nd Unit. This now allows them to safely have stunts on both units (read they're also covered with insurance).

I recently did double duty, because we didn't need action on both units at the same time.
 
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