Filmico Pastiche

I first found out about this internship opportunity when my professor told me he was working on a feature film called Stealing Cars and was looking for interns. He said I could request any position I wanted to learn more from. A few months prior, I was on set with him and his wife where I was in charge of Art/Continuity. He told me I would be a good script supervisor, a position I didn’t know existed, so I requested to be script supervisor on his feature.

As script supervisor, my job was to be the link between the director(s) on set with the editor(s) in post-production. Luckily, both my professor and his wife were the directors and editors of Stealing Cars so my job was a little easier than normal. I had to take notes on each take that was shot so when they edit the film later, their process will move faster. I also had to make sure each scene and take were consistent; it’s very easy to get mixed up with props and wardrobe during filming. Everyone on set is so focused on their job that it can be hard to notice if someone moves their arm differently in a take or if they aren’t wearing a backpack that they should be wearing, so it was my job to notice what everyone else wouldn’t.

I prepared by buying books about script supervision and was a little nervous about doing my job correctly. After all, this was my first time doing this job and my professor and his wife were relying on me to keep track of crucial continuity aspects that might ruin their movie. However, everyone on set said I did a great job and even said they’d like to work with me again.

I’m most proud of my willingness to grow and learn because it’s impossible to keep track of every small detail. I could see my progress as time went on and there was always an immediate emotional reward for when I caught something. Each time, I felt like I saved the movie. My biggest takeaway is my understanding of the script supervisor role. A few months ago, I didn’t know it existed. Now I feel like script supervising is a viable career path for me.