For those of you outside the world of Hollywood jargon, the Second Unit is the small group of technicians and artists who go off to shoot the stuff that doesn't involve the big expensive celebrities. It's usually the 'filler' stuff -- cars zooming through a chase scene, establishing shots of buildings, the stuff that goes around the film's characters to fill out their world.
The Second Unit Director is the guy (or gal) responsible for shooting that stuff. How do they get there? Is it an avenue towards a directing career?
I've been approaching this move to Hollywood with the idea that I've got to start at the bottom to learn the industry and find my place there. My focus has been production companies thus far, but I've also explored various training programs (including, particularly, the Directors Guild's "Producer's Training Plan", which trains Assistant Directors). But who gets to be a Second Unit Director? Who even thinks to consider that career path? (I'm sure plenty of people do, but it's certainly not as common). Now I've got to do some research...
-Arnon
Well, this kind of settles it:
ReplyDeleteAn industry insider (and a friend/mentor of mine) had this to say about 2nd unit jobs: "2nd unit directors are usually ex-stunt coordinators or friends of the director. Mostly they’re for large-scale action films which are handled by guys with years of stunt experience or someone who the director/producer knows (an editor or cinematographer who they know who wants to direct). It is not a career path and does not exist in independent film, either. And the chances of being the second unit director on something like “Avatar” are pretty slim, so I wouldn’t put much energy into it."