Second unit
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Second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit.[1] The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming stage of production to be completed faster.
Function
The functions of the second unit vary, but typically the first unit films the key face-to-face drama between the principal actors. Two frequent ways a second unit is used are:
- Action sequences: Action sequences are often filmed in discrete locations, using stunt performers, rather than the principal cast, and requiring significantly different filming arrangements than for ordinary scenes. Therefore, they are an opportunity for second unit shooting.
- "Pick-ups": After the main unit has finished on a set or location, there may be shots that require some or all of this setting as background but that do not require the principal actors. These shots may include things such as close-ups, inserts, cutaways, and establishing shots.
In both of these scenarios, the purpose of the second unit is to make the most efficient use of some of the resources that are expensive or scarce in film production: actors' and directors' shooting time, sound stage usage and the cost of sets that may have been built on stages.
The work of second units should not be confused with multiple-camera setups, where several cameras film the same scene simultaneously. Large productions may have multiple second units. Although filmmakers may refer to having "three or four units working", each unit would be called an "additional second unit"; usually none would be described as the third or fourth unit.
Directors
The second unit has its own
Because second units often film scenes with
Some directors, such as Christopher Nolan[5] and Quentin Tarantino,[6] do not use second units in their films.
References
- ^ "Second Unit Director". Get In Media.
- ^ "A Dark Night in Gotham City". Starlog issue 142. May 1989. pp. 37–40.
- ^ "Conrad E. Palmisano | Action Director, Stunt Coordinator, Second Unit Director". www.actiondirectorconrad.com.
- ^ Kench, Sam (1 January 2023). "What is a Second Unit Director & What Does a Second Unit Do?". Studio Binder.
- ^ Halbfinger, David M. (9 March 2008). "The Dark Knight - Movies". The New York Times.
- ^ Hemphill, Jim (18 March 2020). ""We Kept the Third Act in a Safe": Tarantino's Assistant Director William Paul Clarke on Kill Bill, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Improvisational Logistics". Filmmaker Magazine.