Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1097515
DGA QUARTERLY 19 The key to any challenge is to be as prepared as you can [be] but flexible when things start to go wrong," says key 2nd AD Michelle Gritzer. She could just as easily be advising her troupe of female wrestlers on the Netflix series GLOW. Gritzer works closely with the stunt and wrestling coordinators to ensure safety precautions are met for every wrestling match in the script. "We work togeth- er to get the actresses to the training sessions," says Gritzer. "If we can get three or four sessions in before a match, that's ideal!" On the shooting day, it's all about communication. "We want the cast to feel like it is an open and honest environment," says Gritzer. "If somebody needs a break, they take a break. There's no rushing anybody." "GLOW is a very female-forward show. All of the ADs in Season 2 and 3 are women," says Gritzer, who got the chance to 1st AD after two seasons with the show. "It's not just the traditional positions that are often taken by women on the show, and I think that really makes it a nice environment to work in." —BRANDON KYLE GOCO Whenever you have a big VFX sequence in tentpole movies, very often the script is not representative of what the director actually wants to shoot," says 1st AD Michael J. Moore, who has worked on big-budget films like A Wrinkle in Time and Iron Man 2. "You may have a big action scene that's very simply writ- ten," he says, but often requires poring over storyboards and previs to plan out filming logistics during prep. "It's my re- sponsibility to make sure that all elements are scheduled and shot." One such sequence in A Wrinkle in Time—where a boy fights against the evil entity that has possessed him—was filmed over 10 days. "I have this system where I post the sto- ryboards or previs on big boards on set," says Moore, "divided into days with each shot in order for the whole of that se- quence so that people know these are the shots we're going to have to do [on these days]." "If a technocrane is needed for shot 6," explains Moore, crewmembers can "just go onto our board and look for shot 6 on Wednesday [and know they'll] need a technocrane that day. It's a better way of scheduling." —BECCA NADLER Ironing Out Wrinkles Michael J. Moore | 1st AD Let's Get Physical Michelle Gritzer | 2nd AD/1st AD