The First Private Director’s Rehearsal is my favorite rehearsal of the day
Jennifer Carriere 
I love early mornings because they’re all mine.
It’s early morning on set, but I started my day hours ago, while it was still dark.
My brain came alive while going over today’s scenes at home, coffee in hand. Before I even left, I felt ready to field any question that could arise during the day.
Having arrived an hour early to post up near set, I’m going over the first scene again while other crew members trickle in. Polite but not wishing to chat, I wear my game face and dodge non-work-related conversations. From this point on, I am in concentration mode. Later in the day, when other people are at craft services chatting about their weekends, I will be stationed beside the director, catching up on notes and anticipating what’s coming next. Don't pity me! This is what I signed up for, and I love it. Being in the zone, problem-solving - that's my thing.
Five minutes to general crew call time. I grab my sides (a mini script of today’s scenes only) and clutch them + mechanical pencil + stopwatch and stand by. I stay in the scene mentally until the 1st AD calls out, “We’re in, we’re in!” meaning the shoot day has begun.
Immediately I’m swept into a private director’s rehearsal - my favorite rehearsal of the day. It’s just the director, actors, 1st AD, director of photography, and me. We’re going to figure out how to shoot the scene. Everyone else waits outside and passes the time.
During private rehearsal, the actors and director begin to experiment with shaping the movement and storytelling of the scene. The director of photography and I watch and offer information only when we feel we need to. They rehearse over and over, trying this and that.
Film sets are usually hyper-frenetic, crawling with crew everywhere, and very rushed. But this first director’s rehearsal feels quiet and reverent, like our small group has all the time in the world. The purpose of the private director’s rehearsal is to create.
I sketch out the blocking along the right-hand side of my sides, erasing and starting over as the actors experiment. I discreetly whisper in the director’s ear or silently hold out my sides, quietly pointing out missed beats or deviations from the scripted words. The DP and I keep our director notes calm and inconspicuous so as not to distract from the creative atmosphere.
The private director’s rehearsal is a testing ground, and my sides fill up quickly with blocking diagrams, notes, revisions, and anticipated camera angles. I can mark up my sides as much as I want. I get to start with a new shooting script when we start rolling.
I compare my estimated timing from prep with that of the rehearsal timing, checking to see how close I got. I’m careful to only time precisely what is in the scene – what will be in the edit - not the actor flubs and resets, which would throw off my timing.
I’ve become adept at multitasking during rehearsal: clicking my stopwatch while reading sides, cueing actors, writing and sketching blocking, and scribbling shorthand notes from the director, all at the same time. Easy peasy.
We’ve got the scene and master camera angle figured out now. Although the director, director of photography, and I have not yet convened to discuss how to “cover the scene” (how to break up the master with coverage), we’re already about 90% on the same page. We're pros. We make a good team.
Thirty minutes have gone by. Thirty minutes without rushing. Thirty minutes without noise. Just a handful of creators making a plan to tell a story with a camera.
Now it’s time to bring in the other 100 crew members crowded outside our set, waiting to jump into action. This time, we’ll rehearse again with 100 sets of eyes and ears on the scene. Then the actors will step away for touch-ups, and the set will explode with activity as lights, stands, set pieces, cameras, dollies, dance floor, and anything else needed for the scene are flown in. Goodbye, for now, my favorite rehearsal of the day - the very first private director’s rehearsal. Now let the running and gunning begin! Want to learn to become a Script Supervisor too? Learn live with me for free! 👇
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