What is a second-unit director, cinematographer etc?

Question

That's credited in films, so what's "second-unit"?

Answer 1

In film, the second unit is a separate team that shoots footage which is of lesser importance for the final motion picture, as opposed to the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving actors, or at least the stars of the film. Second unit footage typically includes shots like scenery, close-ups of objects and other inserts or cutaways. This has the advantage that the First Unit director and the lead actors, which are expensive, do not have to be present and can shoot at the same time, or, in the case of actors, leave the production earlier. Sometimes, the second unit also films close-ups of body parts. In this case, a stand-in takes the place of the normal actor. This, in turn, is often a problem for continuity. Very large productions may have more than one additional team - in this case, they are all called second units (sometimes "additional second units"), never third or fourth unit.

The second unit has its own director and cinematographer. Second unit director is a position for aspiring first unit directors, of course, and is considered above the post of assistant director. An example is Barry Sonnenfeld, who was second unit director (and first unit cinematographer) of Misery in 1990 and went on to direct Addams Family in 1991. Another job often combined with second unit director is stunt coordinator, since stunts are also often shot by the second unit.

Second unit should be considered distinct from a multicamera setup (A-Camera, B-Camera, C-Camera, etc), where two or more cameras are shooting footage from the same scene simultaneously.

Answer 2

The second unit is a group that takes footage to be used in a film. The director of the film is busy with the main unit, so the second-unit director goes and gets shots that are needed for the movie, taking along a cinematographer and other crew members. These shots usually don't feature the "stars" of the film. They're usually long, background shots, or overhead shots taken from a helicopter or plane, etc. A famous circumstance occurred in "Out of Africa" which won the Oscar for best cinematography. Every time the nomination was mentioned, footage of the plane in the film (the one Meryl Streep and Robert Redford were supposedly flying in) flying over a lake and causing a large flock of birds to take flight was shown. This shot, which may have caused the voters to choose the film for best cinematography was taken by the second unit! To his credit, the winning cinematographer mentioned the second unit director and cinematographer in his acceptance speech (but they still didn't get any awards!)

Answer 3

Second Unit Director

Answer 4

There are scenes that may not require the star to be in it, so the second unit takes care of that. It saves time and money in the long run.

Here's an example from Pirates.

The first unit shoots the scene with Jonathan Pryce at the pier, trying to get his daughter to safety.

Since Kiera is not in the scene, the second unit shoots the scene with her and Alex Norton (Captain Bellamy) in his office.

The cinematographer is the person responsible for the framing of the shot and the way it should be lit (they do more than just shoot the film)

Answer 5

second unit films lesser but important stuff like. Close ups, shots of hands and feet, Scenery, long shots. Things other than main scenes. I worked second unit once and spent days shooting a boot flying through the air. This was a secondary scene to a guy getting killed and we say hem get sliced in the main shot and then his boot went flying in the second unit, together they made a comprehensible scene.

Answer 6

"The Second Unit Director is the leader of the second unit, which is the smaller of the two units used on almost every modern large-scale film production. This director is often responsible for minor shots, such as establishing shots..."

Answer 7

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Answer 8

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