Cut

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I was operating a shot a few weeks ago, where the Director was directing a child actress while we were shooting (it was MOS). We were in a hurry to finish the coverage on this scene. He was telling the actress what to do while we were rolling — “directing on film”. The shot was of her cutting and pasting a picture on top of a dollar bill, and doing other sorts of “graphic design” stuff. Here’s how the direction went:

Director to actress: “OK, pick up the magic marker and colour it in somewhat… good… hold it a little higher so we can see it… good. Now get the scissors and start working with them. A little faster. Good. And cut. Now…”

I cut the camera! Just as the mirror shutter stopped, I saw the scissors in the viewfinder, and my error dawned upon me. The director was still staring at the video monitor without the benefit of shutter flicker, and asked

“What happened?”

“Hey, you said ‘and cut!’”

Director

“Not you… the scissors.”

Very funny.

The entire crew was on the floor, and I got another razzing of it from the director over drinks that night.

Mark Doering-Powell