The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule , arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets , checking cast and crew , and maintaining order on the set . They also have to take care of the health and safety of the crew . The role of an assistant to the film director is often confused with assistant director, but the responsibilities are entirely different. The assistant to the film director manages all of the directors in development, pre-production, while on set, through post-production, and is often involved in both personnel management as well as creative aspects of the production process.
34-494: James McTeigue (born 29 December 1967) is an Australian film and television director. He has been an assistant director on many films, including Dark City (1998), the Matrix trilogy (1999–2003) and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and made his directorial debut with the 2005 film V for Vendetta to critical acclaim. Since Vendetta he has collaborated with
68-483: A theatre production management or producer role than to directing, with contemporary exceptions such as James McTeigue . Often, the role of assistant director is broken down into the following sub-roles: The sub-roles of assistant directors differ among nations. For example, the distinction between second second AD and third AD is more common in North America. British and Australian productions, rather than having
102-440: A weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 34% based on 20 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". While critics generally panned the film as a melange of gore scenes without a convincing plot, some critics commended the film's numerous action scenes. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A+ to F. Mick LaSalle of
136-584: A city skyscraper in Berlin. There, Lord Ozunu orders him to execute a kunoichi traitor. Remembering Kiriko's death, Raizo slashes Lord Ozunu's face with his kyoketsu-shoge and fights against his fellow ninjas. Barely surviving, he falls off the rooftop and into a river. After years, Raizo recovers and trains on his own to intervene in, and foil, all of Ozunu's assassination attempts. Meanwhile, Europol agent Mika Coretti has been investigating money-linked political murders and finds out that they are possibly connected to
170-510: A second second AD, will hire a "second" 2AD experienced in the same duties, and trained to the same level, to allow a division of the duties. 3ADs in Britain and Australia have different duties from a second second AD, and the terms are not synonymous. One of the first AD's most important responsibilities is to "call the roll" — that is, call out a series of specific cues for each take to ensure that all cast and crew on set are aware of exactly what
204-457: A tracking device for emergencies. The Ozunu ninjas infiltrate the Europol safe house, where Raizo is being held, in an attempt to kill him and everybody inside. Mika frees Raizo and they both manage to escape, but Raizo suffers near-fatal wounds. Mika then takes him to a motel to hide. Resting in the motel, Mika implants the tracking device into Raizo, as the ninjas remain in pursuit. Unable to fend off
238-406: A wall to escape and encourages Raizo to join her, but he chooses to stay. Branded as a traitor, Kiriko is captured and later executed in front of Raizo by their elder ninja brother Takeshi, who impales her through the heart. Years later, an adult Raizo is instructed by Lord Ozunu to complete his first assassination to kill a group of gangsters. After the mission, Raizo meets the rest of his clan atop
272-504: Is a 2009 martial arts film directed by James McTeigue from a story and script by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski . The film stars Rain as a disillusioned assassin looking for retribution against his former mentor, played by Sho Kosugi . Ninja Assassin explores political corruption, child endangerment and the impact of violence. The film was produced by The Wachowskis , Joel Silver and Grant Hill under Legendary Pictures , Dark Castle Entertainment and Silver Pictures . It
306-508: Is awash in blood. It spurts and sprays in geysers. And it never lets up. There's a brutal (and admittedly very cool) fight scene every five minutes... But let's be honest, killing is this film's business... and business is good." Ninja Assassin opened at #6 at the North American box office earning $ 13,316,158 in its first opening weekend. The film grossed $ 61,601,280, of which $ 38,122,883 was from North America. In Japan, this film opened on
340-503: Is going on so they can perform their particular role at the appropriate moment. Over the years, special procedures have been developed for this task to achieve maximum efficiency during shooting, which are usually some variant of the following: The above roll sequence can be varied by, for example, eliminating the sound calls and the clapping of the slate if the shot is mute or "MOS" ("MOS" is an abbreviation of unknown origin for shooting without sound). At other times, for expediency (e.g. if
374-527: The San Francisco Chronicle described the film as "a gorefest, a borefest and a snorefest." Joe Williams of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch opined that "this amateurish action flick is so lacking in personality or punch, it ought to be titled 'V for Video Store Discount Bin.'" Entertainment Weekly ' s Chris Nashawaty wrote "...this slick slice of martial-arts mayhem from the producers of The Matrix
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#1733085902369408-546: The 1980s, you know that Sho Kosugi is the ninja; he is the man," asserts McTeigue. Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg provided filmmakers US$ 1 million in funding, and Germany's Federal Film Fund provided an additional US$ 9 million to the film's funding. Principal photography began in Berlin, Germany at the end of April 2008. Filming took place in Babelsberg Studios and on location throughout Berlin. McTeigue cited various influences in filming Ninja Assassin such as
442-458: The Ozunu, she hides outside the motel until Special Forces arrive to help her. By the time they arrive, the ninja have already kidnapped Raizo, bringing him before Lord Ozunu for execution. During the transport back to the Ozunu, Raizo uses his ninja techniques to heal his own wounds. Europol Special Forces and tactical teams led by Maslow storm the secluded Ozunu retreat (nestled in the mountains) using
476-424: The Ozunu. She defies her superior, Ryan Maslow, and retrieves secret agency files to find out more about the investigation. Mika meets Raizo and convinces him to see Maslow for protection, as well as to provide evidence against the Ozunu. However, Raizo is arrested by Maslow and abducted by Europol agents for interrogation. Although feeling betrayed, Mika is assured by Maslow that he is still on her side and gives her
510-540: The Wachowskis an additional four times as director on The Invasion (albeit uncredited), Ninja Assassin and Sense8 , and as producer of The Matrix Resurrections . He first became involved in the film industry in the late 1980s, acting as production runner or production assistant in a number of small Australian films. In 1991, his role became assistant director , being the third assistant director in another Australian film, The Girl Who Came Late . In 1994, he
544-413: The Wachowskis' initial dissatisfaction. Martial Artist turned actor Sho Kosugi had previously starred in a number of ninja movies playing ninja villains and heroes several times in the 1980s, and had become a cult icon, hence his role as the antagonist Lord Ozunu, named after En no Ozunu , a 7th-century Japanese mystic and one of the developers of ninjutsu . "If you've ever watched any ninja films from
578-523: The Wachowskis. After spending so much time on The Matrix film series, they gave the opportunity to McTeigue to direct, first showing him a copy of the Vendetta graphic novel during post-production of The Matrix Revolutions . Warner Bros. expressed dissatisfaction with the way Oliver Hirschbiegel 's The Invasion shaped up and brought in McTeigue for an additional 17 days of filming based on rewrites by
612-508: The Wachowskis. The film was released in 2007, with the involvement of McTeigue and the Wachowskis being uncredited. In 2008, he did second unit directing work on the Wachowskis' Speed Racer . McTeigue directed Ninja Assassin , produced by the Wachowskis, which was released in 2009. The same year he was said to be directing a reboot of the Superman film series, a rumour that he neither confirmed nor denied, but Warner Bros. ultimately gave
646-623: The action, the director will still call "cut", but the first AD (and possibly others) will immediately call "end board!" or so that the camera and sound recorder are not turned off before the clapper is clapped. Also, as a visual cue to the editors, the clapper-board will be shown inverted on camera. According to a 2019 study of the top grossing American films, the percentages of women in each job were 9% of first assistant directors, 33.6% of second assistant directors, and 31.9% of second second assistant directors. Ninja Assassin Ninja Assassin
680-454: The big budget film Street Fighter . In 1996, McTeigue again acted as second assistant director on an American television film and a small Australian film being completed that year. In 1997, he was the second assistant director for the WWII film Paradise Road as well as The Well , that year he also worked as first assistant director for the television series Big Sky . The following year he
714-481: The film for the iPhone devices. The film was released in the United States on November 25, 2009. The film was not well received by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes 26% of 117 critics gave the film positive reviews, with an average rating of 4.40/10. The site's consensus reads "Overly serious and incomprehensibly edited, Ninja Assassin fails to live up to the promise of its title." On Metacritic , which assigns
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#1733085902369748-509: The films Panic in the Streets (1950), The Getaway (1972), Badlands (1973), Ninja Scroll (1993), and the anime Samurai Champloo (2004–2005). Actor Collin Chou was originally cast for an undisclosed lead role after Jet Li turned down an offer to appear in it, but Chou later left the role. On November 5, 2009, Warner Bros. Entertainment released the video game application based on
782-413: The first time to distract and kill Lord Ozunu. Mika, seemingly fatally wounded, is in fact saved by a quirk of birth: her heart is actually on the right side of her chest . With the Ozunu defeated, Europol leaves. Raizo stays behind in the ruins of the Ozunu retreat. Climbing the same wall Kiriko did in the past, he looks out at the surrounding countryside and breathes with a smile, feeling his freedom for
816-458: The first time. Ninja Assassin was directed by James McTeigue , who had previously worked with producers The Wachowskis and Joel Silver on V for Vendetta four years prior. The Wachowskis were inspired to make the film by actor Rain's impressive ninja-based fight scenes in their 2008 film Speed Racer . The initial screenplay was written by Matthew Sand, and was rewritten by J. Michael Straczynski only six weeks prior to filming due to
850-643: The job of rebooting Superman to Zack Snyder . In 2012, he directed the thriller The Raven , a fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet and author pursues a serial killer, whose murders mirror those in Poe's stories. He partnered again with the Wachowskis to direct the Mexico City, Mumbai and parts of the Reykjavik units on their Netflix science fiction drama Sense8 , which debuted in 2015. McTeigue also directed two episodes. Over
884-399: The shot begins with a closeup of a closed door which then opens), the slate may be shown at the end of the take rather than the beginning. In this case, once the sound is rolling, there is an audible announcement of "End board" (also "end slate", "tails", "tail slate", or "tail sticks") so that the editing department knows to look for the sync marks at the end of the action. At the conclusion of
918-410: The tracking device on Raizo. Turning the night into day by saturating the sky above with powerful flares, the military forces are able to fight the ninjas on their own terms. In the confusion, Mika frees Raizo from his bindings. He proceeds to kill Takeshi and confront Lord Ozunu in a sword duel. Mika interferes to help but gets stabbed by Lord Ozunu. Enraged, Raizo uses a "shadow blending" technique for
952-425: The vicinity of their target. Raizo is one of the orphans. The Ozunu Clan's training is extremely brutal, especially for Raizo since he is to be the next successor of the clan. The only kindness he ever feels is from a young kunoichi named Kiriko, with whom he eventually develops a romantic bond. As time goes by, Kiriko becomes disenchanted with the Ozunu's routine and decides to abandon it. One rainy night, Kiriko climbs
986-485: The years, McTeigue has been linked as director of the films Osiris Release , Richard K. Morgan 's Altered Carbon , Message from The King , Bloodsport and Alien Sleeper Cell , but as of May 2016, none of them have moved forward. In 2021, McTeigue continued his ongoing creative collaboration with Lana Wachowski as one of the producers of The Matrix Resurrections . Film Short film TV series Assistant director Historically, assistant directing
1020-437: Was a stepping stone to directing work: Alfred Hitchcock was an assistant, as well as Akira Kurosawa . This was when the role was more general and encompassed all aspects of filmmaking such as set design and script editing. This transition into film directing is no longer common in feature films, as the role has evolved into a more logistical and managerial position. It is more common now for an assistant director to transition to
1054-446: Was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures . Ninja Assassin premiered in theaters across the United States on November 25, 2009, and received mixed to negative reviews from critics. The Ozunu Clan, led by the ruthless Lord Ozunu, trains orphans from around the world to become the ultimate ninja assassins to offer assassin service to rich clients. The clan charges 100 pound worth of gold for their services and always kill any witnesses in
James McTeigue - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-601: Was released in 1999 and became a huge success. The following year he acted as first assistant director on the popular Australian film Looking for Alibrandi , as well as The Monkey's Mask . In 2000, McTeigue worked with George Lucas and became the first assistant director for Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones , which was released in 2002. Following this, he was also the first assistant director for both Matrix sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions . In 2005, McTeigue made his directorial debut with V for Vendetta , written and produced by
1122-509: Was the second assistant director for the American science-fiction film Dark City as well as the Australian film The Sugar Factory . In 1999, McTeigue was intended to act as second assistant director for The Matrix film until the first assistant director, a friend of McTeigue who told him about the project, had to drop out and The Wachowskis made McTeigue first assistant director. The film
1156-453: Was the second assistant director in Country Life , a film adaptation based on Michael Blakemore's National Theatre production of Uncle Vanya , which had a much wider audience than his previous affairs. He also acted again as second assistant director in a small Australian television film. McTeigue broke into mainstream Hollywood in 1994 as the second assistant director for No Escape and
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