Second unit
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Second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit.[1] The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming stage of production to be completed faster.
Function
[edit]The functions of the second unit vary, but typically the first unit films the key face-to-face drama between the principal actors. Two frequent ways a second unit is used are:
- Action sequences: Action sequences are often filmed in discrete locations, using stunt performers, rather than the principal cast, and requiring significantly different filming arrangements than for ordinary scenes. Therefore, they are an opportunity for second unit shooting.
- "Pick-ups": After the main unit has finished on a set or location, there may be shots that require some or all of this setting as background but that do not require the principal actors. These shots may include things such as close-ups, inserts, cutaways, and establishing shots.
In both of these scenarios, the purpose of the second unit is to make the most efficient use of some of the resources that are expensive or scarce in film production: actors' and directors' shooting time, sound stage usage and the cost of sets that may have been built on stages.
The work of second units should not be confused with multiple-camera setups, where several cameras film the same scene simultaneously. Large productions may have multiple second units. Although filmmakers may refer to having "three or four units working", each unit would be called an "additional second unit"; usually none would be described as the third or fourth unit.
Directors
[edit]The second unit has its own director and cinematographer. A key skill for a second unit director is to be able to follow the style being set by the film's primary director. Peter MacDonald, who was second unit director on Batman for Tim Burton, Batman and Robin for Joel Schumacher, Jack the Giant Slayer for Bryan Singer, Radio Flyer for Richard Donner, X-Men Origins: Wolverine for Gavin Hood, Excalibur for John Boorman, Rambo: First Blood Part II for George P. Cosmatos, Cry Freedom for Richard Attenborough, The Quest for Jean-Claude Van Damme, Guardians of the Galaxy for James Gunn, and Labyrinth for Jim Henson, has said, "The most important thing about any second unit is that you can't tell the difference between the second unit and the first unit. It must have the stamp of the first unit, both in photography and the style of direction. ... You try to copy what the first unit does as much as possible. You mustn't be on an ego trip and try to do your own style, because your material has to cut into theirs and it mustn't jar, it must fit in exactly so no-one can tell the difference."[2] Brett Ratner, commenting about Conrad E. Palmisano, who directed second unit for him on Rush Hour 2, Rush Hour 3, After the Sunset, and X-Men: The Last Stand, The Other Guys for Adam McKay, No Strings Attached and Six Days, Seven Nights for Ivan Reitman, Batman Forever for Joel Schumacher, Assassins & Conspiracy Theory for Richard Donner, She's Having a Baby for John Hughes, Robocop 2 for Irvin Kershner, Robocop 3 for Fred Dekker, Into the Blue for John Stockwell, Disturbia for DJ Caruso, Rambo: First Blood, Weekend at Bernie's and Weekend at Bernie's II for Ted Kotcheff, Marked for Death for Dwight H. Little, and Under Siege for Andrew Davis said, "He has the understanding of what it takes to create a great action sequence and never deviate from the story or the tone of the film."[3]
Because second units often film scenes with stunts and special effects in action movies, the jobs of stunt coordinator and visual effects supervisor often get combined with that of the second unit director. Unlike an assistant director, who is second-in-command to the main director, a second unit director operates independently, and thus can be a stepping stone for aspiring directors to gain experience, such as David R. Ellis, Chad Stahelski, and David Leitch.[4] Other times, directors may return to predominantly working as second unit directors for the reminder of their career.
Examples of second unit directors include:
- Vic Armstrong, who directed second unit on Gangs of New York for Martin Scorsese, War of the Worlds for Steven Spielberg, The Amazing Spider-Man for Marc Webb, Mission Impossible III for J. J. Abrams, Tomorrow Never Dies for Roger Spottiswoode, The World Is Not Enough for Michael Apted, Die Another Day for Lee Tamahori, Thor, Henry V & Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit for Kenneth Branagh, The Green Hornet for Michel Gondry, The Golden Compass for Chris Weitz, Charlie's Angels for McG, The Phantom for Simon Wincer, I Am Legend for Francis Lawrence, Last Action Hero for John McTiernan, Starship Troopers & Total Recall for Paul Verhoeven, Universal Soldier for Roland Emmerich, Lift for F. Gary Gray, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for Rob Cohen, Eddie the Eagle for Dexter Fletcher, and Miracle for Gavin O'Connor.
- Dan Bradley, who did Spider-Man 2 & Spider-Man 3 for Sam Raimi, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, & Green Zone for Paul Greengrass, The Bourne Legacy for Tony Gilroy, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol for Brad Bird, Three Kings for David O. Russell, The Dukes of Hazzard for Jay Chandrasekhar, Superman Returns for Bryan Singer, Bright for David Ayer, Wonder Woman 1984 for Patty Jenkins, XXX: Return of Xander Cage for D.J. Caruso, Hollywood Vice Squad & Dudes for Penelope Spheeris, Lions for Lambs for Robert Redford, Jurassic World: Dominion for Colin Trevorrow, Adaptation for Spike Jonze, Monkeybone for Henry Selick, The Expendables 3 for Patrick Hughes, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for Steven Spielberg, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny for James Mangold.
- Brian Smrz, who did Mission Impossible 2, Paycheck, & Windtalkers for John Woo, Fantastic Four & Taxi for Tim Story, Iron Man 3 & The Predator for Shane Black, Night at the Museum & The Adam Project for Shawn Levy, Ghostbusters: Afterlife for Jason Reitman, Shazam! Fury of the Gods for David F. Sandberg, The Hangover Part II for Todd Phillips, Venom: Let There Be Carnage for Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes for Matt Reeves, Expend4bles for Scott Waugh, Eagle Eye for DJ Caruso, Live Free Or Die Hard for Len Wiseman, Superman Returns & X2 for Bryan Singer, Minority Report for Steven Spielberg, and Knight and Day for James Mangold.
- Mike Gunther, who did Kung Pow! Enter the Fist for Steve Oedekerk, Bumbleebee for Travis Knight, Star Trek Beyond for Justin Lin, The Purge: Anarchy for James DeMonaco, The Forever Purge for Everardo Valerio Gout, Sabotage for David Ayer, Fighting for Dito Montiel, Me Time for John Hamburg, Transformers: Age of Extinction & Ambulance for Michael Bay, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F for Mark Molloy, Twisters for Lee Isaac Chung, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire for Gil Kenan.
- Mic Rodgers, who did The Fast and the Furious & The Boy Next Door for Rob Cohen, The Last Castle & Straw Dogs for Rod Lurie, Braveheart, Apocalypto, & Hacksaw Ridge for Mel Gibson, Payback for Brian Helgeland, Point Break for Ericson Core, Wanted & Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for Timur Bekmambetov, Lethal Weapon 4 and Scrooged for Richard Donner, Fast & Furious for Justin Lin, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle for McG, and Nothing to Lose for Steve Oedekerk.
- Rick Avery, who did Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy & Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie for Adam McKay, Scream 3 & Cursed for Wes Craven, Clockstoppers for Jonathan Frakes, Identity for James Mangold, Hands of Stone for Jonathan Jakubowicz, Street Knight for Albert Magnoli, The Sweetest Thing for Roger Kumble, Finding Graceland for David Winkler, Charlie Wilson's War for Mike Nichols, and Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny for Liam Lynch.
- Allan L. Graf, who did Another 48 Hrs., Wild Bill, Last Man Standing, Trespass, Supernova, Johnny Handsome, Geronimo: An American Legend, & Dead for a Dollar for Walter Hill, A Knight's Tale & 42 for Brian Helgeland, Timeline for Richard Donner, The Muppets for James Bobin, Project X for Nima Nourizadeh, Wayne's World for Penelope Spheeris, Friday Night Lights for Peter Berg, The Replacement Killers for Antoine Fuqua, Due Date for Todd Phillips, We Were Soldiers for Randall Wallace, The Waterboy for Frank Coraci, Jerry Maguire for Cameron Crowe, and Any Given Sunday for Oliver Stone.
- Sam Hargrave, who did The Accountant for Gavin O'Connor, Atomic Blonde for David Leitch, Suicide Squad for David Ayer, and Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame for Anthony and Joe Russo.
- Charles Gibson, who did The Ring, The Lone Ranger, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, & Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for Gore Verbinski, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides for Rob Marshall, Terminator: Salvation for McG, Cats & Dogs for Lawrence Guterman, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 & The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 for Francis Lawrence, The Green Mile for Frank Darabont, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action for Joe Dante.
- Simon Crane, who did Men in Black 3 for Barry Sonnenfield, Frankenstein for Kenneth Branagh, Quantum of Solace & World War Z for Marc Forster, The Huntsman: Winter's War for Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Jason Bourne for Paul Greengrass, Your Highness for David Gordon Green, Beyond Borders and Vertical Limit for Martin Campbell, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider for Simon West, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life for Jan de Bont, Hobbs and Shaw for David Leitch, Stardust for Matthew Vaughn, Edge of Tomorrow, Jumper, Chaos Walking, and The Instigators for Doug Liman, In the Land of Blood and Honey for Angelina Jolie, Infinite for Antoine Fuqua, Bedtime Stories for Adam Shankman, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Surrogates for Jonathan Mostow.
- Bradley James Allen, who did The World's End & Scott Pilgrim vs. The World for Edgar Wright, Solo: A Star Wars Story for Ron Howard, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance] for Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings for Destin Daniel Cretton, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, & The King's Man for Matthew Vaughn.
- Steven Quale, who did Titanic & Avatar for James Cameron, The Haunted Mansion for Rob Minkoff, and Greyhound for Aaron Schneider.
- Spiro Razatos, who directed second unit on Bad Boys II & Transformers: The Last Knight for Michael Bay, Bad Boys For Life for Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah], Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby for Adam McKay, Kong: Skull Island for Jordan Vogt-Roberts, X-Men: First Class for Matthew Vaughn, The Expendables for Sylvester Stallone, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, & F9: The Fast Saga for Justin Lin, Furious 7 for James Wan, The Fate of the Furious for F. Gary Gray, Fast X for Louis Leterrier, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, & The Gray Man for Anthony and Joe Russo, Venom for Ruben Fleischer, Death Race for Paul W.S. Anderson, Total Recall for Len Wiseman, Driven for Renny Harlin, and 21 Grams for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
- Terry J. Leonard, who did The Expendables for Sylvester Stallone, Rush Hour for Brett Ratner, Cowboys & Aliens for Jon Favreau, Gangster Squad for Ruben Fleischer, Die Hard With a Vengeance for John McTiernan, Used Cars & Romancing the Stone for Robert Zemeckis, 2 Fast 2 Furious for John Singleton, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift for Justin Lin, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze for Michael Pressman, American Outlaws for Les Mayfield, Joy Ride for John Dahl, Tombstone for George P. Cosmatos, The Quick and The Dead for Sam Raimi, Maverick for Richard Donner, The Fugitive and The Package for Andrew Davis, Eraser for Chuck Russell, Flight of the Intruder for John Milius, and Date Movie for Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.
- John Mahaffie, who did The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for Marc Webb, Spider-Man: Homecoming for Jon Watts, The Avengers & Avengers: Age of Ultron for Joss Whedon, Where the Wild Things Are for Spike Jonze, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, & Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for Peter Jackson, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian for Andrew Adamson, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader for Michael Apted, Green Lantern, Edge of Darkness, & The Legend of Zorro for Martin Campbell, Thor: The Dark World for Alan Taylor, Ant-Man for Peyton Reed, Shazam for David F. Sandberg, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for Gareth Edwards, and Aquaman & Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom for James Wan.
- George A. Aguilar, who did 21 Jump Street & 22 Jump Street for Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Tower Heist for Brett Ratner, Now You See Me for Louis Leterrier, Motherless Brooklyn for Edward Norton, Zombieland for Ruben Fleischer, Goosebumps for Rob Letterman, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past & Mr. Popper's Penguins for Mark Waters, The Smurfs & The Smurfs 2 for Raja Gosnell, Ghostbusters for Paul Feig, School for Scoundrels for Todd Phillips, Enchanted for Kevin Lima, Footloose for Craig Brewer, Tomb Raider for Roar Uthaug, The Many Saints of Newark for Alan Taylor, My Super Ex-Girlfriend for Ivan Reitman, Mortdecai & Premium Rush for David Koepp, Going in Style for Zack Braff, Noah for Darren Aronofsky, Deliver Us From Evil for Scott Derrickson, All the King's Men for Steven Zaillian, and The Departed, Silence, The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon, & the television series Vinyl for Martin Scorsese.
- Jack Gill, who did The Cat in the Hat for Bo Welch, The Hangover Part III for Todd Phillips, Wild Hogs for Walt Becker, Drillbit Taylor for Steven Brill, Date Night for Shawn Levy, Last Holiday for Wayne Wang, Ride Along & Ride Along 2 for Tim Story, Just My Luck, My Life in Ruins, & How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for Donald Petrie, The Watch for Akiva Schaffer, The Change-Up for David Dobkin, Dudley Do-Right for Hugh Wilson, Passengers for Morten Tyldum, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant for Paul Weitz, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle for Jake Kasdan.
- Eric B. Schwab, who did Mission: Impossible, Mission to Mars, Snake Eyes, Redacted, and Domino for Brian De Palma, Valkyrie for Bryan Singer, and Top Gun: Maverick for Joseph Kosinski.
- Gary Davis, who handled second unit on Starsky & Hutch for Todd Phillips, Terminator 2: Judgment Day for James Cameron, Proof of Life] for Taylor Hackford, Torque for Joseph Kahn, U.S. Marshals for Stuart Baird, and Men at Work for Emilio Estevez.
- Ben Herandez Bray, who did American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter, and Joy for David O. Russell, The Grey and Smokin' Aces for Joe Carnahan, In the Blood for John Stockwell, and Lowriders for Ricardo de Montreuil.
- Kenny Bates, who did The Rock, Armageddon, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon for Michael Bay, Bad Company for Joel Schumacher, The Italian Job for F. Gary Gray, and Training Day for Antoine Fuqua.
- Steven Ritzi, who did Jonah Hex for Jimmy Hayward, Let's Be Cops for Luke Greenfield, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween for Ari Sandel, A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas for Todd Strauss-Schulson, Game Night for John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, Shaft & Dashing Through the Snow for Tim Story, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul for David Bowers, A Bad Moms Christmas for Scott Moore and Jon Lucas, Blockers for Kay Cannon, Night School for Malcolm D. Lee, Uncle Drew for Charles Stone III, Sextuplets for Michael Tiddes, Get Hard for Etan Cohen, Harold and the Purple Crayon for Carlos Saldanha, Masterminds for Jared Hess, Self/less for Tarsem Singh, Unforgettable for Denise Di Novi, The Judge for David Dobkin, and Keeping Up with the Joneses for Greg Mottola.
- Darrin Prescott, who did Baby Driver for Edgar Wright, Ford v Ferrari for James Mangold, Black Widow for Cate Shortland, Black Panther & Black Panther: Wakanda Forever for Ryan Coogler, Texas Killing Fields for Ami Canaan Mann, Stand Up Guys for Fisher Stevens, Ballerina for Len Wiseman, Drive for Nicolas Winding Refn, Madame Web for S.J. Clarkson, and John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 2, and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum for Chad Stahelski.
- Scott Rogers, who did Ted, 'Ted 2, and A Million Ways to Die in the West for Seth MacFarlane, Race to Witch Mountain' and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 for Andy Fickman, Uncharted for Ruben Fleischer, Sky High for Mike Mitchell, The Do-Over for Steven Brill, The Ridiculous 6 for Frank Coraci, Earth to Echo for Dave Green, Batgirl for Adil El Ardi & Bilall Fallah, and John Wick: Chapter 4 for Chad Stahelski.
- Gregg Smrz, who did Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation for Christopher McQuarrie, 6 Underground for Michael Bay, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters for Thor Freudenthal, The Animal for Luke Greenfield, and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves for John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.
- Wade Eastwood, who did Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, & Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two for Christopher McQuarrie, Men in Black International for F. Gary Gray, Jumanji: The Next Level for Jake Kasdan, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back for Edward Zwick, Inferno for Ron Howard, and The Mummy for Alex Kurtzman.
- Freddie Hice, who did Snakes on a Plane & Celluar for David R. Ellis, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York for Chris Columbus, Curly Sue for John Hughes, Baby's Day Out for Patrick Read Johnson], My Fellow Americans for Peter Segal, and 3:10 to Yuma for James Mangold.
- Phil Neilson, who did Tropic Thunder, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, & the television series Escape at Dannemora for Ben Stiller, Iron Man for Jon Favreau, Ben-Hur for Timur Bekmambetov, Fantastic Four for Josh Trank, Battleship for Peter Berg, 47 Ronin for Carl Rinsch, The A-Team for Joe Carnahan, The Twilight Saga: New Moon for Chris Weitz, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe for Andrew Adamson, and Tears of the Sun for Antoine Fuqua.
- E.J. Foerster, who did Shanghai Noon for Tom Dey, Shanghai Knights for David Dobkin, Godzilla for Gareth Edwards, The Chronicles of Riddick for David Twohy, The Greatest Showman for Michael Gracey, Vice for Adam McKay, Office Christmas Party for Will Speck and Josh Gordon, True Lies for James Cameron, The X-Files: I Want to Believe for Chris Carter, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse for David Slade, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 & The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 for Bill Condon, Hot Pursuit] for Anne Fletcher, Snow Dogs and Max 2: White House Hero for Brian Levant, The Shaggy Dog for Brian Robbins, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer for Tim Story, Sahara for Breck Eisner, and Year One for Harold Ramis.
- Greg Rementer, who handled second unit on Bad Boys: Ride or Die for Adil El Ardi & Bilall Fallah, Black Adam for Jaume Collet-Serra, Bullet Train for David Leitch, Secret Headquarters for Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman], Nobody for Ilya Naishuller, and River Runs Red for Wes Miller.
- Jonathan Taylor, who did Iron Man 2 for Jon Favreau, Captain America: The First Avenger for Joe Johnston, Point Break for Kathryn Bigelow, and A Good Day to Die Hard for John Moore.
- Joel Kramer, who did The Conjuring & The Conjuring 2 for James Wan, Terminator Genisys for Alan Taylor, This is 40 for Judd Apatow, Central Intelligence for Rawson Marshall Thurber, Ready to Rumble for Brian Robbins, Youth in Revolt for Miguel Arteta, Blade Runner 2049 for Denis Villeneuve, Daylight for Rob Cohen, Fathers' Day for Ivan Reitman, and Heat for Michael Mann.
- Michael Owens, who did Letters From Iwo Jima, Flags of Our Fathers, Changeling, & Space Cowboys for Clint Eastwood, Hidalgo for Joe Johnston, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home for Leonard Nimoy, and Bringing Out the Dead for Martin Scorsese.
- William H. Burton Sr, who did The Scorpion King for Chuck Russell, Collateral Damage for Andrew Davis, Dick Tracy for Warren Beatty, Hostage for Florent-Emilio Siri, I Spy for Betty Thomas, Hard Target for John Woo, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man for Simon Wincer, and House of Wax for Jaume Collet-Serra.
- Philip C. Pfeiffer, who did Natural Born Killers, JFK, Nixon, and The Doors for Oliver Stone, Dances with Wolves for Kevin Costner, X-Men for Bryan Singer, Home Alone 3 for Raja Gosnell, Cliffhanger for Renny Harlin, Beerfest for Jay Chandrasekhar, Pushing Tin for Mike Newell, The Horse Whisperer for Robert Redford, and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls for Steve Oedekerk.
- Mickey Gilbert, who did Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty, Liar Liar, & Dragonfly for Tom Shadyac, Problem Child & National Security for Dennis Dugan, Elf for Jon Favreau, Simon Birch for Mark Steven Johnson, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps for Peter Segal, The Last of the Mohicans for Michael Mann, Rat Race for Jerry Zucker, Above the Law for Andrew Davis, and Wes Craven's New Nightmare for Wes Craven.
- Branko Racki, who directed second unit on Freddy Got Fingered for Tom Green, 16 Blocks for Richard Donner, The Skulls for Rob Cohen, Welcome to Mooseport for Donald Petrie, The Maiden Heist for Peter Hewitt, and Canadian Bacon for Michael Moore.
- Max Kleven, who did Back to the Future Part II, Back to the Future Part III, & Who Framed Roger Rabbit for Robert Zemeckis, Batman Returns for Tim Burton, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves for Kevin Reynolds, Rollerball for Norman Jewison, and Silent Movie for Mel Brooks.
- Damon Caro, who did Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, Zack Snyder's Justice League, & Army of the Dead for Zack Snyder, Wonder Woman for Patty Jenkins, and 300: Rise of an Empire for Noam Murro.
- Thomas Robinson Harper, who did Lords of Dogtown & Twilight for Catherine Hardwicke, Little Miss Sunshine for Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, The Tomorrow War for Chris McKay, Old Dogs for Walt Becker, Pacific Rim: Uprising for Steven S. DeKnight, We Bought a Zoo for Cameron Crowe, Godzilla vs Kong for Adam Wingard, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters for Michael Dougherty.
- Garrett Warren, who did Larry Crowne for Tom Hanks, Mars Needs Moms for Simon Wells, Ghosted for Dexter Fletcher, Logan for James Mangold, Ender's Game for Gavin Hood, God Is a Bullet for Nick Cassavetes, The Internship for Shawn Levy, Here Comes the Boom for Frank Coraci, Spy for Paul Feig, Free State of Jones for Gary Ross, Little Fockers for Paul Weitz, Limitless and Divergent for Neil Burger, and Avatar: The Way of Water & Avatar: Fire and Ash for James Cameron.
- Steve Parry, who did A River Runs Through It for Robert Redford, Executive Decision for Stuart Baird, and The Dark Wind for Errol Morris.
- Charlie Picerni, who did Lethal Weapon 2 & Lethal Weapon 3 for Richard Donner, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for Jeremiah S. Chechik, National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 for Gene Quintano, Street Fighter for Steven E. de Souza, I Love Trouble for Charles Shyer, and Die Hard 2 for Renny Harlin.
- Doug Coleman, who did Punisher: War Zone for Lexi Alexander, The Karate Kid for Harald Zwart, The Love Guru for Marco Schnabel, Max for Boaz Yakin, The Longest Yard & Get Smart for Peter Segal, Blades of Glory for Will Speck and Josh Gordon, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry for Dennis Dugan, Run All Night for Jaume Collet-Serra, Road to Perdition for Sam Mendes, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle for Des McAnuff, The Crow: City of Angels for Tim Pope, Star Trek: Nemesis for Stuart Baird, Analyze That for Harold Ramis, and Four Brothers for John Singleton.
Occasionally, some second unit directors work with certain directors on several projects, such as Allan L. Graf, who directed second unit for Walter Hill on several of his films, as well as Eric Schwab working with Brian De Palma on his films.
Certain films also may have more than one second unit director. Examples include Superman Returns, The Expendables, Transformers: The Last Knight, and Bad Boys For Life.
Some directors, such as Christopher Nolan[5] and Quentin Tarantino,[6] do not use second units in their films.
References
[edit]- ^ "Second Unit Director". Get In Media.
- ^ "A Dark Night in Gotham City". Starlog issue 142. May 1989. pp. 37–40.
- ^ "Conrad E. Palmisano | Action Director, Stunt Coordinator, Second Unit Director". www.actiondirectorconrad.com.
- ^ Kench, Sam (1 January 2023). "What is a Second Unit Director & What Does a Second Unit Do?". Studio Binder.
- ^ Halbfinger, David M. (9 March 2008). "The Dark Knight - Movies". The New York Times.
- ^ Hemphill, Jim (18 March 2020). ""We Kept the Third Act in a Safe": Tarantino's Assistant Director William Paul Clarke on Kill Bill, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Improvisational Logistics". Filmmaker Magazine.