Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You tell the director about the hat.
This is the real-life decision made by script supervisor Jean Bereziuk.
"You must always, always tell the director if something is wrong and let
the director make that decision," Bereziuk says. A script supervisor's
job is to catch problems and suggest solutions, but not to decide what can
be overlooked.
Even if a film shoot is behind schedule, a script supervisor should point
out any continuity errors. The director may be upset about the problem, but
they will be glad you caught it and told them about it.
Sometimes, the director will choose to deal with the problem in the editing
room. With fancy editing, some inconsistencies can be made unnoticeable.
A script supervisor might be tempted to think the audience will never notice
a problem. This is especially true if it's a made-for-TV movie, where
a scene will flash by in a moment and then be gone. However, it's important
for a script supervisor to catch all errors.
"It may be very important in terms of the audience, because it may take
them out of the show," Bereziuk says. "Then it just becomes a show to them
and they're not involved in the script anymore."
If a script supervisor often misses errors or chooses to ignore them, she
or he will lose the trust of the film crew. Also, the script supervisor's
reputation will be hurt, which can destroy a career.
"You're only as good as your last show," Bereziuk says.