Do you like movies? I got a chance to listen to Donald L. Sparks talk about interesting facts about movies. Sparks is the first assistant director for some movies that you may have heard of such as “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “King Richard.”

As the first assistant director, he is responsible for and in charge of how the movie gets made. A movie always starts with a screenplay. Sparks shares, “The first thing that I get from the producer...is the screenplay and they typically have an idea of how much money they have to spend on the movie, and how many days they can afford.”

Sparks told me something interesting—he says they record movie scenes out of order. The reason is for convenience and cost. For example, if the first scene was in your house, and the last scene was also in your house, they would shoot those two scenes together. The film cast and crew wouldn’t go to your house one day and come back five weeks later to shoot the last scene!

Another fact Sparks shared that you can try out yourself is to watch a horror/scary movie normally, then watch it again without the sound. You will realize that the second time you watch it, the movie will not end up being as scary. Sparks says, “The music scares you the most, not the scenes.”

One more fact I wish to share is that some film crews not only have special drones with cameras, but some use helicopters! Imagine you are an actor, and a giant helicopter is flying above your head filming you. Talk about action!

I just am wowed. It sounds so cool to be part of a movie staff! If you love movies and helping make the magic happen behind the scenes, this might be the job for you!