We shot footage of Laurel Ulrich in her husband's garden, picking beans and lettuce for dinner, using an electric ice cream maker, diapering her grandchild in paper diapers, playing piano while her husband sang, working in her office, and looking through documents at the archives. We even shot an Ulrich family gathering at the Lime Rock Race Track in Connecticut, where Laurel's son Nathan was driving his race car. Initially we thought we would intercut scenes of Laurel living her life with the scenes of Martha living hers, to flesh out Laurel's character, and to heighten the audience's awareness of the differences and similarities between Martha's world and Laurel's world. The scenes of Laurel figuring out Martha Ballard's life made it into the film, but Laurel's family life ended up being one strand too many for the film. The Ulrich family scenes ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor.
Directors imagine the film before it's made.
Many directors, like Dick, storyboard the picture, sketching what looks like a comic book version of the film. The assistant directors working directly under the director manage the logistics of daily operations on the set and schedule upcoming shooting days. Every night a call sheet is passed out for the next day's shoot, telling everyone where and when to report, how they will be transported to the set, what scenes will be shot, and what special equipment will be needed. They signed onto A Midwife's Tale because the subject matter and cinematic ambitions of the project appealed to them. Gaffers light a scene.