This week’s studio was challenging, but on the whole much more enjoyable for me. For the first time I felt on top of the task at hand, and able to contribute at an equal level to my classmates. The group I was in had good chemistry and similar ideas of where to take the script. This made it easy for us to get our tasks done in good time.
Both groups were mindful of staying to a rough schedule of when we had to change scenes/locations/shots, which meant we all got equal time to use the equipment, experiment with camera angles, and figure out which components worked and which didn’t.
I found it very helpful that I was in Group B, and subsequently acted in Group A’s scene first, shooting our group’s scene after. It aided in my understanding of the process and helped get me in the right mindset for filming. For example, it reminded me of skills we’d learned in previous weeks such as the procedure for calling the shots. I’m now more proficient at this, thanks to the repetition of hearing it during that first shoot this week. It also helped reinforce the role of the first AD which had not really been clear to me previously. I now understand more fully that they are the boss on the set, in charge of the more structural or practical elements of the shoot. Their tasks include but aren’t limited to organising and upholding the shot schedule, organising the shoots, making sure production is running on time, and setting up the next shot. With this more thorough knowledge of the role of the AD, I feel more prepared to take on this role future tasks if it’s called upon me.

AD’s on MDMA’s.