To end the week, we had a class exercise where we filmed a scene as a collective and we went through the different roles in production, particularly that of a 1st Assistant Director, and the operations of a set when filming. But before we allocated ourselves to roles and pulled out any equipment, we went through the scene first and figured out the order of filming the shots. Like we’ve done so far in the times we have filmed anything for this class, we would always film the wide shots first before filming any mid to close up shots. And since this scene was more on the expression side than dialogue (there was only one line), it was interesting to watch how the director, or a director, would analyse and go about the filming of a scene, taking note of the actors’ movement on the set and with the props.

When we moved on to setting up the equipment, we went through the basics of setting up a camera properly from the tripod to correcting the exposure. I somehow ended up on sound and became the boom operator. I forgot how tiring this was if you’re not used to holding something above your head for prolonged periods of time. But regardless, it was still good to do because even as we were rehearsing, we would pick up on the small things to avoid when filming, such as the chord hitting the boom pole and being picked up on the recorder so we had to ensure the chord was wrapped tightly around the pole.

Throughout this entire process of setting up equipment, rehearsing and filming one shot out of the five, the role of the 1st AD was something that was very much highlighted. Without them, the entire set would be chaos. From trying to be friendly with the crew when things aren’t running smoothly, to maintaining order on set and making sure that the crew is ready to film when the director calls ‘action’, the role of the 1st AD is crucial in making things happen on set so it was good that we went through their role thoroughly.