After thoroughly assessing what went wrong during our production, not fulfilling my job description as a First Assistant Director was certainly a key factor. Believe it or not, I am an organiser, especially when working on a film set. In past productions I have been very put-together, but I had completely failed myself with this pilot by lack of pre-production. So, I decided to do some more research on my role in order to better myself.
As a First AD, I should be the director’s ‘right-hand man’ – taking care of all the practical and technical aspects while they work on their creative vision. This will include working to break down the script and turn it into a storyboard with the director. Drawing up a shooting schedule after working on the storyboard is also a necessity to help keep things in order on-set. While on the film set, I need to make sure that this has been kept to.
- Communicator between crew members and the director;
- Overseeing the hiring of locations, props and equipment;
- Keep to the schedule and push it forward;
- Preperation of a ‘call sheet’.
I actually barely achieved doing any of these in the creation of the pilot, which is very disappointing on my behalf. My role is such an important part in the creation of a film, so by not having completely pulled my weight, I feel like I have let my team down. Although, I did attempt to organise everyone into roles before and during the shoot, but I did not put as much effort in as to write up a ‘shooting schedule’.
Previous to the shoot, I did know that the shooting schedule needed to be done before I was on set, I did not realise how much of a necessity it was to keep the set in order. By assessing all of what I did wrong in my role as a First AD, I have now understood ways in which to better myself in this role, and why my role and doing the jobs that it entails is so important in the creation of a film.
