The last three weeks have been such a blur that I’m not even
sure I can recollect half of what happened during that time, but here’s to
trying...
The last time I wrote, I mentioned having the task of
guiding two actors through a scene. That however just acted as practise as we were
then given two full weeks out of university to fully plan how we’d stage it including
writing up lighting plans, working out the logistics of the actor’s
performances and filling in the necessary paperwork. Last Friday, we carried out
the task as part of our studio production module and it would be graded based
on our organisation as a crew and how well the overall product turned out. Five
lecturers were all stood grading us, and while it was your crews turn to carry
out the task, the other four film crews would watch us while waiting for their
own turn (therefore meaning there were around 30+ people in the room and all
eyes on you!). I was dropped into the role of first assistant director and due
to lack of much spare time to meet up, we weren’t the most prepared on the day
and so while the other groups had their turn, me and the director were still
sat scribbling notes on the scripts to make sure we had all things considered. Something
you may not know is that the director’s role on set isn’t really anything to do
with the crew. Their role is primarily to communicate with the actors on how
they’d like the scene to go, and the creative control in how it all looks. It’s
the first assistant director’s role to lead the whole crew which serves the
purpose of taking the pressure off the director, so the director only has to
focus on the actors. The role as first assistant director (also known as 1st
AD) means ensuring all the crew are ready on time for when the director is ready
to call action. As this was my role, I had to learn all the protocols and we
were marked on how clearly we carried them out…for example, I first shout ‘Settle, quiet on set, stand-by’, then as
long as nobody has said anything to indicate they’re not ready, I’d say ‘Turnover’ which prompts the sound to
begin recording. This is followed by the clapper loader (the person with the
clapperboard used to sync audio and visuals) marking the start of the scene
before the camera begins recording. Another interesting thing is that when the director
says cut, that only prompts the actors to stop performing, however it’s the 1st
AD saying cut that stops the crew from recording (not sure whether this is true
to the industry, however it’s how it’s done in university so would presume it’s
the same!). Both myself and the director were so relieved to get it done and over with that we both headed to a burrito place to celebrate. I then
headed home for the weekend as I looked after the house while my parents were
away and so my friend came to keep me company where we spent the weekend
binge-watching a series in Netflix and catching up on each other’s news.
Aside from this, nothing else overly significant has
happened! Our flatmate had her 20th birthday party last night and she
was definitely wanting to do it in style. I woke up the next day to knocking on
our flat door where our friends from a few floors up came down and we all
headed out for a coffee to revive ourselves after what had been an eventful night.
I left them early to head to a museum with another friend before crashing out and
having a good two-hour nap as it was safe to say I was exhausted. Tomorrow will
be spent solely on getting my written assignment in (which thankfully only has
200 words left to do!) and then I can relax a little for the week...
Until next time,
Victoria.
Sounds busy busy busy! Very interesting though :)
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