Tomorrow, I am the FNG

chilipie

chilipie

Pro Member
indiePRO
I'm off at the crack of dawn tomorrow to spend two days as a camera trainee on a BBC drama shooting in Bristol. This is my first time on a professional film set - any not-so-obvious tips or set etiquette I should be aware of? Here's hoping I don't drop any expensive lenses… :yes:
 
chilipie said:
any not-so-obvious tips or set etiquette I should be aware of?
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1) Wear your most comfortable pair of shoes.

2) Don't talk to the director or talent, unless addressed. Watch & see how the heirarchy works.

3) Always carry a sharpie. You can write names on water bottles, write notes on gaff-tape, be awesome when someone yells out, "Hey! Who's got something to write with?", etc.

4) Have a bunch of fun, and make some friends. This is the start of your networking. :)
 
Everything that's been said, plus:

Work hard.

Have a positive attitude.

Work hard.

Have a positive attitude.

Work hard.

Have a positive attitude.

Work hard.

Have a positive attitude.

Work hard.

Have a positive attitude.

Work hard.

Have a positive attitude.

Bring your business cards.

Don't over indulge at the pub afterwards - you're still on probation.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys! Everyone was really friendly and I think it went pretty well - the 2nd AC said I picked stuff up much quicker than a lot of "proper" camera trainees she'd had before. Thanks to Indietalk and various other forums I think I probably know quite a lot about gear I'd never seen before in real life, which certainly helped! It was a shame we weren't shooting film, but it was great to see the RED for the first time - we shot at 4K at 25fps (for broadcast on British TV) with a beautiful set of Arri Ultra Primes (14, 20, 28, 32, 40, 50, 65, 100, 135 and 180), occasionally dropping to 2K to shoot at 50 or 100fps, with the camera being operated by the DP, Ashley Rowe. Was a brilliant experience, even if only for two days - I'd definitely recommend it for other indies in a similar position, I learnt a huge amount in a very short time (and you get to play with lots of sexy camera toys).
 
"Permanently Excluded," an hour-long drama for BBC Two - it should be out this Autumn. I've only found a tiny bit about it online, so I don't really want to give anything away, but from what I've seen and read it should definitely be worth a watch.
 
Congrats, and awesome! It's good to hear that what we're doing here is helping out in the "real" world, not just on our sets ;)
 
Zensteve said:
1) Wear your most comfortable pair of shoes.

2) Don't talk to the director or talent, unless addressed. Watch & see how the heirarchy works.

3) Always carry a sharpie. You can write names on water bottles, write notes on gaff-tape, be awesome when someone yells out, "Hey! Who's got something to write with?", etc.

4) Have a bunch of fun, and make some friends. This is the start of your networking. :)
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i reckon i like this dude^^^:clap:
 
If you're in the UK, you can watch Excluded on BBC iPlayer.

Unlike the other trainee (who did the week and bit after me), I didn't get a credit as I wasn't on the payroll… though I think not missing a three week family holiday instead of having a credit is probably a fair cop :)

Thanks again for all your advice!
 
Papertwinproductions said:
Ahh, I've seen this advertised alot over the past couple weeks.

How did you find being on a Professional film-set?
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Tiring, but brilliantly fun. Was really interesting to go from being the DoP (on everything I've worked on so far), right to the bottom of the food chain. I think I learnt an enormous amount just from observing the working relationships and hierarchies in each department - even though everyone was really friendly and chatty, the chain of command was quite strict… and with good reason.

I think the two things I'll most miss on future indie projects are the independence and responsibility of each departments (lack of responsibility aside, it would be so nice not to have to keep an eye on absolutely everything) and the professionalism of the actors. I don't think we did more than ten takes for a shot while I was there - this may sound stupid, but I was just amazed how much having actors who know their lines (and have rehearsed blocking with the director) frees you up creatively and technically.

However, I think one or two crew members (the only ones I heard voice any opinion on it) weren't that impressed with the director. Apparently a lot of the improvised stuff (after I'd left) wasn't so much improvised as just the director didn't know what he was doing, and on the first day we went back to the original location (right at the end of the day) to get some more shots he wanted, none of which I spotted in the final cut.

That said - he seemed like a nice guy, I thought the final film was really good and I wouldn't want to pass professional judgment on someone much more experienced than me having only worked with them for two days.

(Oh, and the ADs/floor runner were fantastic. Kept everything moving, made sure the director was aware of and kept to time constraints. Next project I do, I want a good 1st AD.)
 
A good 1st AD can make or break you on projects with larger scope... I love mine -- they keep me moving forward and on task.
 
Agreed. Two things that make the day vastly better:

A good 1AD.

A good Key PA. Never underestimate the value of a kick-a$$ PA in general, Key or otherwise. But if you have at least 1 experienced person to lead the PAs (who desperately want to help, but often aren't sure what to do) it makes a world of difference.

And congrats on the gig. I was lucky enough to do a couple weeks on a BBC shoot (video content for a Radio 4 show IIRC, not a huge budget thing really) and it was a blast. I loved the way those guys rolled, we would wrap for the day and in a split second it was like they all magically materialized a glass of wine into their hands from thin air.
 
Boooooo, that BBC Player doesn't like us over here. :(

I'll check it out when it becomes available over here. It may be on BBC America channel, in a few months.

Did you get any networking done? Follow up on any future gigs? Gotta keep at it, ChiliPie. :cool:



we would wrap for the day and in a split second it was like they all magically materialized a glass of wine into their hands from thin air.
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Last shoot I was on, the DP for B-unit was magically materialising glasses of rum & coke... hours before we were wrapping. :no:
 
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