What do you do when you've gotten no sleep and you have a shoot?

R

RealJasonBourne

What do you guys do when you have to shoot and you've had no sleep? I have to be a PA in 2 hours and I only got 2 hours of sleep... thats at least 12 hours of volunteer work with no sleep... im considering ditching :yes:
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Zensteve said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Rq4EPkLCI

:lol:
Click to expand...

:lol: perfect.

Yeah I've been there. 24 hour unpaid shoot. The good thing about sticking it out, even when you're the lowest of the low on the hierarchy is you get asked back next time.

IMO, you have to start somewhere. At the moment, you are hardly in a position to turn down work, no matter how menial it is. You want to make contacts and network and get people to know you. Once you get to a point where you're established, that's when you can start turning down jobs, walking off set, refusing to go over a 12 hour work day, demanding overtime if it does happen etc.

But for now, I think you're best just to suck it up and do it. Yes, 24 hour shoot days are hard. They're tough, and they may be borderline illegal. But, IMO, they're what seperates the men from the boys. You know someone who's really serious about making it in the business because they'll work tirelessly for a 24 hour shoot day, not matter how much sleep they've had the night before and won't complain, and won't walk off set etc. That's the kind of loyalty and ethic I want in a crew member. Now, I don't plan to ever work my crew for a solid 24 hours, but I need to know that if it's hitting 12 hours and people are getting tired, but we need to stay an extra hour or two that I'm not going to have princesses storm off set because they're 'too tired'.

Now, I'm not saying that's what you did at all, but you get my gist.

Also, Art Department includes moving furniture. On music videos I've seen Gaffers and Runners move a piano. 'Making movies' is the domain of the Director, and perhaps to a larger extent the key HODs. After that, you're looking at a whole bunch of technicians.

And if you really want to break it down - the Gaffer quite often uses skills that an electrician would use on a day to day basis, the Production Designer quite often uses interior design skills, the Grips quite often use construction skills.
I've seen many good Grips borne from tradesmen. Now, they may claim they're making movies instead of making houses, but the basic skillset is quite often exactly the same.

PAing for Art Deparment - that's what you're doing. Moving furniture and props, keeping track of them. In a much larger, overall sense - by doing so, you are making a movie.

:cool:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If you can't handle the in between boredom and can't self motivate... this may not be your thing. Not trying to be a jerk, but I've never had to tell folks on my set what to do... I give them a run down up front and they come to me with specific questions for guidance toward the cohesive whole. The folks who get called back on set are the people who are ahead of what you're expecting them to do.

I have an AD who is amazing at anticipating the needs of the people on set. Always presenting forms to fill out right as I'm asking for them... and water for the actors right as they're asking for them... just amazing. Over a dozen productions later, I call him first when we have another project.

Self motivation is a huge thing! Excitement about the work is just as important.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Actually, I literally just posted in your other thread. The one where you're asking if being a PA is a "bad job" and suggesting that you dance while the music plays so the band would notice you.

Combining those two threads, I have to agree: the film business is not for you. 12 hours is the industry standard, and it's not uncommon for a shoot to be poorly planned or some kind of mishap to delay it for an hour or two. The very first thing I ever did was be an extra for a crowd scene in Renee, and it lasted 14 hours with the cast and crew desperately scrambling to finish a night scene however they could as daylight arrived. I thought about quitting, but I stuck through the whole thing. In fact, the crowd of thousands dwindled down to about a hundred who (like myself) had agreed to stay for the entire shoot in exchange for slightly more visibility on camera, and the latter half of the shoot mostly consisted of our small group being shuffled around Wall Street Plaza in Orlando to cheat the camera.

If you can't handle a job that involves these hours, and if you treat the job by sitting around looking miserable for hours instead of doing the job (and considering not coming in with only 2 hours notice because you're too sleepy), you can't handle anything beyond being a production assistant. Chances are just about everyone you were "working" had a much more difficult job than you, and you can bet that they stayed for the entire shoot as it became a 24 hour marathon. Hell, you just demonstrated that you can barely handle PA duties.

Sorry if this offends you, but find something else to do with your life. Become a 9-to-5 office worker, or be a plumber, or really anything outside of the film industry. Because unless you can fix your attitude and stop getting upset about not being able to "make movies" as soon as you start off in the business, you're not going to make it. You're probably going to ruin your reputation if you do it any more.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You knew about the job before you deprived yourself of sleep...you have a responsibility to make sure to get to set...you can't imagine how small the world is...word will get around...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I had to do a 13 hour time lapse in the rain on my day off from my day job and right on my birthday. And I did it gladly, with a smile on my face and wide open arms :)) And on top of that I was dragging a guy who ORGANIZED the shoot. He wanted to quit at 10th hour, but I had to tell that we need to finish it up.

How badly do you want to make movies? Badly enough not to have any sleep/food/heat? Sure, you can do it on weekends after all night rest, but don't expect to be recognized as one of "industry finest", when majority of members just on this board will stay up for several days submerged in the process.

There are some serious competitors against you and you will have to figure out how badly do you want to be in this field.

Here is something cheesy, but still pretty powerful, imho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsSC2vx7zFQ
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
... and a crew to help you out... and networking as a PA is how you build that crew. Showing on that set that you are driven will set their mind at ease about coming to work on your set.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Well, even at my day job I'm used to get 2 hours of sleep sometimes and it's manageable. While I've been with the military, there were times where I only had that much sleep in 36 hours.

For something I really love, I'd work 2 days straight through, if that's what's needed.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top