Week Five

P.A. AGAIN

This week saw me assume the role of Production Assistant for a second time. We were tasked with shooting a cooking show. Were the presenter demonstrated how to make a banana sandwich.  The theme of the week remined me of the Charlie Sheen cooking show from Funny or Die.

Having been away for a week and without my laptop, I was unable to keep updated with my production group. It was even more difficult because I don’t have a smartphone, so only had intermittent access to the internet via devices I didn’t find to be very user friendly. (If you are interested in why I don’t have a smartphone, watch this film.) BLOOD COLTAN

  However, having already undertaken the role I felt confident in my ability to perform my responsibilities. This was the first instance where I believe that we all functioned as a truly effective team. We were all communicating effectively and everything for the most part ran quite smoothly.

Although, I did overstep my role limitations by asking the floor manager to rotate the bananas and bread so that they were positioned at an aesthetically pleasing angle. Proper professional etiquette dictates that I should have consulted the director for them to order the rotation or not. Which is a fair point. However, to quote Grace Hopper “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission”. The positioning of the bananas and bread made for poor shot composition. The director was busy consulting with the vision mixer regarding the as directed segment. The director and I had built up a constructive work flow and so, I believed that I acted with the directors’ authority in an effort to save time which was running short. I left the session feeling positive about the group dynamic we had created. I only hope that we will be able to sustain it for the coming weeks.