On the weekend I had my first experience as a 1st AD, helping out on an independent art-house feature film. This was really interesting, as it is rare for me to not be the director on projects. This in itself is a bit weird - the opportunity to study (and practise) directing at Unitec is amazing, but very distorting as well; a small group of students are repeatedly entrusted with the key creative leadership role on projects, despite never in their lives having earned that role, as "real world" directors have. We have to be really careful not to let the director role mess with our heads - and in fact I'm certain that at times it has messed with mine. Yes, we are directors, which quite often means that our opinions override those of everyone else in our team - but we must always be careful not to confuse having the power of decision-making with deserving the power of decision-making. Anyway, I'm going completely off track.
So on Sunday I had to step back and allow someone else to make decisions that would affect me, rather than the other way around. My role was to assist that director to achieve what she wanted, no matter what I thought of it, so in terms of understanding roles and boundaries I was coming at it from an entirely different angle to usual, and it wasn't terribly easy. As 1st AD, one of my key responsibilities was to make the shoot run on time and in trying to fulfill that responsibility it was incredibly difficult not try and "save" Anna (the director) from what I felt were bad choices. I would drop in hints or questions to try and speed things along (which I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to do, although I can't be sure as I've never been a 1st AD before), however I think I sometimes strayed into dropping hints and questions that strayed over the boundary and questioned her creative choices. Although my motivation was to try to catch up time, I think my actions still sometimes intruded on her authority has director, and this is something I need to be really careful about on the next shoot.
One of the great difficulties with knowing how to execute the 1st AD role on Anna's shoot was the fact that Anna is not only the director of the film, but also the writer, producer, production manager (I use that term loosely!) and production designer/art director. I have always thought of the 1st AD as being responsible to both the director and the producer but in different ways. I would expect the 1st AD to have the authority to say to the director, "we HAVE to move on", because they are acting on behalf of the producer, who is paying for the project. Given that producer and director are one and the same in this instance, that authority is removed. She is paying for it (gear hirage, catering, not the crew), so she can spend the time however she likes. Nevertheless, I need to make her move on, as she will not get the film made at the rate she is going. She has scheduled three weeks shooting, and is paying for gear and a DP for that time, and I know that she probably can't afford to add more than a day or two to that schedule. Secondly, she has a volunteer crew and actors who she is going to work very hard over that period, and they are unlikely to extend their commitment to her. If it doesn't get made on schedule, it may not get made at all. Although we finished Sunday's shoot on target if not on time, I know from the other 1st AD (I am doing weekends, she is doing weekdays) that the shoot is now a full day behind target. And it's only been shooting for four days! How can I get this thing back on track, when I have no real authority? How does the 1st AD's role work when no one is being paid and the director controls the show? I am quite lost, to be honest. I suspect the 1st AD role on this shoot will turn into merely calling "turnover" and "action". At least I am learning fo this experience what it is like (ie how frustrating and stressful) for 1st ADs when directors seem not to listen or care about time. This is not to say I will simply let things go because I am told to, but it does mean that I will put even more effort into absolute clarity of communication and knowing what I want BEFORE I walk on set, so that I am doing everything I can to help the set run smoothly and not stress the 1st AD out.
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