There is a dedicated team of on set film crew members behind every moment of movie magic. From lights, to sound, to art direction, each department is essential in its own way. But what role do production assistants and others in entry level film positions play?
They may not get the same accolades, but their dedication is no less admirable. Especially when it comes to some of the odd jobs they are asked to do on set.
The Dog Whisperer
Heard from an on set sound professional with decades of experience in the industry. Even though he is now a well respected sound person and an instructor, he had a humble start just like everyone else. One of the first films sets he worked on as a sound PA had an on location shoot in a suburban, residential area. On this particular shoot the sound department faced an unusual challenge. The majority of households had large dogs in their yards that barked through the entire shooting process, rendering most of the location sound unusable. On the second day, the sound PA brought his bicycle on set. Armed with sausage links provided by the production department, he toured the neighbourhood throughout the shoot, hurling links at the barking dogs to keep them quiet – a solution to keep both the production and the dogs happy.
The Apple Stand
Unfortunately this is a fairly familiar tale for grips, especially in low budget productions. A nighttime scene was being shot during the day. The problem was the building had several big windows that had to be blacked out completely; no easy task with a limited amount of equipment. The grip department used everything they had and even had to throw on furniture pads and secure them with duct tape. After all that effort and time a sliver of an opening was still letting in daylight, and ruining the illusion of night. One grip armed himself with a flag and stepped on a stack of apple boxes, found the offending sliver and covered it with the flag. However, before he could call over another grip to help secure the flag in place the production, which by then was already anxious about time, started rolling the camera. The grip had no choice but to hold the flag over his head on his tippy toes on top of the wobbly apple boxes until the scene was completed.
The Spit Catcher
Vancouver is a beautiful city and we often see TV shows shot on the streets of Gastown. This episode included a shot of a character spitting gum on the ground as she was talking. The shot, of course, required multiple angles and takes. The production couldn’t let the actress spit the gum out on to the actual street – out of respect for the city as well as for continuity. So a PA had to kneel in front of the actress, just out of frame, holding a brown paper bag for her to spit the gum in. If that wasn’t quite bad enough, the actress’s aim wasn’t exactly perfect either. The PA actually had to pick a piece of chewed gum off the ground and put it in the bag multiple times, all while being showered with saliva.
The Wardrobe Malfunction Attendant
Some odd jobs on set may not seem so bad. Occasionally, movies are required to target certain rating by the executives. This particular one was to be rated PG13, which meant a woman’s breasts couldn’t be fully featured on screen. The hard part was it had several sex scenes, which required the actors to be topless. In order to make sure the actress’s breasts were never exposed on screen, the 1st AD had to sit right next to the actress, barely out of frame, and stare at her breasts the whole time. His job that day was to yell cut every time he saw her nipples.
Written by Freddie Kim
Lights, Camera, Action: Odd Jobs On Set
There is a dedicated team of on set film crew members behind every moment of movie magic. From lights, to sound, to art direction, each department is essential in its own way. But what role do production assistants and others in entry level film positions play?
They may not get the same accolades, but their dedication is no less admirable. Especially when it comes to some of the odd jobs they are asked to do on set.
Heard from an on set sound professional with decades of experience in the industry. Even though he is now a well respected sound person and an instructor, he had a humble start just like everyone else. One of the first films sets he worked on as a sound PA had an on location shoot in a suburban, residential area. On this particular shoot the sound department faced an unusual challenge. The majority of households had large dogs in their yards that barked through the entire shooting process, rendering most of the location sound unusable. On the second day, the sound PA brought his bicycle on set. Armed with sausage links provided by the production department, he toured the neighbourhood throughout the shoot, hurling links at the barking dogs to keep them quiet – a solution to keep both the production and the dogs happy.
The Apple Stand
Unfortunately this is a fairly familiar tale for grips, especially in low budget productions. A nighttime scene was being shot during the day. The problem was the building had several big windows that had to be blacked out completely; no easy task with a limited amount of equipment. The grip department used everything they had and even had to throw on furniture pads and secure them with duct tape. After all that effort and time a sliver of an opening was still letting in daylight, and ruining the illusion of night. One grip armed himself with a flag and stepped on a stack of apple boxes, found the offending sliver and covered it with the flag. However, before he could call over another grip to help secure the flag in place the production, which by then was already anxious about time, started rolling the camera. The grip had no choice but to hold the flag over his head on his tippy toes on top of the wobbly apple boxes until the scene was completed.
The Spit Catcher
Vancouver is a beautiful city and we often see TV shows shot on the streets of Gastown. This episode included a shot of a character spitting gum on the ground as she was talking. The shot, of course, required multiple angles and takes. The production couldn’t let the actress spit the gum out on to the actual street – out of respect for the city as well as for continuity. So a PA had to kneel in front of the actress, just out of frame, holding a brown paper bag for her to spit the gum in. If that wasn’t quite bad enough, the actress’s aim wasn’t exactly perfect either. The PA actually had to pick a piece of chewed gum off the ground and put it in the bag multiple times, all while being showered with saliva.
The Wardrobe Malfunction Attendant
Some odd jobs on set may not seem so bad. Occasionally, movies are required to target certain rating by the executives. This particular one was to be rated PG13, which meant a woman’s breasts couldn’t be fully featured on screen. The hard part was it had several sex scenes, which required the actors to be topless. In order to make sure the actress’s breasts were never exposed on screen, the 1st AD had to sit right next to the actress, barely out of frame, and stare at her breasts the whole time. His job that day was to yell cut every time he saw her nipples.
Written by Freddie Kim
Making a Film: From Concept to Completion
Every great film begins with an idea – but the work really begins when you start turning that idea into a film, as Documentary Diploma alumni Javier Ojer discovered. A collaborative project between Javier, classmate Mik Turje, and the Pull Focus mentorship team, “Hands in the Dirt” explores issues around urban farming and agriculture.
“In the beginning there were a lot of points that Mik and I wanted to look at in relation to urban farming, like gentrification and colonialism. So we had to narrow it down. We began by writing down all our ideas, and then tried to figure out what the main issues were. What stood out is the disconnect between this image of urban farming and VertiCrops as solutions for food security, and what was actually happening to agricultural farmland in Richmond,” said Javier.
Mik’s ties to the farming community in Richmond allowed the team a firsthand look at the obstacles that farmers in the area face, including illegal dumping on Agricultural Land Reserves and skyhigh land prices. A mere 20minute drive from Vancouver, which proudly touts itself as a green city and actively encourages urban farming, the reality faced by local farmers in the Lower Mainland provided a stark contrast. Conveying all the issues involved on film however, turned out to be learning process.
“Mik and I both come from an academic background, so the initial cut was 35 or 40 minutes because we felt like wanted to explain everything. After getting a lot of feedback from our instructors, we managed to edit it down to ten minutes or so, while still keeping the relevant content intact.”
It was during the editing process that Javier realized the inherent responsibility of making a documentary film. “It’s very important to honestly represent the issues involved; as a filmmaker you have this power to show stories from a certain bias – it’s almost scary when you realize that this is possible. As a filmmaker you have a responsibility to tell a story as truthfully as you can.”
And after countless hours of filming and editing, Javier and Mik have managed to do just that – tell an untold story about urban farming that honestly represents the issues involved.
Crowdfunding Tips for Independent Filmmakers
Funding independent films is never easy. The difficulties receiving grants and finding other sources of funding is a full-time job beyond the time it takes to actually work on the film itself!
Salam Films is a Vancouver-based international film production company that’s less than 48 hours away from ending our first crowdfunding campaign an alternative financing tool for creative and startup projects that’s emerging in North America, Europe and the Middle East.
We’re running our campaign to raise post-production funds for feature documentary, WAJD: Music, Politics & Ecstasy. The film traces Syrian-Canadian director Amar Chebib’s journey through Syria and Turkey to learn Arab Ottoman music. There he discovers its deep connection to Sufism and the sociopolitical influences that led to its suppression. The film is ultimately a story about this music’s ability to invoke a heart opening experience of universal beauty.
We’re making this film because we’re inspired to share the beauty of this music that has inspired us with the rest of the world. On September 4th we gratefully reached and surpassed our goal of $15,000, a few days before our campaign deadline of September 8th. This was not an easy feat, and we’re dedicated to continuing our work at the same pace until the end of our campaign. We have only 2 days left to reach our new goal of $20,000 so that the funds beyond our initial goal can go towards hiring an editing/story consultant and to doing a final sound mix at a professional studio.
Here’s a list of tips that incorporate some of what we’ve learned along the way:
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