I took a PA job. When I was younger I dreaded being a Production Assistant (PA) because I had so much talent and everyone should listen to me. Now at my ripe age of Manhood, and a bit of humility…I’ve decided to accept a PA position with a production team coming through Greensboro, NC, for a program to air on a Major Cable Network. With experience on my side this should be an interesting three days.
I’m hired to label the tapes and make sure Tape A goes with Camera A. To be honest that is something I hate doing when I shoot bands…it’s essential but a pain in the rear. I’m lazy but I know it has to be done. To hire a person to do that exclusively, means you are working with professionals and they need to have all their attention fixed on the shoot. Hand me the tape and get out of the way. Cool with me. I get to learn more from these professionals.
When I get hired to do any job I do my job as best as I can. I don’t step out of my position. You hire me as a PA, you got one. Don’t expect me to question the shot or suggest a different one. I understand how that can be a pain in the rear. Now if I’m asked my opinion then I will give it. But I have to much respect for the crew to question their abilities. Even if I don’t agree with it. I just lock that thought away and try to understand why it was done.
I’ve been doing this for the past ten years and I’ve worked in almost every position when it comes to production. It helps whether I get hired as a Director or even a PA. We’ll see how I feel at the end of the week.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Rob // Sep 25, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Reminds me of the time several years ago I started working on a five day shoot as a PA and ended up with 2nd 2nd AC. They were shooting with two Sony Z1U cameras when it was the newest thing around.
We worked each day from about 4PM until 4AM the next morning. Because everyone was working for free, they were rotating the PAs through the various departments so you’d get the chance to learn more. On my day to work with the camera crew they had me wrangling the cables that tethered the camera to the sound cart. At one point they sent me back to the production trailer to fetch the next set of blank tapes.
At the trailer they handed me some master quality DV tapes … not miniDV … full size DV tapes. I took one look at these and told them that they were the wrong size tapes for these cameras. The producer heard me and said they were the ones supplied by the rental house, which was closed by that time of night.
We both went back to the set where he verified that the tapes were, indeed, the wrong size. They discussed the various options they had including getting someone from the rental house to open the shop and get them the right tapes.
I piped up and told them that I could get my hands on four Sony master quality miniDV tapes in under an hour. (I had a friend that had the same camera and had showed me the box of tapes he had bought just that week.)
So I did and was the hero of the hour. This got me my first and, so far, only IMDB credit.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0483350/fullcredits#cast
So there are those occasions when it pays to speak up, but you better be right.
Peace,
Rob:-]
2 Andy Coon // Sep 25, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Great story Rob.
Fortunately for me the crew was full of professionals all I had to do was sit back and move a light when the DP needed it and log each interview as it was going on.
I enjoyed my time with them and I already got another gig referred by the crew I worked with.
How sweet is that.
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