The Anonymous Production Assistant

Am I Too Small?

Indy (a college student) writes in: I’m currently in college, and I’m interested in working behind the scenes for film and television. I would love to someday become a cinematographer, but one question that I’ve always wondered is if I’m too small to hold and operate a camera for long periods of time. I’m very […]

Boredom

A lot of time on set is spent sitting around, waiting for other people to do their jobs. You gotta wait for the actors to block the scene, then wait for grips and electrics to light it, then camera has to set focus marks, then hair, make-up, and costume have to fix up the actors, […]

The Most Hated Department

The camera department are jerks.  They’re rude, arrogant, self-centered, and self-important. Now, realize that I used to be a loader and a 2nd AC, and I was no exception.  I’m speaking from the inside, here. In the camera department, we always sit by ourselves at lunch; we don’t mingle with the rest of the crew.  […]

Telling Stories

In keeping with this week’s sexual deviancy theme, I thought I’d finally get to the “…And then he woke up with a dick in his mouth” story. In the film and TV business, you meet new people all the time. You’re regularly expected to exchange pleasantries with strangers. This kind of small talk bugs me, […]

I’m Important

Everyone thinks their department is the most important. When I was a young loader, the first ACs would constantly tell me about how the film was gold. Everything everybody did that day came down to the canister of film in my hand. Without the camera, it’s not a movie, it’s a play. It’s like they […]