So what the heck is a First AD.
Well I didnt even know there was such a job role untill one of my friends was first AD on a short film production they shot in Iceland. So this was the first time I ever really heard of such a role, after speaking to my friend she filled me in on her experiences of being first AD and what it meant.
So this is what Skillset said :
The First Assistant Director (AD) is the Director’s right hand person, taking responsibility for a number of important practicalities so that the Director is free to concentrate on the creative process. During pre-production, First ADs break down the script into a shot-by-shot storyboard, and work with the Director to determine the shoot order, and how long each scene will take to film. They then draw up the overall shooting schedule (a timetable for the filming period). Once the film is in production, Firsts are in charge of making sure that every aspect of the shoot keeps to this schedule.
Quite an important job then ey?
I am quite an organised person and I’d like to think that although I havent done this role on also not worked on a feature film before that the knowledge and experience, I have learnt from working on a variety of different projects will help me to grow as a proffesional.
This is a massive learning curve for all of us.. so we are all growing together. We will all make mistakes but we will also learn from them. We will all worry and get anxious but we will all soak up the excitement and make magic happend :).
Plus there is no other feeling then being on set with an amazing director and crew behind you, watching something you have lived and breathed through pre production and invisued but only through paper. Sit back and watch it come to life!
Where to start…
Firstly I wanted to break down the script as it is feature film the script is naturally long. 74 Pages to be exact. So after reading the script several times.. I began to sit down and work out the scenes as our script writer hadnt put script indications in the script.. although it made my job harder and made this task more time consuming it needed to be done anyway. It was good practice and in the end I think it will make me a stronger and better AD because I will know the script inside out and have it in my head for quick reference aswell as in the production folder. I was very adminant that I wanted to be very hands on with myself in terms of knowing the script, its my job to keep everyone in the loop and to be a good first AD, there were things I wanted to go out of my way to do to make sure I will be the best first AD on this production. For example things like doing the script break down, getting hold of character profiles, meeting actors before we shoot, knowing seb’s vision for the film he’s expectations etc.
The breakdown begins..
Once I had worked out all the scenes it was easier for me then to create a break down. I decided to colour co-ordinate each location. Red was Billings Household, Brown was the Writing Class, Purple was first psyc office etc.. you get the idea. It looks a little like this..
From this I spilt all the scenes and grouped them together in locations. So I put all the house scenes together and then all the Cliff top scenes etc.. this would make it easier for when I came to do the schedule because I could then work out what scenes could be filmed and when.
As you can see from the images I listed each scene and the pages they were on, this would make the shooting schedule a lot more easier to organise as I have done majority of the work by breaking it down.
From this I made a template and began to make the first schedule for our test shoot : 23rd April.
From this Schedule it helped me to understand how organised you have to be in order to keep things on time on each shooting day. This is cruical because say you only have your location for an allocated time you need to make sure you get everything set up and filmed in that time. In that example it is vital that everything runs smoothly in order to get your scenes filmed.
From being on set for our test shoot, I got a feel of how important my job is and that it is my responsibility, to make sure the director can do his job and that everything is in place for him. Then he/she can just focus soley on getting the best from the actors and getting his creative vision into the scenes. Which is how it should be done. We all have a role to play in the making of putting together this film and if we dont all pull our own weight then it wont work. I believe that from being involved with previous projects from both years at university and outside projects. That it has helped me to grow in confidence as a media producer which has helped to push me into bigger roles and to challenge myself in all fields of media, mostly film.
Feedback from my fellow media producers and crew members. : (I thought it was important when reflecting back to find out from an proffesional point of view what it is like to work with me haha. Its not always the easiest thing to hear especically if its critisim but if we dont ask we wont learn from it :).
Seb Shaw – Producer/Script Writer of Boogeyman :
“Ally is a highly motivated and committed to this project, She is organised and conducts herself in a proffesional manor. Ally is very hard working and has great people skills too.”
Chris Hammond – Director of Boogeyman :
I’ve worked with Ally on several projects, most recently, The Boogeyman where she has the role of Assistant Director. I find her to be very reliable and a great benefit to this production. She used great instuitive when going around solving problems and is a real teamplayer. She shows a real passion for her role and performs it good with crew and talent alike.
Emma Fielder – Camera Operator/ Lighting Technician of Boogeyman.
I think Ally is a very hard worker. When it came to editing the BBC project she ended up being the only editor doing two peoples jobs. as the assistant director on Boogeyman she has held the project together and I think without her we would to be as far ahead as we are.
Sunil Singh – Camera Operator of Boogeyman.
Ally It’s been great to work with one of my good mates, and who said you can’t work with your close mates? We’ve not worked on much apart from a few test shoots however she is an organized individual and she doesn’t need telling to do anything. Not only is she doing her 1st AD role to the highest order but she has taken it upon herself to be a Producer as well, which may seem like a hard task but she has done it and done it well. With other members of our team failing to live up to their roles she has been the heart beat of the group and has organized everything we have doneto date. Easy to talk to and a great communicator so what more could you ask for.
First AD and Actress – Dawn Adhem
Media Production Year Two 