First week

At the end of the first week |(admittedly lasting only three days) I am dizzy and hopeful and raring to go. But first some facts. There are 19 people in our crew (Crew 14, that’s us). Mostly blokes, and 4 women. We are a mix of age groups from 18 to 43, from various parts of New Zealand, a couple of Yanks and other assorted foreigners.

Our day will be from 8.45 till 16.30 with a one hour break for lunch. First day was devoted to admin, handing out locker keys and pc passwords and filling forms. We learnt about unit and 1st AD duties, which involve keeping the kitchen clean and completing the attendance roster. We were also handed call sheets, a weekly page that shows all events, locations and other information for the coming week. That way everyone knows where they have to be when. And we were reminded of the importance of being punctual, since that is the first rule of all film work: be on time or this is your last job. Just like a real film set ;-)

 On day 2 we were introduced to first concepts of digital media, line resolution and video formats. Factoid of the day: did you know that cats can distinguish 130 frames per second to the human ability of 24 frames per second? Not surprising that my cat stared uncomprehending at the screen, all she sees are series of still frames.

 Highlight of the week for me was a trip to the film archive. First we got to watch old newsreel on the big screen and touch actual 2 inch video tape and then got to spend the rest of the afternoon with the DVD viewing library. Rows and rows of footage right there for the watching (see above photo)! 

Lastly we were introduced to the cute little Panasonic camcorders we get to use for our projects, watched Some Like it Hot as an introduction to the Friday screenings, where we will all present our own chosen feature one day, and met some people from the NZ film industry. A good first week.