Today I was a "movie director assistant".
The pro-life group in our city wants a promo video made for the March for Life, and they asked the same man, Austin, that did the
video for our church to make it [the video].
My parents volunteered me to be his assistant for the day - today - while he was shooting part of the movie. Honestly, at first I wasn't really that excited about it. Writing down people's names and running errands the whole day? Ehh.
But wouldn't you know...it turned out to be fun. It was really cool to see a different aspect of art - videography (is that a word?) as opposed to photography. And now I know how to fold a reflector! :)
So, here are the steps if you want to become an assistant...
1. Get volunteered by your parents.
2. When the appointed day arrives, drag yourself out of bed at 7:15am.
3. Help Austin find a good spot for shooting.
4. Have your little brother (aka The Voice of Doom...read the comment section of
this post to find out what I'm talking about) sit in the chair to test the lighting and camera.
5. Wait for people to arrive.
6. Find out that there's going to be a meeting regarding what's going to be in the video before shooting.
7. Sit through a three hour meeting.
8. Help your dad order pizza for everyone for lunch.
9. Go to thirty minutes of a 1 1/2 hour study session.
10. Find out that Austin is already shooting and leave the study session. Make a mental note to listen to the archive later.
11. Race upstairs to where the interviews are being set up.
12. Marvel at how professional everything looks, from light reflectors to bright lights.
13. Get handed a boom microphone.
14. Hold the microphone over the person being interviewed, then find out that you have to wear headphones.
15. Since your hands are full with holding the boom mic, have Austin put the headphones on your head.
16. Realize how high quality the headphones are (Seriously...they were to make sure that the mics were picking up the sound. Oh my gosh. I could hear EVERYTHING. It was pretty cool, even though I probably looked like an absolute dork.).
17. Look around and wish you had your camera. Ask The Voice of Doom to get it for you. The little stinker says no. Think, "There go the pictures for my blog post."
18. You're relieved when you get a break from holding the microphone.
19. Hold the microphone again.
20. After the interviews, help put all the equipment away.
21. Realize that folding a reflector isn't as easy as it looks. It took me about 10 times with everyone watching me. Talk about embarrassing.
22. Go home, and die of the 90 degree heat.
23. Relax at home with your laptop, an ice cold latte, and the Jack Johnson station. Ahh.
What was
your Friday like? Did anyone else make a movie? ;)
-carlotta
