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The first video project session was predominantly introductory. We spent the first half of the session getting to know our director, Khieng Ly, and familiarising ourselves with our roles and responsibilities. Khieng went through each role in detail, explaining our jobs and what we should expect to be doing.

The second part of the session was spent going through the script we were going to be translating to the screen: 'One Good Turn'. The performers did a rough read through of the script, and then we discussed the script as a group, conversing about any changes or improvements we'd make to the script, as well as listening to Khieng explain to us his directorial vision for the film.

Overall, I came away from the first session being more clear on what my role of Assisstant Director entailed, and looking forward to making the script into a film.

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As an Assistant Director, my role would be to maintain the cast and crew, making sure everyone is on task and know what they're doing, as well as trying to figure out the most effective shooting schedule that would make the production process run as smoothly as possible. It also involves written aspects, such as making a script breakdown and daily call sheets for the production period. During shooting, as well as monitoring the cast and crew, as Assistant Director I would take on the responsibility of logging the shots on the clapper-board, and marking the shot up when we're going for a take.

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The first part of the second video session was spent going over the changes made to the script and discussing peoples initial ideas in their departments for the film. Jake, the other assistant director, and I spent the rest of the session discussing and writing out a rough shooting schedule for when we begin production. We figured this out by looking about how many scenes and shots were required for each location, and figuring out how many days we should put aside for filming at each location. We then discussed these ideas with the Producer, Director, and Location Manager, and when they approved, I typed the discussed schedule out and uploaded it onto Teams to make sure the rest of the cast and crew were informed of the plan.

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With the casting of 'One Good Turn' now finalised, this session was mainly spent on rehearsals and discussions of potential locations. Potential locations were discussed, keeping in mind everyones availability and the rough shooting schedule I had uploaded onto Teams. It was rewarding to see everything beginning to come together as we neared the end of the pre-production stage of the project, and it was so nice to see everyone working together like this was a professional industry project.

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This week marked the final session before easter and before we began production, so it was important to utilise the time. We were briefed by the director about where we were in regards to beginning the production period, including a shooting schedule based on the one I posted onto Teams. We discussed set and locations, as well as doing further rehearsals and test shots for the film. I also used this time to look at making call sheets, as it is my responsibility as assistant director. I began filling them in based on the locations and addresses that had already been planned and secured, and talking to Khieng about the call sheets and the proposed shooting schedule. Khieng had posted call sheet templates and examples from a previous group on Teams, and I used these as a guideline for making my call sheets.

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Our first session back after the Easter break was a whole group meeting to make sure everyone was ready to begin shooting, starting tomorrow. We went over the shooting schedule and filming plans again. It was in this session that I encountered my first potential issue. As Jake and I were sharing the Assistant Director role, we had discussed and agreed to take turns being both first and second assistant director, as we both wanted to make sure that we got equal opportunities in the role. However, in the meeting today we were split into one first Assistant Director and one second Assistant Director, with myself being given the role of second Assistant Director. Honestly this change made me feel worried, as it didn't feel me and Jake were getting equal opportunities anymore.

The rest of the session was spent doing test shots in preparation for shooting tomorrow, and I became increasingly worried. Jake was doing all the things I expecting to do when I went for the Assistant Director role, while I was doing very little overall. It didn't feel like I was getting equal opportunities, and I really wanted to be useful and get stuck in with filming, but it felt like there was no place for me. Since I had nothing else to do, I spent the rest of the session working on the call sheet for tomorrow. I felt like I should talk to Khieng about how I felt underutilised, but I decided to wait until we actually started shooting tomorrow, to see if things changed when we were actually properly shooting.

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On Teams, my Director posted these videos that would give me more insight into what it means to be an Assistant Director. The videos entail details on how to do script breakdowns and what it is like to be an Assistant Director on set. I watched these videos and found them very helpful for understanding me role and what would be expected of me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMep2s_T89c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dApsBTjWI-o

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Today marked the beginning of the production period of our Video Project Module. Our goal for the day was to shoot the entirety of Scene 1. As second Assistant Director, I once again found myself not really being needed. My job as 2nd AD was mainly to manage the actors, but the actors were incredibly responsible and self sufficient, and were only a few meters from the Director, meaning if he wanted anything from them he was able to just tell them himself rather than having me tell the actors. I wanted to be useful, and I know I am a very competent and capable person, so being stuck on the sidelines really upset me. Therefore, I decided to take action.

Firstly, I spoke to Jake about how I was feeling, and he agreed that it didn't feel equal and fair. Then, during our lunch break, I approached Khieng, with Jake, to express how I was feeling. Khieng was incredibly understanding about everything, and we arranged to have me and Jake alternate the 1st AD role and responsibilities, and only have a 2nd AD when one was required. After speaking to Khieng I felt so much better about the whole situation, and excited that I would now be able to get more involved with the filming process. I'm also very glad that I decided to be proactive and try to fix my issues rather than just accepting them and spending the whole production period feeling upset and under-valued. I went home during lunch, as I was not needed, and then spent my time working on the call sheet for Wednesday.

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The goals for the second day of production was to shoot scene 7B, and this day marked my first day as 1st AD. I felt that I really threw myself into the role as I was excited to get really involved in the filming process. I found myself being very proactive, and always looking for something I could do to help out. While we were setting up, I made sure to do everything I could to make sure we could start filming as soon as possible. I discussed the plan for the day and the shot list with the Director and the DOP, and made sure that any excess bags or trollies from equipment were moved into another room so they weren't in the way when we began filming. I also made sure that hair and make-up moved all their supplies into another room when they were finished. This meant that when all the equipment was set up the room was ready for filming. As 1st AD it was my job to mark shots with the clapperboard, and make sure set was quiet while we were going for a take. It was also my job to cue camera and sound to begin rolling. Filming ran very smoothly, we got all the shots we wanted to, and some extra shots.

We finished on time, and after filming I had a short meeting with the Producer and the Director to discuss our filming plans. Originally, we were planning to film in the park on the Thursday and Friday, but when looking at the weather it was forecast to rain on those days. Therefore, we decided to leave the park scenes this week, as the Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week looked a lot sunnier. After filming, I went home and worked on the call sheet for the house scenes on Monday. It was important to be as efficient as possible when making the call sheet, as we were only allowed a limited number of people at that location. This meant that I doubled up a lot of the roles to limit the number of people there.

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Though I wasn't required to be on set for this day of filming, I still had to get up early to make sure that everything was okay and sorted. We had some issues with one crew member on the call sheet. We hadn't heard from them and were unsure if they were going to show up to set or not. Therefore, I made sure to have people on standby to replace them on set if needed. Then, late on the Sunday evening, I got a message from another crew member telling me that the crew member we hadn't heard from wasn't going to show up.

Therefore, I began solving this problem. I messaged the person I had on standby to replace them for one of their roles, and made sure that they knew the call time and the address. I then messaged the Director to inform him of the situation, telling him I had cover confirmed to take over one of her roles but not the other, but also wasn't sure how necessary it was to have someone come in to cover that role, because they might not be doing much. He replied quickly and let me know that he'd already discussed and had someone else on standby to fill the other role. I was worried it wouldn't get sorted in time because of how late it was, but communication and organisation meant that we were prepared.

When Monday came, more problems arose, as another member of the crew fell ill and wasn't able to make the filming. Luckily, the person we had on standby was also responsible for that role, so I meesaged them and made sure they knew that they were needed, and they made their way to set.

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Issues arose straight away for this day of shooting because our protagonist had fallen ill and wasn't able to come in that day. This put us in a very difficult position as all the scenes we planned to film had the protagonist in. After some discussion, we just decided to film what we could today, and plan to film the rest tomorrow, in the hopes that the actor would feel better. When we had our plan in place, we went to the location and began shooting what we could.

I assumed the role of 1st AD again, keeping an eye on the equipment while we were out in public. I also, once again, was marking up shots on the clapperboard, and cueing camera and sound to start rolling. I was also communicating with the Production Coordinator, making sure they knew what shot and take we were on, so their production log could be accurate and up to date. Disregarding the initial issue of the day, the filming we could do went fairly smoothly, the only problems being members of the public ignoring us when we asked them to wait for the end of the take, and the changes in weather. People walking into frame meant that at least a section of a perfectly good take became unusable, and the changes in weather meant we had to go back and reshoot some shots we'd already moved on from. Overall, we worked efficiently with the situation, and we managed to get everything we could get filmed done, wrapping for the day by 1pm. When I went home I figured out and posted the call sheet, so that the scenes we were meant to film today were editing onto the call sheet for tomorrow.

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Today marked the final day of the production period. It was another early start, as we had a lot to get through, needing to shoot both the scene planned for the day and everything that we couldn't shoot yesterday. My role for the first half of the day was 2nd AD, and this was the day that communication via walkie talkies was utilised the most. The walkie talkies were used when filming was taking place at a distance, and they were used to request crew members to come over if needed, and to cue actors during a take. The walkie talkies made potentially difficult communications very simple and easy.

Since it was a long shoot, for the last few hours of the day I once again assumed the role of 1st AD, while the other Assistant Director took on 2nd AD responsibilities. This meant that for a few of the shots, I was now the one giving requests and communicating the Director's wishes through the walkie talkie. This included speaking about shot plans with the other AD, cueing actors, and telling the 2nd AD the shot and take number so they could update the Production Coordinator. As well as this, I was also fulfilling my usual 1st AD responsibilities, like marking up each shot and cueing camera and sound. We finally wrapped at 7pm, and all shooting for 'One Good Turn' was officially wrapped. It was really rewarding to finally finish shooting, and I am looking forward to seeing all our hard work pay off when we watch the edited piece.

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Correspondence about Monday's call sheet

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Correspondence about Monday's call sheet