04 April 2009

some valuable lessons i learned as a photography assistant:

  • always carry a sharpie. (eric always said, "a good assistant always carries a sharpie" and he was right. it's surprising how often one is needed.)
  • how to properly wind a cord. (over, under, over, under...)
  • anticipate ones needs (by doing this you become more useful to those around you)
  • it's difficult to read ones mind when they focus too much on one thing (naked lesbian pool party)
  • you will never have to buy groceries if you are willing to eat left overs (especially large amounts of one item such as a giant bag of Sonic chicken fingers or 30 packs of King's Hawaiian rolls.)
  • working for free will not always get you paid work, but you might have fun and will be fed for the day.
  • most of the people you meet on a set are not your friends. they are merely connections.
  • never walk into an office and immediately look at the television. you never know what you might see and some people don't mind watching their porn at work. 
  • don't break stuff!

I'm sure there are many more, but these were the few that really stuck with me. Either because there was some sort of shock value (like walking into an office with porn on the television) or it was actually useful elsewhere, not just on set. 

1 comment:

Rady said...

Now that everything is digital, the usefulness of the sharpie has decreased, but it still has it's place.