Things I’ve learned while working on a big budget Hollywood film set

So it has been quite a while since my first addition to this blog some weeks ago. Fear not, because I have articles on the way, but non are at a level I'm happy with yet. I am trying to maintain, what by others has been deemed a high quality level of writing, and as such it takes me much longer to get anything done. In loo of a larger article I’ve decided to include something small but hopefully just as interesting.

I was given my first chance, this week, to work on a legitimate big budget film. This is by far not my first time on a set; however, it is my first time working as a actual contributing crew member (not a PA either). It was only one day, which lasted just 12 hours, but I still got to see lots and learn even more.

The following is a set of things that I learned and I thought you might find interesting as well.

1 ~At meal times crew eat before cast.
This sounds great if you’re a crewmember. On union gigs lunch is typically 6 hours after morning call so the sooner you get to eat the better. But what is the reason for this? Perhaps it is a tradition that has formed over the years to give some sort of thanks to the crew for working hard. Typically the crew have start times that are way earlier then cast and will wrap at the end of the day much later as well. While the cast hang around talking/eating/waiting for the next scene the crew is trying to get everything ready so that the cast can do their thing for 20 minutes.

You would think that this would all be a good reason to let the crew eat first, but in actuality the real reason is that the crew often have to return to work after the lunch break much sooner then the cast. (By the way, I’m not complaining about this, after all it is just a fact of the film industry. I just thought it was interesting)

2 ~ Never make eye contact with an actor during a take.
Apparently, making eye contact with an actor while filming can cause them to screw up and ruin a take. Evidently, with some actors you do not want to be the one who screws them up because you will have the wrath of god brought down upon you.
As such, all low and mid-level crew must make sure they are out of eye-line for the actors and must avert their eyes while the cameras are rolling.

3 ~ Money is of no consequence
Building a $100,000 custom, fully functioning set that will appear through the window of an equally expensive custom built set for exactly one shot is no big deal.
Having hundreds of crewmembers (of which it is pretty obvious most don’t need to be there most of the time) appears to be of no financial consequent to the production either.

However….

4 ~ Money is of major consequence (…when you screw up or delay a take)
On the flip side of number 3, making a mistake as a low or mid-level crewmember that delays or completely ruins a take is a very big deal and can result in screaming, yelling, carrying on and other behaviour that is usually reserved for a two year old or a moody teenager.
(Thankfully, I didn't have to learn this one the hard way)

5 ~ (Usually, on big budget productions) craft services (and all food in general) is great.
Ok. This one is obvious and self-explanatory, but I thought it needed to be mentioned anyway.

So that is it for now. Hopefully I’ll have more for you later on.