Frenchie trainee diary - by Léa
Hiya! I hope everyone’s holidays were full of family/friends, presents, food, and drinks! On my side, I used this holiday to stuff my belly with amazing homemade dinners and most importantly, to relax after a great year of work! As New Year's is the time to reflect on the year that has passed, I look back and realise I have been so lucky. I have had the amazing opportunity to take my first steps in the TV drama world, work on features with lovely people, and to continue working in commercials and short films along the way. It’s been absolutely amazing, so a big thank you to everyone who took me on! It took me about a two years to get here, and it wasn’t easy, so let's track back to the first time I made my first film contact.
When I was in film school, I was always a bit frustrated, because I knew I wanted to work in the camera department but I wasn’t able to specialise in it until the last 4 months of school. At the time, that was too long for me to wait! And of course when you’re first starting, there’s always that fearful wondering: “But how can I meet my first contact? How do I get on a shoot!?” It’s tricky when you don’t know many people and you have no idea how to approach someone, especially when you’re a bit shy, like me. But when you gotta, you just gotta! Luckily, a friend of mine from my course got on a student film to do behind-the-scenes videography, and told me that they were looking for background extras for a scene. So the MA students got in touch with me and sent me all the details for the shoot. However, two days before the shoot, I twisted my ankle really badly playing football and couldn’t walk. I was on crutches, but I was desperate to be on set and meet people, I asked them if I could just come and watch, which luckily they agreed to. When on set, I just sat down, and observed, trying to learn as much as possible. I even asked the production team if they needed any help, but seeing my injury, they of course told me to sit down and relax. I was trying to be as out of way as possible, when I heard someone speaking French, I thought ‘Great, this is my chance!’ I introduced myself to her and we got talking, and it turns out she was a producer! There she was, my first contact! Next thing I know I’m booked as a runner for another short film she’s producing the month after.
From then on, I tried to introduce myself to as many people as possible on every shoot. In time, my working on MetFilm MA shoots turned into working on Grad shoots, then NFTS shoots, and then I eventually got my first job as a camera trainee on a short film. Not long after that, I got my first paid job! Everything starts from an introduction, so be patient and work hard!
When I got asked be do my first ever paid job as a camera trainee, I was so excited. It was a mini win for me! I had the biggest smile on my face, but very soon after, I got really REALLY nervous. Am I ready? What if I mess everything up? What if I had no idea what they ask of me? What if I’m late for work or get lost? Will I understand the jargon? All the ‘what if’s’ came to mind and I didn’t get a good night sleep, as I couldn't stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong!
Luckily, we had a prep day before the shoot. I had never done a prep day before so, again, I had no clue what was going to be expected of me and what tasks I was meant to perform. The morning came, and with a lot of alarms and pre-planning the best public transportation route, I arrived about an hour early at the rental company. This is what happens when you’re nervous! Once I got my pass and my test room number, I went through the double doors and in an instant, I was completely lost! There were so many people running around, it was quite intimidating being in a big rental house and having no idea who to talk to and where to go. Eventually, I found the focus puller and she showed me the test room. She knew I was very green at the time, so she made sure to show me what I had to do to help her. She very kindly answered my questions and overall, the day went pretty smoothly.
When the first shoot day came, I was equally nervous, as I wanted to continue making good impression on the camera team. But all day I felt like I was doing the worst job I had ever done! I hadn’t realised how much there was to do and keep track of. It was definitely a baptism of fire! I loved that I was learning so much but I was also very upset with myself during the whole shoot, as I was convinced I wasn’t doing a good job. However, I continued working as hard as I could. When wrap was called and we were packing everything up, the focus puller came to see me and, to my total surprise, thanked me for the great day. She said I did a great job and that she would definitely call me again and would even be my reference and help me out with my CV! I was ecstatic! How amazing is that! She is still someone I work with to this day, so I'm glad it went better than I thought it did.
I learnt everything on set: from how to hold a lens, to knowing what’s needed for different camera builds, to how to prep a job with the focus puller, all by observing and asking questions. It can be daunting to ask questions while working, as you don’t want to ask something when they are busy, but… they are always busy haha! So try and pick the right moment. You soon learn where your place is on set, and gain trust of the people who hired you. Then they’ll most likely give you more responsibility, like stepping up to clap the board while the second goes to ten-one (which means going on a toilet break), or building the next set up and focus pulling while they step away to take a work call. Not long after my first experience on set, the same focus puller took me on as her second ac on a short film. I had already learned how to slate and knew some of the responsibilities of a second, but everything was still very new to me. On the last day of the short, when I was more confident, the focus puller asked me to take over while she stepped away. The trainee and I had to change from a tripod setup to putting the camera on the jib, as well as setting up the monitors and focus pulling on rehearsals. As the trainee and I knew exactly what to do, we managed to pull it off and be ready for the shot when the focus puller came back. It showed me how important it was to know the role above yours as much as your own, as you never know when you’ll find yourself needing to step up for your department. So always be ready!
You’ll learn something on every job, whether it’s how to use new equipment, new set ups, or new ways to troubleshoot. Try to soak it all up and to be better at your job than you were the day before. If you can do that, you should be on your way to great adventures! New year, new goals! Be positive, go meet new people and enjoy every shoot!
My 2020 New Year resolution: Make more contacts, work with the wonderful people I know well, work on more TV Dramas and commercials than last year, step up to clapper loader, and spend time with my loved ones!
Best of luck for this new year to all of you and take care of yourself! Speak soon
Léa xx
