I arrived on the set a week ago Sunday. Once you get your pass from the gates of the Universal backlot, you’re free to drive anywhere that’s not blocked off. Technically, you really should drive to your set but it’s okay if you “get lost” because someone can always point you in the right direction.

The only other time I had been in the backlot was on that tour with Universal Studios. So this was nice, up close and personal. It was very enjoyable to see everything on my leisure and having heard some of what they tell you on the tour helped!

When I got to the house, I met the assistant director and a couple of other people. I immediately went up with the producer into the house where there was a ton of constuction, moving around, people going to and from. I basically just looked lost and followed around the producer like a little puppy until someone asked for my help. Once I got my feet wet by helping out a little, it wasn’t so bad.

The first day of shooting went relatively well and I think everyone got what they wanted. Having had no experience on a movie set before, I stood around watching and listening to everything happening. Being a production assistant (PA) is like being an intern: you are told what to do and you should assist anyone you can at any moment in time. You should always be asking what else you can do to help. Then, when you’re not needed, you stay out of the way. Not glamorous, but these people are needed.

My favorite thing about the whole week was a free, catered lunch. It was a nice breakfast in the morning usually with eggs and other delicious food, and then a grilled meal for lunch. I ate very well last week and even took some food home to save money!

As nice as the first day of shooting went, the rest of the week had its ups and downs. Either there was a few scenes that had to be way too many times for technical reasons or there was too much on the schedule to be shot in one day. Or it was just a slow day. I mean, there are way too many reasons why production could have turned sour, but overall it stuck together. The crew, especially the director of photography, grips, electricians, directors and producers, put in very long hours and abused how long they should be working during the day. Basically, there was a lot of filming to be done and not much time to do it.

I realize how valuable this experience really was for me. This will especially be helpful when I hopefully help the producer with post production after the film has been edited. I’m excited to see how it turns out and hope that it wins some awards because that’d be an awesome first movie on my resume/reel.