Any good books about PA out there?

Trial by fire, go be a PA.

Now don't make me walkie to the AD and tell him you're in the camera truck. This is the cinematography section. Unless you are bringing us our paper work or lunch order, scoot. Oh, and this walkie batt is dead, I'll need another.
 
What do you really want to do? If you want to be in production, by all means, continue to try and find more information about being a PA and what you can do to be better. However, if you want to be in camera but you're getting PA jobs for now, the best thing to do is read up on being a camera assistant and let production know that's what you want to do. Eventually they'll throw you into the mix, soon they'll bring on soley as a camera PA, then next thing you know you'll be a 2nd, then you'll be a big time 1st working on Star Wars VII. It'll be great. :)
 
yeah, but some productions say that PA need to have experience? what? I can't get a PA job because I'm not experience, I'm not experience because I can't get a PA job.
 
Yup! What is crazy is how i find on big hollywood films, the PA's are actually older vertern PA's. It's no longer fresh out of school stepping stone job, but really a career on these big union shows. Some of the PA's I meet from big studio flicks have typically been PA'ing for over 15+ years. It's a career at that level, with some moving up in production or out to other departments. That was one of the few surprises I found when I was starting out... as I always expected the PA's to be young hardworking new blood, not hardened, trained vets.

Of course on smaller films and most commercial work, I find the new kids are still welcome as PA's... but on really big features, most of the PA's are just as trained and experienced as the rest of the crew. Pretty amazing.
 
Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
Yup! What is crazy is how i find on big hollywood films, the PA's are actually older vertern PA's. It's no longer fresh out of school stepping stone job, but really a career on these big union shows. Some of the PA's I meet from big studio flicks have typically been PA'ing for over 15+ years. It's a career at that level, with some moving up in production or out to other departments. That was one of the few surprises I found when I was starting out... as I always expected the PA's to be young hardworking new blood, not hardened, trained vets.

Of course on smaller films and most commercial work, I find the new kids are still welcome as PA's... but on really big features, most of the PA's are just as trained and experienced as the rest of the crew. Pretty amazing.
Click to expand...


that's immensely depressing. Do these experienced PA's get higher rates than younger PA's?
 
No, but they're all working for something. Usually they're trying to get all of their days for the DGA so they can move up and start to be a 2nd AD or a 2nd 2nd. Some people take longer than others, but it seems like if you're taking your time with it you can get all your days in 4-5 years. Some people do the trainee program and get through it very quickly, skipping a lot of that stuff.

Honestly once you see these guys and you see that they are trained and as experienced as the rest of us, you understand that a PA is not always a job for a random kid off the street. Depending on where they are, they are just extensions of the production department.

As far as you needing experience to become a PA, just start working for free. You don't need experience to do that!
 
RyanT said:
Usually they're trying to get all of their days for the DGA so they can move up and start to be a 2nd AD or a 2nd 2nd. Some people take longer than others, but it seems like if you're taking your time with it you can get all your days in 4-5 years. Some people do the trainee program and get through it very quickly, skipping a lot of that stuff.
Click to expand...

DGA trainee program is 2 years--fast compared to 4 or 5, but I don't think anyone would really call that "very quick"! It's a lot of pressure, I've seen quite a few not make it through the program.

Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
Oh, and this walkie batt is dead, I'll need another.
Click to expand...

Now Ryan, surely you know the proper jargon on that one: "I need a hot brick"...!
 
hahaha, yeah. I try to use a walkie as little as possible. Hate those things. But of course it's the first thing I complain about when we don't have them! :)
 
Never thought it would be in my wheelhouse either, but between the advent of digital (and the DP sequestered into the DIT tent), the insistence that we roll on the first rehearsal (aka take 1) and the ever accelerating working speed, I can't imagine not having one at this point. I recently designed a teeny breakout box that lets me feed the Comtex into the earpiece so I can hear the dialogue as well as communicate to my crew without having to wear an extra headset.
 
CharlesPapert said:
Never thought it would be in my wheelhouse either, but between the advent of digital (and the DP sequestered into the DIT tent), the insistence that we roll on the first rehearsal (aka take 1) and the ever accelerating working speed, I can't imagine not having one at this point. I recently designed a teeny breakout box that lets me feed the Comtex into the earpiece so I can hear the dialogue as well as communicate to my crew without having to wear an extra headset.
Click to expand...

Have you seen these Charles?

http://www.surveillanceheadset.com/3wire_mp3_surveillance_headsets.aspx

While usually used for music, could be great for that application too.

CharlesPapert said:
DGA trainee program is 2 years--fast compared to 4 or 5, but I don't think anyone would really call that "very quick"!
Click to expand...

Ha, it's all relative of course! My friend who watched many trainees go from some guy on the street to trainee to full fledged DGA member in a couple of years felt like they were just blazing past everyone.

He also told me a little bit about this thing called third area, where even when you get in, you can't work in LA until another specific number of days. So if you're trying to work in Los Angeles, there is another additional time period tacked onto that 4-5 years for you to go through. Seems pretty tough compared to the trainee program!
 
Last edited:
I had seen that headset Ryan, and my interest was in making an interface that would let me use the headset of my choosing as I prefer an over-ear with boom than in-ear with dangling mike a la the surveillance setup. My preferred headset is actually a telecommunications item so we used an 1/8" jack vs the dual Motorola on the box, and put the PTT button there too. Also I can regulate the volume of the Comtek via a pot on the box (the Comtex volume controls are a little challenging to operate quickly) so if I need to divert all attention to the walkie conversation, I can kill the dialogue quickly. Coffey Sound made the prototype for me and they are proceeding to do a production run with some modifications. That is probably far more than you cared to know about the thing, but at least you can see why I wanted a custom setup!

On the DGA trainee thing: yes, everything is relative. An accelerated program is good for some, not for others. I watched a few vibrant young people age quickly in those two years!! It's a tough job, AD'ing in the big time.

Back to the original question more specifically. The smaller the job, the more a PA will get to do outside of lockups and herding background. I spent 2.5 years as a PA in on commercials and industrials etc and I was more of a "jack of all trades", helping out whichever department needed it than what PA's normally do on bigger jobs, which suited me fine. I used that time to study the camera department and how they went about things, and learned a lot about lighting from watching what was done and what the results were. I asked questions, but carefully and only to those who were receptive. Mostly I tried to anticipate where someone would be needed and be there before I was asked. If a BNC got snagged on something during a dolly move, I'd bolt over and ask "can I wrangle for you?" Common sense and paying attention were the two defining factors that got me hired back, and when I lacked those for one reason or another (being a typical 19-20 yr old and far from perfect), I wouldn't get asked back.
 
Wow Charles, you started out young. Do you recommend me to go to a high production city like L.A so I can be around skilled filmmakers. It doesn't seem like there's many good filmmakers in Houston.
 
Haha Victor, I bet there's a few people in Houston on this board who might read that and be a little miffed!

It all depends on what your goals are. If you are looking to break into the legit industry, LA is still arguably the busiest, even with the runaway production we have experienced. There's a lot going on at all levels of filmmaking. But there are great opportunities in many cities now due to the tax incentives. Georgia and Louisiana have a lot of production and New York is doing well these days.
 
CharlesPapert said:
Haha Victor, I bet there's a few people in Houston on this board who might read that and be a little miffed!

It all depends on what your goals are. If you are looking to break into the legit industry, LA is still arguably the busiest, even with the runaway production we have experienced. There's a lot going on at all levels of filmmaking. But there are great opportunities in many cities now due to the tax incentives. Georgia and Louisiana have a lot of production and New York is doing well these days.
Click to expand...

+1

LA still has it, even though California treats the industry like they are owed it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top