The language of set

The world of a film set is a mysterious and wonderful place to those on the outside, and it is a world that has developed it's own language and culture. Anthropologists should study this culture, sociologists should write about it, and if Ebonics get's its own additions to the dictionary - then film sets should too. The sheer fact that you can overhear "Go grab me a butt plug," with the ease others might as for the salt to be passed at the dinner table, should tell you something. Let me give you a few simple examples...

You wouldn't want to be traveling and not be able to ask someone a simple question like "Where is a bathroom?" In the same way one of the first things you need to learn on set, as with learning any language, is how to communicate about that same need. Now film sets are full of people on Walkies, in fact a herd of PA's (production assistants for those of you who don't know) will have to keep up with an elaborate code of information passed through those walkies. In a situation like that you can't say that the lead actor is in the bathroom when people start asking for them! So the simple code for going to the bathroom is "I'm going 10-1." Or "I'm going 10-2" (if it's a #2). Or "I'm going 10-1 for a while" (if you're actually feeling sick and may be gone for a bit more than the allotted 60 seconds). The fastest way to tell that it's a PA's first gig is when they tell you they are off to the bathroom... clearly they have not learned their first language lesson.

These language lessons get more advanced depending on the department you work in, with the clear PhD's to be found in the Grip & Electric departments. These guys are incredibly difficult to understand at times. They have names for every piece of equipment that they work with, every connector to put those pieces together, and every kind of coffee/cigarette/soda-break they can invent. It is in these departments that things get extreme as the "butt plug," which disappointingly is just a simple piece of equipment for a light stand. They chat on and on about "3-fer's" "quacker clamps" "duckbills" "apple boxes" "stinger's" and "C47's" and none of the rest
know what they are saying. It's only the chosen few who ever need to delve this deep into this mysterious language.

As a sage of a gaffer once said, "Get me a baby baby on a pigeon on a pancake with some schmutz on it and kick her in the side of the face with it." --Guy Vergolini (clearly an advanced student of the film language)

My So-Called Freelance Life

Every year or so I need to look back at the actual business structure of being self-employed (generally it happens when I have a slow month). When Tiger Woods begins his training for each season, it's said that be asks his trainer to start with the basics as if he didn't even know how to hold a golf club. Well that is similar to what I do when I need good motivation, encouragement and focus. I go back to the business section of my local bookstore and look for a book on how to get started. I know that this is a particularly nerdy confession, reading business books over novels, but some of us need to be nerds so the rest can just get the recommendations. :) Well for a freelancer, even one who's been on their own for years, this is my newest favorite:

Not only is it written in a fun way, it refreshed the way I was looking at my work. So often freelancers are just looking for the next gig and that last paycheck to come it, but being self-employed is really just owning a company with 1 employee. So you need to spend some time running that business.

Michelle Goodman does a great job of taking the intimidation factor out of running your own company - after all you can do your accounting/paperwork in your pajamas. One of my favorite things she says in the beginning of the book is about the business plan for the freelancer. She talks about a business plan like a list of goals, almost like New Year's resolutions, helping you stay focused about the kind of work you want to do and the kind of clients you hope to have. Then you can start to look at your work as less of a first-come first-served calendar of gigs and more as a game-plan for getting you to where you want to be!