How Not To Be A Suited Idiot On A Film Set

Peggy Archer, who works on Hollywood lighting crews and does the great Total Authorized blog (which, as of today, will be on my list o'links) wrote a guest blog entry for Atlas' blog Assistant/Atlas. [Are we following the chain here?].

This entry, How Not To Be A Suited Idiot On Set, basically is a very valid gripe session about the things that people who know absolutely nothing about film production do when they're on film sets. I think that many of you will recognize the problems (and, I might add, they also can apply to editors who don't spend time on sets -- pay attention folks!!)

3. If you take a picture and are using the flash on your camera, please say "Flashing" loudly - before you take the picture. A camera flash looks exactly like a light bulb blowing out, and if the electricians see the flash of white light and don't know that's what it is, they'll go batty trying to find the blown out globe when it was your camera. This is funny, but very, very mean.
12. Don't stand in front of a light. Feel that heat on your back? It means you're casting a shadow onto the set. Don't walk in front of a light, either. On a related note.. if you can look into the camera lens, you're in the shot.
14. If you don't know what something is, don't touch it.
14a. Don't plug anything in ANYWHERE without asking first. DC power (which some stages still have) will do a number on your cell phone charger, and if you didn't ask before plugging it in, we'll laugh at you.

And that's just a sample.