Heartstrings

I was a last-minute addition to the crew of Heartstrings, they’d had a Gaffer, however, due to scheduling conflicts he’d had to drop out. When I was asked, I was hesitant to do it as I had never been a Gaffer before and didn’t want to fail at the role (given its importance) but, after they made it clear to me how important it was and the DOP Wonsoep Kim’s encouragement I agreed to do it.

In preparation for the role, I researched and familiarised myself with the lights that we would be using and refreshed myself on the exact details of the Gaffer role. When it came time to shoot Wonsoep was crucial to me performing my role correctly as he guided me through it (he has a lot of experience as a Gaffer) I especially appreciated his patience with me.

On our first day of shooting, we were working with natural light outdoors, so there wasn’t much for me to do with lighting (other than bouncing with a reflector) so I worked mainly as a camera assistant, helping Wonsoep (also the camera operator) to move the camera (carrying the tripod). It was a good exercise in listening and learning from people with more experience.

On the second day of shooting, we were in a studio and using lights, so Wonsoep and I set them up, the day went smoothly with Wonsoep telling me where he wanted the lights and me moving and controlling them and using the reflector and diffuser to alter the light to what Wonsoep desired. Towards the end of the shoot, I became more confident in the role and began suggesting solutions of my own to problems we were encountering (some of which worked, some of which didn't). Importantly I became more confident in when to speak and make an opinion known and when not to (too many cooks and all that).