1st AD Blues: The After-Lunch Slowdown...

I've been in the business my entire life. I have worked in
different countries and states and cities. I have been above
the line and below the line. I have worked on $50 shorts
and $50,000 indies and $500,000 features and $100,000,000
studio projects. What you describe here has happened on
every show I have done. Every one of them, no exception.

It's normal.

Ha! Been there before.

What are you feeding them? Heavy stuff like pasta or Mexican food (the entire COUNTRY has a standing daily nap time) slows you down for sure. People probably get tired of chicken salads every day though.

Coffee helps too. We keep it going all day.

I honestly haven't directed productions longer than a few days, but I've been a crew on many. What happens early on becomes the trend. So of Day 1 you take a quick lunch and get people motivated right after it should help with days 2-20.

I heard Michael Bay talk about setting the tempo on day 1 actually on a Transformers behind the scenes. Yes, I did watch them, laugh all you want they were awesome haha. He shoots a big action scene that people get excited about on the first day because it keeps everyone on their toes and focused/working compared to a lot of the downtime some crew members experience in lengthier dialogue scenes which he does a day or two later.

Set the pace early and keep it up!

Thanks, guys, now that I know it's normal I'll try a different perspective. Of course, it's also part of the 1st AD job to motivate.

I agree with PaulG on setting an example on Day 1. Also like the idea of constant coffee and light lunches (as opposed to BBQ with beans and potato salad- ouch). Now that I think about it, seems a shorter lunch has helped in the past, probably because it prevents "second helpings."

Nice approach to have a big action scene on first day. I've heard the opposite as well, that if the shoot is going to be longer than a few days, one should schedule a big scene at the end (action, SFX, climax) for motivation. Not that either is always possible to schedule...

Appreciate it!

Have lunch choices. Some people work better on heavy stuff - let
them choose. Many times in my career as a director I have had crew
members approach me complaining about the meals when the caterer
(usually through the producer) tries to control the after meal slow
down by limiting the choices to “healthy, light” food. Lot’s of people
love that but do not force than on those who don’t.

And I can tell you as a crew member I do not like to be limited to light
meals. I want a choice. And nothing is worse than the producer trying
to prevent second helpings by either having a short meal or not enough
food.

People are so different in their food needs that trying to fit the entire
crew into a specific “model” in order to make them more efficient can
seem draconian to the crew.

I have always placed the “big” scenes later in the shoot and later in
the day. That gives the crew time to get used to working with each
other and it gives people something to look forward to after the meal.

On the first day of shooting for Arkham we left lunch too late and had to stop shooting because of rumbling stomaches being pickup up on the audio

Thanks for all the experience-based comments. I'll keep all this in mind. --One thing I remembered today is that the earlier in the day the lunch, the better, which kind of jives with your post, Aegis.