Control Rooms

One of the most exciting parts of being an AD is the feeling that you can really make a difference. You can use strategies and take steps to make a production day move quicker. You can help make the camera shots better by having people or furniture moved or by explaining shots to the camera operators. You can call for pickups that will work in the edit. You can suggest acting notes that will make a scene more powerful.
 
An AD, while not in charge, is charged with making sure a lot of things happen. And making things happen, whether in a control room or in life, feels good.
 
I don't AD nearly enough these days, and I can't help but miss the pressure, the adrenaline, the feeling that I can change outcomes. While editing, and life in general, certainly provide opportunities to control outcomes, they are also filled with things I can't change. And when you can't change outcome, you too often have to accept outcomes that other people control. Whether it's about footage or about hiring or about salary, it can feel out of your control, and out of your control can make a control room veteran feel pretty powerless.
 
Yet, just as I learned along the way what things I could change as an AD, I am learning how to find the things I can change in life. I may not be able to control who hires me, but I can try different strategies to move the process along. I may not be able to control how an event is shot, but I can have a lot of control over how it comes out of the edit. I can listen, and explain, so that my co-workers feel as though we are working together to make things better.
 
I couldn't always control everything as an AD. I could just work to make things better. And I guess that's the mindset that gets us through life. As long as we're working to "make it better," at least we feel as though we have some control over how "it" turns out. And sometimes, a little control goes a long way.