Data Wrangling

So this past week I worked as a "Data Wrangler." It was terrible, I hated it. If there's one thing I'm not, it's an assistant editor/data wrangler. Now, I did learn a ton of new stuff, which is excellent, and I would love to have this opportunity over again so that I could do it all right. I hate not doing stuff right and getting it wrong and messing up the production, I absolutely hate it. That's part of being a PA, I guess.

What I'll do right next time:

1. Think! -- I think this crucial ability was impaired by the fact that I was so nervous about this new assignment I only got but about 3 hours of sleep the night before, so I guess more importantly, the trick is to get a good night's sleep.

2. Never assume -- now, this is a very basic thing I've learned in this production industry of ours that I somehow forgot this past week. I wanted to impress the people I worked with so much I forgot some very basic shit I should not have forgotten. Mainly, asking the producers for clearer instructions when stuff was unclear.

3. Admit what I don't know--There was clearly confusion on what the company wanted me to do. What I agreed to do when hired was to work as a runner/data wranger. What I ended up doing was that plus more, stuff like assistant editor work. Next time, I might be a little more forthcoming about my limitations, I barely know Final Cut, at least to the point that they wanted me to know it. Next time, I'll make it clear that I don't know something.

4. Not beat myself up -- It's an easy thing to say, not an easy thing to prevent. We all want to be perfect. When we're good, on top of things, we're confident that we'll work again and get that next job. When we're not, we got into this spiraling of self blame.

5. Keep it light -- I think this was supposed to be a frivolous post.

ANYWAYS, it's all said and done. Live and learn. One thing this other production could've benefited from was paying me a half wage and hiring another PA. Sometimes it's better to have more warm bodies than cold, worked to death, dead bodies.

That's it. I'm out. Thanks for reading!