1st AC
Focus is a bet on distance and rehearsal time.
What this is about
Sharpness is judged in a fraction of a second and prepared over days. The 1st AC reads the shot list for distances, movement and apertures — and the schedule for the camera rebuilds nobody wrote down.
Every department needs the same plan in a different view. That is exactly where document collections fail: they only ever serve one perspective well.
What runs differently here
In planning terms, that means:
- Every camera rebuild — sticks to gimbal to handheld — is its own block of time the schedule has to own
- Wide-open apertures on moving subjects need rehearsal takes that exist only if the day plans them
- The lens plan per scene decides what rides on the cart and what stays in the truck
What the plan has to deliver
A production plan is useful to this role when it provides the following:
- Rebuilds visible as blocks in the schedule
- Distance and movement notes per shot
- Rehearsal slots for wide-open or long-lens work
- A lens plan tied to scenes, not to wishes
Common pitfalls
What most often goes wrong in practice:
- Discovering on the day that the gimbal has no balancing slot
- Ordering the lens list from the rental without the shot list behind it
With TillyGen
TillyGen builds the camera package out of the shot list, so rental order and shooting reality match on the morning it matters.
Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.
Frequently asked
Why does the 1st AC need the shot list and not just the lens list?
Because pulling focus is about distance, movement and aperture per shot, not about which glass exists. The lens list says what is in the case; the shot list says what will be hard.
What does a camera rebuild mean for the day?
A pause that is often the longest gap between two setups. Rigs are rebuilt, balanced and checked — a plan that groups shots by rig saves several of these pauses.
When does focus work need rehearsal time?
Whenever depth of field gets thin or the subject moves on unmarked paths. Those takes have to appear in the day plan, because they vanish first when the day runs late.
How long does it take to get started with TillyGen?
A first project takes under an hour to set up. There is no configuration phase in which templates and fields have to be defined before the tool produces anything.
Can the results be exported?
Yes — as PDF for the crew, CSV for downstream systems and through the API for anything automated. The plan stays the source; the exports are views of it.