"You watch the first rough cut... you need to go lie down for a couple of days." Kevin Macdonald. "Seeing the first assembly... that was a shock and I was concerned about it. I thought most Directors were happy or were excited, and I thought there was really something wrong..." Scott Graham. One of the most visceral moments a Director faces in the filmmaking process is being brought face-to-face with the editor's First Assembly of their film. This pivot point in filmmaking - after the wrap party, when the HoDs and crew have moved onto another job - can be soul-sapping. By exploring this moment through the experiences of Scottish Directors as a 'virtual round table' (created by cutting together individual Zoom interviews) three generations of Scottish filmmakers - 1950s, 1960s, 1970s - give their advice on navigating this one perennial issue, seeing the First Assembly of their film.