7 G&E Techniques Useful to Camera Assistants

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Grip Electrician on Fire Watch on a Film Production Movie SetCreative Commons License photo credit: postopp1

The Grip and Electric departments, collectively known as G&E, are amazing.

During long scene setups, you could spend all day watching them place flags, lay track, strike lamps, drop scrims, and fly in sandbags. I have a lot of respect for them because their efforts go largely unnoticed by audiences and, at times, production itself.

But what is also fascinating about G&E is the crazy amount of techniques they have for very specific purposes — there’s a lot to learn from them.

As a camera assistant (AC), you have to continually improve and evolve your knowledge to be better at your job. And the grips and juicers have a lot to teach us if you’re willing to watch and listen. To start, here are 7 techniques you should be stealing from them to use in the camera department.

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2 Easy to Use Camera Report Templates

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Dirty Film Production Camera Reports and Logs On SetCreative Commons License photo credit: jai MANSSON

If you think that because film is a visual medium there isn’t much paperwork involved in a production, you’d be dead wrong. From call sheets to contact lists to strip boards to screenplays — whether it’s given out in person or digitally emailed — there are tons of papers passed between crew members.

Within the camera department there are camera reports and camera logs — documents where you track details such as lenses, filters, and other camera settings for each shot.

These reports are useful in a variety of scenarios like in post-production when an editor needs to replicate a lens for a digital effect or when you are shooting the reverse angle of a shot and need to match the look of the original closeup.

But the reports are useless if they aren’t readable or well-organized and that’s why a great easy-to-use template is valuable to have.

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Get Your Free Copy of “Becoming the Reel Deal”

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Becoming the Reel Deal Free eBook: How to Launch Your Film Career in the Camera Department and Get a Job

The inevitable question anybody starting out in film wants to know is how to get a job — their first job.

Becoming the Reel Deal: How to Launch Your Film Career in the Camera Department is a 145-page eBook designed to help you get that crucial first gig within the camera department.

And it’s available for you to download for free today.

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100 More Great Resources for Cinematographers, Camera Assistants, and Film Professionals

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Cinematography, Filmmaking Resources and for Camera Assistants and Film Professionals

Last year when I listed out a massive 100 Great Resources for Cinematographers, Camera Assistants, and Film Professionals, it was the most comprehensive list I could compile at the time.

I thought for sure that I had exhausted all sources. Well, not quite it seems.

I’ve managed to dip back into the reserves to find 100 more resources for your insatiable consumption. You might want to bookmark this one so you can keep it as a reference.

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Put Down Your Slate and Quickly Walk Away

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Film Slate 2nd Assistant Camera (2nd AC) Movie Clapperboard MarkerCreative Commons License photo credit: Orpheus 2011

When you first start working in the film industry, you’re guilty of mistakes. We all are, really. It’s only human and there’s no other way to learn as fast.

Still, that’s no excuse to try and avoid them anyway.

I’ll never forget what the 1st Assistant Camera (AC) told me at the wrap party for my first feature as 2nd AC:

I was surprised. You didn’t just carry around the slate all the time. Most 2nd’s I train think that’s their only duty, so they never put it down.

I was happy to receive the compliment and, at the time, didn’t realize how true the statement was. In a circular fashion, I’ve experienced the same problem. Most 2nd AC’s I train from the ground up start out by carrying the slate around everywhere.

So I’m here to tell all you aspiring 2nd AC’s a few things…

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The Survival of the Camera Assistant through Digital Evolution

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Baby Monkey in a BasketCreative Commons License photo credit: Mohd Khomaini Mohd Sidik

If I asked you to define the responsibilities of a camera assistant (AC), would you list “pulling focus” in your top three?

I bet you would. You’d be crazy not to!

No other task you do is so blatantly noticeable to everyone else on set. The camera operator sees it through the eyepiece as well as those at video village every take. In post-production, the editor watches subjects go sharp or soft.

But as digital cinema cameras continue to evolve, will pulling focus become an obsolete skill? At what point do the cameras start doing it for you? And if that’s the case, what are you — as a camera assistant — left to do?

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Three Ways Camera Assistants Have to Adapt to Digital Cinema in Order to Survive

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Inside of Camera ElectronicsCreative Commons License photo credit: Kelly Hofer

Whether you like it or not, the future of filmmaking comes in bits and bytes.

Digital cameras already outpace film cameras on the production lines and the feverity with which they are released and adopted is astounding.

But you don’t really care about all that fanboyism. You just want to get a phone call from a producer, get the gig, show up on set and start pulling focus. It doesn’t matter what camera you do it on.

Well, I’m here to tell you that it sort of does.

If you want to survive in the digital cinematography future as a camera assistant, there are a few things you’re going to need change. These adaptations may be easy for you, others may not, but all of them will play a crucial role in your career path.

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