Who’s Your General in the War of Filmmaking?

Camera Assisting 18 Comments

US Army Troops and CommanderCreative Commons License photo credit: The U.S. Army

Filmmaking is war.

Armed with paper tape, the foot soldiers of the camera department march forward at the command of the director of photography — their general making the tough choices from the trenches.

Back in the capitol city is the political producer, networking and playing a diplomatic game of chess with the logistical enemies.

Meanwhile, at the top is Commander-in-Chief Director, steering the overall campaign, waging battle against the invisible forces of time, actor egos, and creativity.

And like real war, filmmaking is chaos. Plans get disrupted or intel is mistaken and the way commanders handle these unexpected occurances isn’t always the same.

When the director, the director of photography (DP), and the producer all want different things, who do you take commands from?
Click to continue reading

The Measurements You’ll Want for Visual FX Shots

Camera Assisting 3 Comments

Behind the Scenes Visual Effect for Bitch Slap Photo by David Strick for LA Timesphoto credit: LA Times/David Strick

Armed with the right kind of shot, a visual effects artist is limited only by their imagination (and maybe the budget, too). They depend on us crew on set to capture excellent footage so they can overlay their spectacular effects.

As a camera assistant, you don’t have to worry about how the shots are rendered, but you do have to do everything you can to help the visual effects artists get it right. And that starts by providing them with a little bit of information.

Are you collecting the right kind of measurements they need?

Click to continue reading

7 Last-Minute Checks Before You Roll Camera

Camera Assisting 9 Comments

Focus Puller 1st Camera Assistant Last Minute ChecksCreative Commons License photo credit: John Brawley

Camera assistants don’t know any speed slower than “fast.” We rush to move the camera, change the lens, add the filters, get monitor up, ninja our way on set for focus marks, and by the time all that’s done, everyone else has caught up ready to roll camera.

In that haste, it’s easy to let something slip or for changes to be made without you noticing. While not always malicious, these small changes can have a big effect on a quality take and force everyone else to reset and go again.

Not necessarily the ideal outcome for the invisible camera assistant.

Instead, keep the pace up and right before you get ready to punch that little button on the side of the camera, do these 7 last-minute checks.

Click to continue reading

Where to Place Your Video Village Monitor

Camera Assisting 16 Comments

2 Sizes of Monitors for Film Production Video Village photo by Bob BekianCreative Commons License photo credit: Bob Bekian

In the old days of film, the only person who got to see what was happening in the frame was the camera operator. The director was usually not this person since the cameras were bulky and complex mechanical machines.

So what did the director do? They trusted their crew to get the shot they wanted. And screened dailies. And if the director’s vision didn’t align with the celluloid frames, well, someone would have to pay.

In came the modern invention of the monitor. No longer were the eyes behind the production blind to the frame of the film. Like a frontiersmen weary from the travels of a worn down trail, this new generation of filmmakers slowly built up a civilization in the wild west of film monitoring.

And thus video village was formed.

Click to continue reading

It’s Alive! Keeping Your Batteries from Dying

Camera Assisting 14 Comments

Electrical Power Plug for Cinema Battery and BatteriesCreative Commons License photo credit: _maddin_

Imagine you’re on a shoot with only enough battery power to last you the standard 12 hour day. You’re diligent about charging the batteries, you don’t use any excessive power, and you haven’t had any issues the past couple of days when you’ve wrapped early.

But one scene is taking forever to shoot and soon you’re an hour behind schedule. Another scene goes by and another hour. Before you know it, you’re looking at a 15 – 16 hour day of shooting.

You’re also looking at the battery power you have left and the situation is grim — at this point, you’re close to running on empty. What do you do?

Click to continue reading

How a Basketball Defense Helps You Pull Focus

Camera Assisting 6 Comments

Shooting Handheld on Red Herring

Pulling focus in handheld situations is tough. You have to make quick calculations in your head about distance and be ready to anticipate unpredictable moments.

It’s not an easy task and requires a Zen-like state of mind to handle all the pressure. If you can pull focus while handheld, you’ll be able to pull focus in almost any other situation you come across.

Today I want to share with you one of the ways I help make pulling focus while handheld a little bit easier.

Click to continue reading

Interview with 2nd AC Sterling Wiggins from MakingOf

Camera Assisting 2 Comments

It’s easy to find interviews with big players on set with DVD/Blu-ray, but it’s a lot harder to point the camera on those behind the camera in the first place — the camera assistants.

This is disappointing to those of us slogging away through productions. You often learn best when someone who has been in the trenches simply talks about their experience. With some luck, however, you can find the odd interview with a camera assistant.

So watch above as 2nd assistant camera (AC) Sterling Wiggins talks about life behind the camera.

Click to continue reading

What to Do After Your Focus Goes Soft

Camera Assisting 13 Comments

Out of Focus Shot photo by Benjamin A SmithCreative Commons License photo credit: benjaminasmith

As much as we try to be, camera assistants and focus pullers aren’t perfect.

Despite your best efforts to rehearse a shot, get focus marks, and hit those marks in rhythm, you don’t always get it right. Sometimes you pull too fast. Or your mark was off. Or an actor was off their mark. Or the follow focus dislodged from the gears. Or…well, you get the point.

There’s a million ways a take can end up out of focus and that’s OK, but the real test of integrity is how you handle it afterwards.

Click to continue reading

How (Not) to Become a Camera Assistant

Camera Assisting 1 Comment

Slating Clapper Loader Become a Camera Assistant How ToCreative Commons License photo credit: A. Germain

If you Google the words “camera assistant,” only a few results from the top is an article from eHow.com titled How to Become a Camera Assistant (AC)

You don’t have to be a pro to find this article horribly misinformed when the first line is “the camera assistant position is similar to that of a production assistant because each ones job is to make things go smoothly on the set”

Well, sort of, but, not really. Everyone’s job is to make things go smoothly on set. Beyond that, an AC and a production assistant don’t have much in common.

Read on and the article continues, unphased, providing more misinformation each step of the way. So let’s break down what eHow says it takes to become a camera assistant and find out why their method is not the direction you want to go.

Click to continue reading

How to Carry and Transport the Camera Properly

Camera Assisting 8 Comments

Handheld Camera Moving and Carrying the Camera

Moving the camera during a scene is one thing, moving it throughout the day to prepare for shots is another.

There are various scenarios in which you’ll find yourself transporting the camera. Sometimes it will be to nudge it only a few feet forward. Or you may have to carry it across the set. Other times you’ll end up lugging it across town.

Because the camera is your most valuable piece of equipment, great care must be taken when moving it. Today I want to show you how to transport a camera correctly and safely in the various situations that arise on set.

Click to continue reading