Tips for Filmmakers and Camera Assistants
photo credit: whatmegsaid
Sleep is fleeting for most of those working hard below the line in the film industry. It eludes you faster than you can say “17 hour day” and rarely shows up at the end of an 8-hour turnaround. As a filmmaker, you constantly struggle against the grueling demands of the workplace and the physical need for sleep.
Many say, “You just get used to it,” but that’s a lazy answer. What if there is a way to not only get used to it, but be OK with it?
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…
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?
photo credit: Graham Racher
As a camera assistant, you end up in the oddest situations: in front of explosive fake blood squibs, inside the dirty den of a dilapidated strip club, and even holding the camera in the passenger seat of a Lamborghini Diablo (it’s true, this happened to me).
But not every scene mandates a strange location and, in fact, many are beautiful.
One thread I’ve seen weaved throughout my career is the appearance of — to borrow a term from caving — “squeezes.”
“Squeezes” are the nearly impossibly thin gaps between two large rocks cavers have to experience. To get through takes an incredible amount of persistence, time (sometimes hours), and a body that has never heard of “craft services.”
And while a squeeze on a film set doesn’t quite have the same deadly consequences of a cave, there is the feeling that you’ve got to do what it takes to get the shot — there’s no turning back.
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.
Using custom lists and user buttons on digital cinema cameras is a great way to increase your efficiency on set.
But in the case of the ARRI Alexa, you only have five customizable buttons with different options. With limited real estate, choosing which functions you customize can speed you up — or slow you down.
So how do you decide what functions make the cut?
There is no hard and fast rule for this, it will depend entirely on how you work with the director of photography and/or camera operator. There are, however, a few things you’ll want to keep in mind when setting up your custom buttons:
photo credit: Nicola since 1972
From our ongoing exploration of ways to become a faster and more efficient camera assistant, today’s tip — and the final one in the series — is:
I know it sounds counterintuitive, but in some cases, slowing down may actually make you faster. Let’s look at an example:
The director of photography asks you to move the camera to a new position, change a lens, and drop in a filter. You bark the instructions over to your 2nd AC who stops what they’re doing immediately to help you.
You lean down and unscrew the head and camera from the sticks, ready to take it to the new position expecting your 2nd AC to follow with the tripod. But when you look up your 2nd is standing by with a lens to change. Not wanting to risk anything being loose, you tie down the head again and change lenses.
They go to return it to its case and you, again, prep the camera to move positions.
But the 2nd AC comes back with the filter now…
Sounds like chaos, doesn’t it? Obviously you weren’t on the same page.
That’s because, in this case, there wasn’t any methodical approach.
Call it a workflow, a plan, a method — whatever — but you need to have an understanding with your crew on how certain actions are handled.
This develops over time the more you work with somebody, but is easily established verbally at the beginning of a shoot or the first time you’re met with a task.
In those moments, take a few seconds to step aside and figure out the best way to approach what you need to do. This may mean moving slower at first, but the speed it saves in the long run is unrivaled.
A site for camera assistants, cinematographers and film professionals to gather and discuss tips, tricks, and techniques.
It is run by Evan Luzi, a camera assistant with a passion for sharing his knowledge and helping you become a better filmmaker along the way.
Read more about Evan or contact him.
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