Be a Faster AC #12: Customize the Camera

Cameras 4 Comments

Be a Faster AC #12 Customize Your CameraCreative Commons License photo credit: Sean Davis

From our ongoing exploration of ways to become a faster and more efficient camera assistant, today’s tip is:

12. Customize the Camera

The camera is sacred to the camera assistant, but that doesn’t mean it has to be treated like an ancient artifact. If you’re so afraid about damaging the camera that you only touch it to start rolling on a shot, then you’re missing out on some great ways to speed yourself up.

When I first sat down to write this tip, I was going to talk about using custom lists and user buttons available on most digital cameras. And while that’s certainly one way to customize a camera, I realized there are many more:

  • Place velcro on the mattebox to hold marking pencils
  • Adjust handles/cheeseplates/rods to fit your working style
  • Use cable ties to pre-rig essential cables to the camera
  • As mentioned above, customize user buttons and menus
  • Remove unneeded accessories to lighten the load

There are a million different ways to tweak a camera to fit into the type of environment you’re using it in. Many of them won’t work for you, but plenty will, so don’t be afraid to experiment and find what those are.

Also, customize the camera in ways that benefit the director of photography or camera operator. If they move faster, you’ll move faster too.

Always remember that cameras, though they are expensive and deserve to be treated with care, are ultimately tools which we use to create a film — so don’t be afraid to make them even more effective and efficient than they already are.

What customizations do you make to your cameras?

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Be a Faster AC #7: Make One Trip for Battery Swaps

Camera Assisting 5 Comments

Make One Trip on a Battery Swap

From our ongoing exploration of ways to become a faster and more efficient camera assistant, today’s tip is:

7. Make One Trip When Swapping Batteries

Swapping batteries on a camera (or other gear) is a common occurrence between shots and doing it well is essential to an efficient shooting pace. Yet despite that fact, many camera assistants still waste time with this exchange.

On more than few occasions, I’ve called for a fresh battery from a 2nd assistant camera (AC) only to have them run to the charger, grab a charged battery, place it in my hands, then I give them the dead battery, they bring it back to the charger, and finally come back to set.

Seems a little redudant, no?

The better (and faster) way to do this is to take the dead battery from the camera, go to the charger, start charging the dead one, grab a fresh brick, then bring it back to the camera.

In this case, you are only making one trip instead of two.

If you want to be even faster – and I know you do — check for fresh batteries during downtime on set and keep them in a ditty bag near the camera.

The workflow would then go like this: 1st AC calls for new battery, you hand them a fresh one from the ditty bag, take the dead one to the charger, grab any batteries that are fully charged while there, and then head back to set.

That’s still only one trip — more than enough to get done what you need to.

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Be a Faster AC #3: Maximize Your Camera Prep

Camera Assisting 2 Comments

Be a Faster AC Number 3 Maximize Your Camera PrepCreative Commons License photo credit: Bob Bekian

From our ongoing exploration of ways to become a faster and more efficient camera assistant, today’s tip is:

3. Maximize Your Camera Prep

With expensive cinema cameras, there really is no other way to make sure gear is ready to get slogged through an intense production than a camera prep. Not all shoots you work on will give you a prep day, but plenty will — and you have to maximize it.

Having time to get together with your department before a shoot is a great chance to preemptively make yourself faster on set.

Just a few ways you can take advantage of prep days:

  • Learn how different rigs work and pre-configure them
  • Run camera tests to finalize settings the director of photography likes
  • Organize equipment within cases in a way you prefer
  • Troubleshoot and fix hardware problems with rented gear
  • Establish workflows within your department for data, lens exchanges, etc.

There will be very few opportunities to get together as a camera department on such a relaxed schedule — when you’re on set, the game changes.

So take advantage of camera preps as much as possible to solve problems ahead of time.

What steps do you take during camera prep to prevent potential issues?

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The Hidden Cost of RED Epic and Digital Cinema

Cameras 34 Comments

The Hidden Cost of RED Epic and Digital CinemaCreative Commons License photo credit: epSos.de

Since its release, the RED Epic has been pumping out tons of test footage, chart samples and eye candy on Vimeo. It has also been busy shooting well-known features like the Spiderman reboot and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus.

But while the camera stands to improve on its predecessor, the RED one, in both technology and price, there is a cost hidden within the complex circuitry and 5K sensor of the camera.

This isn’t the cost of time or quality — it equates to real money — so if you’re stretching your budget thin already, you might want to pay attention.

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The Gift and the Curse of Zeiss Superspeed Lenses

Production Stories 14 Comments

Carl Zeiss Superspeed Aperture Closeupphoto credit: Aperture Pictures

It was the weight in my hands that I first learned to appreciate. The solid build and unrelenting sturdiness of it drew me in to admire the precision and power of the lens.

After that it was the way I could look through it and see a different world — distorted and warped — yet clearer than my own eyes.

And though it’s a challenge to pull focus on Zeiss Superspeeds, it’s that dance between myself, the camera and the lens — when everything falls sharp as a tack — that made me fall in love.
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7 Last-Minute Checks Before You Roll Camera

Camera Assisting 8 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.

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Get the Updated (V1.1) RED One Pocket Guide

Cameras, Website 0 Comments

Do you want to use the RED One with ease without feeling overwhelmed?

Right now is the perfect time to download a copy of the RED One Pocket Guide to help you use the camera — as of today it’s been updated!

The main content of the pocket guide experienced minimal change, but there is now a mobile formatted version of the RED One Pocket Guide optimized for smart phones. And that alone should be worth the download.

Get your 100% free copy of the RED One Pocket Guide here.