The duty of slating falls to the 2nd assistant camera (AC) who must stand in front of the camera, hold the slate, and clap the sticks. Holding the slate seems like an obvious act — and it largely is — but you should take these five tips into consideration before stepping in front of the camera.
Filmmaking Tips and Advice
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Dick Barth’s Four Rules of Camera Assisting
Camera assisting is an insanely complex profession. But at its core, it can be whittled down to four simple rules set forth by legendary camera assistant Dick Barth who took a no-nonsense approach to the craft.
The Camera Assistant’s Guide to Better Cinematography
By no means do I consider myself a cinematographer. But I do consider myself a pretty good camera assistant who has worked with talented cinematographers. These five tips are what I have taken away from my career as an AC and they are lessons you can apply right now if you’re striving to be a cinematographer.
Don’t Be Stupid: The IATSE Local 600’s Free Guide to Setiquette
In the film industry, there are a group of rules known as “setiquette” — or, set etiquette — that defines the appropriate and safe way you should act on a film set. With so many different crews in different countries, it can be difficult to grasp these rules and the details of them without logging hours of experience.
25 Hilarious Filmmaking Meme Jokes: The Animated GIF Edition
Today the filmmaking jokes are back, but with a twist: they’re all animated GIFs, taking after blogs like #whatshouldwecallme (if you haven’t seen it yet, I apologize for sending you down the rabbit hole).
The 7 Dumbest Mistakes You Can Make Your First Day On Set
Intention doesn’t make the mistakes any less dumb, nor the consequences any less serious. So if you’re looking to join the ranks of a Hollywood crew someday, do your best to avoid these 7 idiotic mistakes that are — unfortunately — common among first-timers.
5 Useful Cinematography iPad Apps for Filmmakers
As part of the iOS family, all of the cinematography apps available in Apple’s App Store will run on the iPad (and most are universally formatted for it), but there are a handful of iPad-specific apps. These cinematography apps will enable you to watch dailies, make shotlists, diagram lighting schemes, compare depth-of-field, and even control a camera.
Are You Good at What You Do?
Are you good at what you do? It’s a simple, but biting question. In an industry that clings to attitudes, your answer is more revealing than you may think.
Five Ways a 2nd AC Can Impress Their 1st AC Beyond Belief
As the intermediary between the rest of the film set and the 1st AC, 2nd AC’s are crucially important to the ebb and flow of the camera department. A slow 2nd will bring everyone down with them and, similarly, a fast 2nd AC will improve the speed at which the camera is ready. The more you, as a 2nd AC, can meet those demands, the happier you keep your department.
How Well Do You Know “Depth-of-Field? Take This Test to Find Out
Do you know what depth of field is? Are you able to calculate it with just the power of your mind? Well, it’s time to put you to the test with this 20-question quiz.