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.
Camera Assisting
How to Get Better at Pulling Focus, Slating, and Being a Badass AC
Most Recent Articles in "Camera Assisting"
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The Marks You Need to Pull Focus On Closeups
Closeups are particularly tough to pull focus on because your depth-of-field is generally so shallow. It doesn’t make it any easier when the actor in the scene is rocking back and forth and fidgeting around. Or to have the added pressure of keeping an emotional performance in focus.
Five Stealth Methods of the Tape Measure Ninja
You are given less time and less opportunities to grab focus marks than ever before. Your only chance is to become invisible and get your marks when nobody is looking. You need to become… a tape measure ninja.
How to Measure Distance for Focus Marks
You can’t pull focus without measuring for it first, so today I want to dive into how to approach that so when you whip out a tape measure on set, you know what you’re doing.
Three Tips to Help You When Shooting Handheld
Shooting with a handheld camera is harder physically and mentally. Mentally, your job is intensified because the camera is now as dynamic as the subject which makes pulling focus more difficult. Physically, you have to be lifting the camera quite frequently as well as guiding your and the operators’ body through a scene.
How to Pull Focus with Mirrors and Reflections
Mirror shots are aplenty in films from low-budget to blockbusters. And, like any shot, they require sharp focus to be effective. But with a mirror involved, what do you measure for marks? It’s not as simple as you may think.
What Skiing the Rockies Taught Me
As I sat down to write this weekly newsletter, I started to think about how skiing and camera assisting are similar and came up with three qualities that a good camera assistant and a good skier will have in common.
How to Exchange Camera Lenses and Look Like a Pro
You may think the check the producer cuts to the lead star of a film is the biggest transaction on set. But I’d argue that the lens hand-off between a 1st assistant camera and a 2nd assistant camera is up there too.
Prepare for the Worst with Fire and Blood
Fire, blood, special effects – what would movies be without them? From a visual standpoint and audience perspective, special effects elevate a film’s excitement. For a camera crew, however, it means taking some extra precautions to protect your gear. If you aren’t preparing for the worst, you might have it coming to you.
How to Clean a Camera Lens Without Damaging the Glass
One of the questions I get a lot from readers is how to clean a camera lens properly. While I can’t claim my method is “the way” to clean a lens, it has served me well in my career so I decided to share it with you in my first ever video post.