Operating for the Friday Night Lights/Office at DVinfo.net

Scott Lovejoy · February 13th, 2010, 11:27 AM

Hi all,

I realize this may be in the wrong forum and may have been asked before, but my searches were coming up with nothing.

I'm wondering if there's anything special to the looks that shows like Friday Night Lights or The Office achieve. Their operating always seems to be a controlled hand held that is consistent from shot to shot. Is this just a testament to good operating? Or is there something special in the operation other than shoulder mounting the camera?

Bill Davis · February 13th, 2010, 03:51 PM

The answer is A. Good operating.

Look, when you first do ANYTHING, you're a rookie and even with massive talent, you don't do it at a high level. Piano player or handheld camera operator - what moves you from rookie to journeyman is EXPERIENCE.

In camera operation that means that those who work constantly at their craft will perform in a SUPERIOR way to those who don't.

You don't get the gig on a big-time TV show until AFTER you serve your apprenticeship and enough people have watched your work to say "He/She's good at the job. Let's hire them."

Simple as that.

Scott Lovejoy · February 13th, 2010, 08:23 PM

I understand that being good at operating is a skill that you don't get without practice and experience.

In this case I was more curious if the look is achieved via shoulder-mounting the camera, or by having the tripod head really loose, or some other, unknown way.

Don Bloom · February 13th, 2010, 08:44 PM

hard to say-there are lots of ways to do things and since I don't know of anyone here that works on those shows it would be guess work. Could be steadicam and the directors tells the operator to "get loosey goosey" with the shot.

Charles Papert · February 14th, 2010, 01:24 AM

Not Steadicam, no. "The Office" is definitely all handheld with 2/3" cameras. "Friday Night Lights"--I remember that the feature was shot on 35mm with absurdly punishing handheld setups (11-1 Primo zooms, 1000 ft mags--that makes for an 80 lb camera on the shoulder) but I don't remember if they are 16mm or HD on the show at this point.

It's much easier to duplicate the look of handheld on a head than with Steadicam. We also use a score of weirdo rigs like half-deflated beachballs and basketballs and Easyrigs and whatever else. It's been a while since I've had to do one of those types of shows and I don't miss it--see here...

Steve Winters · February 15th, 2010, 02:57 AM

Holy cow! How many hours a day were you under that beast?

February 13th, 2010, 11:27 AM	#1
Scott Lovejoy Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 73	Operating for the Friday Night Lights/Office Hi all, I realize this may be in the wrong forum and may have been asked before, but my searches were coming up with nothing. I'm wondering if there's anything special to the looks that shows like Friday Night Lights or The Office achieve. Their operating always seems to be a controlled hand held that is consistent from shot to shot. Is this just a testament to good operating? Or is there something special in the operation other than shoulder mounting the camera?

February 13th, 2010, 08:44 PM	#4
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	hard to say-there are lots of ways to do things and since I don't know of anyone here that works on those shows it would be guess work. Could be steadicam and the directors tells the operator to "get loosey goosey" with the shot. __________________ What do I know? I'm just a video-O-grafer. Don

February 14th, 2010, 01:24 AM	#5
Charles Papert Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 6,810	Not Steadicam, no. "The Office" is definitely all handheld with 2/3" cameras. "Friday Night Lights"--I remember that the feature was shot on 35mm with absurdly punishing handheld setups (11-1 Primo zooms, 1000 ft mags--that makes for an 80 lb camera on the shoulder) but I don't remember if they are 16mm or HD on the show at this point. It's much easier to duplicate the look of handheld on a head than with Steadicam. We also use a score of weirdo rigs like half-deflated beachballs and basketballs and Easyrigs and whatever else. It's been a while since I've had to do one of those types of shows and I don't miss it--see here... __________________ Charles Papert www.charlespapert.com

February 13th, 2010, 03:51 PM	#2
Bill Davis Trustee Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Posts: 1,538	The answer is A. Good operating. Look, when you first do ANYTHING, you're a rookie and even with massive talent, you don't do it at a high level. Piano player or handheld camera operator - what moves you from rookie to journeyman is EXPERIENCE. In camera operation that means that those who work constantly at their craft will perform in a SUPERIOR way to those who don't. You don't get the gig on a big-time TV show until AFTER you serve your apprenticeship and enough people have watched your work to say "He/She's good at the job. Let's hire them." Simple as that.

February 13th, 2010, 08:23 PM	#3
Scott Lovejoy Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 73	I understand that being good at operating is a skill that you don't get without practice and experience. In this case I was more curious if the look is achieved via shoulder-mounting the camera, or by having the tripod head really loose, or some other, unknown way.

February 15th, 2010, 02:57 AM	#6
Steve Winters New Boot Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Dallas Posts: 8	Holy cow! How many hours a day were you under that beast?