Ever had an arguement with a Cameraman you respect?

Jay Kavi · November 16th, 2006, 05:48 PM

Stuart, thats a great outlook! you can never know everything cause there is always something to learn.

I recently worked on a 16mm music video with an incredibly anal DP (who was also acting and directing, I have no idea why) we met a few times and I told him I'd worked with 16mm before and i wasnt an expert, but i can get a decent image on the emulsion.

First day on the set he sits me down and tells me how to "properly" hold the camera (it was a bolex with a pistol grip), wind the camera, setup the lights, (which were mine actually) double check everything before each shot, and make sure the framing exactly matches the photoboards (which were taken with a small digital still camera). It was a major test of my patience, but i was friendly and did things exactly how he asked. Lucky for me he loaded the film. We used 500T (he wanted to use 200T because he saidit was "better"), but the room we shot in was all windows, so to match the stray rays of sunlight to the tunsten lights he CTO'd all the windows. In fact after showing me how to precisely do everything, he didn't trust me enough to do anything and it did most of it himself, including setting up most of the shots. I ended up just running the camera.

lesson #1 learned was when your working for someone who doesnt want input just nod and smile, #2 was dont work for free without some kind of creative input. and #3 was there are some people that need things done their own way. I'm gonna try away, but working with them is enveitable

November 16th, 2006, 05:48 PM	#16
Jay Kavi Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 243	Stuart, thats a great outlook! you can never know everything cause there is always something to learn. I recently worked on a 16mm music video with an incredibly anal DP (who was also acting and directing, I have no idea why) we met a few times and I told him I'd worked with 16mm before and i wasnt an expert, but i can get a decent image on the emulsion. First day on the set he sits me down and tells me how to "properly" hold the camera (it was a bolex with a pistol grip), wind the camera, setup the lights, (which were mine actually) double check everything before each shot, and make sure the framing exactly matches the photoboards (which were taken with a small digital still camera). It was a major test of my patience, but i was friendly and did things exactly how he asked. Lucky for me he loaded the film. We used 500T (he wanted to use 200T because he saidit was "better"), but the room we shot in was all windows, so to match the stray rays of sunlight to the tunsten lights he CTO'd all the windows. In fact after showing me how to precisely do everything, he didn't trust me enough to do anything and it did most of it himself, including setting up most of the shots. I ended up just running the camera. lesson #1 learned was when your working for someone who doesnt want input just nod and smile, #2 was dont work for free without some kind of creative input. and #3 was there are some people that need things done their own way. I'm gonna try away, but working with them is enveitable