VI. ON THE DAY OF THE SHOOT (2)

The DP has the set

After the blocking rehearsal The 1^st AD sends 1^st team off the set and announces that the “DP has the set” and calls in 2^nd team. 2^nd team are the stand-ins for the actors. 1^st team are the actors and director, 2^nd team are the stand-ins whose duty is to stay at all times on the actors marks unless other instructions are given. To line up a shot it’s very important that the stand-ins have the same height as the actors and preferably they have the same hair color to detect any unwanted glares in the hair due to reflections of the light.

 

NOT HAVING 2^nd TEAM MEANS THAT THE CAMERA OPERATORS ARE FRAMING UP AIR AND HAVE TO ADJUST THE CAMERA HEIGHT AND POSITIONS WHEN 1^st TEAM STEPS BACK IN FRONT OF THE LENS. WHICH IS A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME.

When the DP has the set he instructs the camera operators where to put the cameras and which lenses need to be put on the camera. It’s the camera operator’s duty to supervise this process for the camera department and make it happen as soon as possible.

This is the chain of events in the European, Australian and American camera department when a shot is set up:

 

1. DP points out the position and height of THE LENS and calls out the specific lens to the 1^st AC (focus puller).

 

2. One of the grips, usually dolly grip, measure the lens height and places the tripod accordingly or gives instructions to his assistants to put track or make any height adjustments to the dolly.

 

3. When the tripod is placed the 1^st AC places the camera on the tripod. If they have to wait for the dolly, they place it on the magliner.

 

4. The 1^st AC (focus puller) calls out to the 2^nd AC to bring the specific lens.

 

5. The 2^nd AC (clapper-loader) brings the lens to the 1^st AC who places it on the camera.

 

6. The 1^st AC places the lens on the camera and secures mattebox and cables to the onboard monitors.

 

7. At the same time the 2^nd AC brings the cable from the monitors which the 1^st AC plugs in and picture is send to the monitor.

 

8. The camera operator fine tunes the shot while the 1^st AC makes his focus marks if needed with the help of the 2^nd AC.

 

9. 2^nd AC checks with script what the scene number and shot number is and prepares the slate.

 

10. Ready to roll camera.

 

The general idea in this system is that…

- the grip secures anything that is under the camera, tripod, dolly, crane, or any other special camera support. The grip is also the person who gives and takes the camera off or on the shoulder of the camera operator after each take when shooting hand held or doing steadicam work.

 

- The 1^st AC (1^st assistant camera) always stays with the camera, never leaves it. He or she places the mattebox, the filters, the on board monitors, does the battery change and any other manipulations to the camera, such as software settings,…

And is responsible for the focus in each shot.

And starts the camera for each take.

Checks that all the equipment is there.

 

- The 2^nd AC (2^nd assistant camera) is the one who maintains all the equipment, cleans the lenses, the filters, carries the camera boxes, makes sure no camera equipment is placed in the shot and runs from the boxes to the camera to bring the items asked by the 1^st AC.

He also prepares the slate for each shot.

Holds the camera report.

Assists in any duties of the 1^st AC.

 

- The camera operator is responsible for operating the camera move during the take. Fine tunes actor’s positions and checks double checks the camera settings with the 1^st AC. Guides the 1^st AC as to where to put the focus if there is any doubt.

 

- The DIT-guy is responsible for taking the footage from the camera and copy it onto the hard drives. Usually three copies are made and never kept in one place. He walks up to the 1^st AC to get the flash cards from the 1^st AC, who hands them to the DIT person.

 

Why 3 copies: Hard drives and power are unreliable and when copying from card to drive a hard drive might fail and you lose all data. When two hard drives are plugged in and there is a power peak, both drives might die and you lose all data. There is always a third drive where the footage is copied to when one is disconnected. There are numerous incidents of production loosing data when only using two hard drives. The cost of having one more hard drive is nothing compared to shooting a whole day with cast and crew again because footage got lost.

 

This is a pretty well balanced task package for each member of the camera team.

 

Next the DP instructs the gaffer and key grip of where the light and grip equipment will be placed. All the key persons give instructions to their assistants of what needs to be done in order to shoot the scene as soon as possible.

 

This is also the moment when the art director or set dresser repositions some furniture or props to make a good looking picture.

 

As soon as the cameras have picture on the monitor, the area in front of the camera becomes HOLY GROUND. The DP, art director and gaffer move to the monitors and start fine tuning the picture.

- First the camera operators together with DP if necessary reposition and finalize the marks for the actor.

- The Art director gives instructions to his assistants about prop placement.

- The gaffer and key grip give instructions to fine-tune the lighting.

- The camera operators rehearse any camera move.

- The focus puller takes all focus marks.

- The camera operator works together with the boom operator of where the edges of the frame are in order for not having the boom in the shot during the take.

 

The holy ground

When the camera is in place and sends picture to the monitor, the area in front of it becomes HOLY GROUND. This means that only the key crew has, if necessary free access to it, but only for as little time as possible. Picture needs to stay clean/ not obstructed as much as possible. Nobody else is allowed in this area. If any assistant needs to be on the holy ground, he or she needs to ask the 1^st AD’s or key crew’s permission to enter.

In America and Europe the crew shows a lot of respect to this holy ground and in the US anybody who crosses the lens announces it first by saying “CROSSING”

 

NOT RESPECTING the holy ground means that the DP and art director can’t finalize the image and for the director to see what the shot will look like. There is nothing more annoying than pushing a “tourist away from the lens”.