Camera team roles
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| DP (cinematographer) | Designs framing, camera movement and light, and sets the look with the gaffer |
| Camera operator | Runs the camera, creating the framing and movement |
| 1st AC (focus puller) | Pulls focus, changes lenses, builds and maintains the camera |
| 2nd AC (clapper loader) | Handles the slate, camera reports, actor marks, and card and battery changes |
| DIT | Backs up and verifies data, and manages monitoring LUTs and image settings |
| Loader | Manages and moves cards, batteries and gear cases. On small crews the 2nd AC or data wrangler covers this |
On small shoots the DP may operate the camera, or one person may cover both 2nd AC and data. Decide at the first meeting who handles the slate, reports and data, and nothing falls through the cracks.
How the day runs
- Call time — Unload the gear and build the camera. Power up and check lenses, cards, batteries and monitors.
- Blocking — While the director and actors work out the moves, the camera team decides camera positions and lenses.
- Marks and setup — Put marks where the actors stand, and frame up with stand-ins while lighting is set.
- Rehearsal — The actors move at full speed; the 1st AC rehearses focus pulls and the operator the framing.
- Shooting — Slate every take, and the 2nd AC logs the result on the report.
- Next setup — Group shots facing the same way, and check remaining card space and battery.
- Wrap — Hand the last card to the data wrangler, charge batteries and pack the gear.
Focus marks and measuring distance
- Marks — Put a T or V of colored tape on the floor where an actor stops. A different color per actor avoids mix-ups.
- Measuring — Focus distance is measured from the sensor plane mark on the camera body. Measure to the mark with a tape or rangefinder and note it on the focus ring or the follow focus marking disc.
- Check in rehearsal — Confirm that the actor hits the mark exactly and agree when to pull focus during the move.
- Margin — Long lenses, close distances and wide apertures mean shallow depth of field and less tolerance for error.
How to slate a take
- 1Clapsticks — The moment they meet is the sync point for picture and sound.
- 2Scene · shot · take — Written largest and updated every take.
- 3Roll · date · director · DP · frame rate — Clues that help post find the original files.
- 01Update the slateWrite the next take number and roll (card) number in advance. When the shot changes, write the new shot number and start again from take 1.
- 02Get it in frameWhen you get the signal that camera and sound are rolling, hold the slate in front of the lens at a distance that’s in focus, large enough to fill the frame.
- 03Read it aloudRead it clearly, for example “Scene 12, shot 3, take 2,” so anyone listening to the sound file alone knows which take it is. Many crews use letters for shots instead, as in “12C, take 2.”
- 04Clap onceBring the sticks down cleanly once from above and get out of frame right away. Close to an actor’s face, clap softly.
- 05If you missed it — tail slateIf you couldn’t slate at the head of the take, slate after the take ends with the slate held upside down. That signals it was done at the end.
- 06Shooting without sound — MOSFor a take with no sound recording, write MOS on the slate and show it in frame with the sticks closed, without clapping.
Filling in the camera report
A camera report is one sheet per card (roll), logging the takes on that card. Post uses it to find the original files, and for reshoots you use it to recreate the same lens, aperture and filters.
- Header — Production, shooting day, date, camera (A/B), roll/card number, DP, and who filled it in.
- Per take — Scene, shot, take, lens (mm), T-stop, filter, frame rate, OK/NG/KEEP, timecode, notes.
- Notes — Briefly note anything the editor needs to know, such as soft focus, sound problems or high-speed shooting.
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