Having a creative edge and knowing how to set up lights so that they create a specific mood is only a small part of a cameraman's work. A lot of cameramen are proud of their work, especially if they've joined the union. With a good editor, the end result of your work can look even better before and shock your audience.
Seeing your audience reacting how you wanted them can also be somewhat over-powering. When the audience reciprocates how you intended after watching your work, a feeling of achievement comes alive inside. All the hard work dedicated to bringing a production alive is well worth it when it is mastered.
A cameraman claims the job of visualizing all the elements of the picture-and hardly anyone can do that with light-which is one of the hardest parts of my job as a cameraman. It takes patience and a good eye to assemble all elements creatively and think of creative lighting set-ups. Mimicking the feeling of "being there," with the camera also takes a good eye and agility. One must be fit in order to hold a camera without shaking for long takes, so build your muscle and your stamina!
The cameraman takes longer than everyone else in the crew because they have to prep the camera. Even though there are camera assistants, cameras consist of many small, delicate pieces and must be handled with extreme care. Working on set as a cameraman means you go to work early and stay late because of the camera and how long it takes to prep.
It's always a good idea to thoroughly check every piece of camera equipment you rent to make sure it works the way it's supposed to. Camera equipment tends to be on the heavy side-especially equipment rented from such large places like Panavision or Arri-so it's a good idea to stay in shape and lift weights so you can move all the heavy cases of camera equipment as fast and carefully as possible. Working in the crew on set requires that you are able to move quickly without hurting yourself or others on set.
Getting your "foot in the door" as a cameraman (or any crew member for that matter) is incredibly hard and requires a lot of time, persistence and ambition. Being able to operate and put together numerous cameras is an important skill to acquire in your camera career as well so you can be quick and efficient getting ready to shoot every day of the production. Lagging is bad in production work because there is never any time to waste. The quicker and more efficient you are at putting cameras together and operating them, the more jobs you'll attain.
I think that freelance camerawork is the most difficult type of camerawork because it is never a promise. Sometimes projects will call you a week before you're scheduled to work and tell you it's been canceled. All cameramen start off as freelance as that's the only way to get noticed and get more jobs-unless you're somehow related to someone who can (and will) plug you in right away.
In my opinion, freelance camerawork is the most difficult kind of camerawork because it's like living on the edge. As with any freelance job, you live from job to job, acquiring a sum of money that you'll have to budget for some time. However, no job is a promise and sometimes you can lose one merely days before you were supposed to start. Getting jobs in the film industry has most to do with meeting other camera people and networking. Making friends is key!
Seeing your audience reacting how you wanted them can also be somewhat over-powering. When the audience reciprocates how you intended after watching your work, a feeling of achievement comes alive inside. All the hard work dedicated to bringing a production alive is well worth it when it is mastered.
A cameraman claims the job of visualizing all the elements of the picture-and hardly anyone can do that with light-which is one of the hardest parts of my job as a cameraman. It takes patience and a good eye to assemble all elements creatively and think of creative lighting set-ups. Mimicking the feeling of "being there," with the camera also takes a good eye and agility. One must be fit in order to hold a camera without shaking for long takes, so build your muscle and your stamina!
The cameraman takes longer than everyone else in the crew because they have to prep the camera. Even though there are camera assistants, cameras consist of many small, delicate pieces and must be handled with extreme care. Working on set as a cameraman means you go to work early and stay late because of the camera and how long it takes to prep.
It's always a good idea to thoroughly check every piece of camera equipment you rent to make sure it works the way it's supposed to. Camera equipment tends to be on the heavy side-especially equipment rented from such large places like Panavision or Arri-so it's a good idea to stay in shape and lift weights so you can move all the heavy cases of camera equipment as fast and carefully as possible. Working in the crew on set requires that you are able to move quickly without hurting yourself or others on set.
Getting your "foot in the door" as a cameraman (or any crew member for that matter) is incredibly hard and requires a lot of time, persistence and ambition. Being able to operate and put together numerous cameras is an important skill to acquire in your camera career as well so you can be quick and efficient getting ready to shoot every day of the production. Lagging is bad in production work because there is never any time to waste. The quicker and more efficient you are at putting cameras together and operating them, the more jobs you'll attain.
I think that freelance camerawork is the most difficult type of camerawork because it is never a promise. Sometimes projects will call you a week before you're scheduled to work and tell you it's been canceled. All cameramen start off as freelance as that's the only way to get noticed and get more jobs-unless you're somehow related to someone who can (and will) plug you in right away.
In my opinion, freelance camerawork is the most difficult kind of camerawork because it's like living on the edge. As with any freelance job, you live from job to job, acquiring a sum of money that you'll have to budget for some time. However, no job is a promise and sometimes you can lose one merely days before you were supposed to start. Getting jobs in the film industry has most to do with meeting other camera people and networking. Making friends is key!
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The detailed occupation of the mini series camera operator at Mark Anthony Cella's site.
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