Operating the Camera is the next Module in Getting to Know and Use Your Equipment. The release dates of each of the five books will be announced in our Production Diary and we expect the first book in the module to be available in October.
You are now familiar with what the lens can do for you, so now it's time to look at the camera. This module is divided into five eBooks:
Book 1: The Camera Department Inventory
Book 2: The Camera Menus and Controls
Book 3: The Clapper Board and Time Code
Book 4: Setting Up and the Camera Movements
Book 5: Camera Operations
Book 1 takes you through the correct use of the equipment you will need to get started with your productions, for example, tripods and camera heads, hand hold brackets, pipe dollies and a host of other multi functional accessories. It also give you an outline introduction to things like bazookas, western track dollies, jib arms and limpet mounts.
Book 2 looks into camera menus. This is very informative and gives you advice on how to use them wisely. Both white balance and black balance are explained with plenty of demonstrations in the video tutorials. Ian discusses the pros and cons of auto and manual controls and looks at exposure and gain.
Book 3 explains the correct use of the clapper board and how important it is to both the camera crew and in post production. Once again there are a lot of demonstrations on how it should be used. Then there is timecode. This is a matter that appears quite straight forward and it is, so why then do so many people make mistakes? This eBook takes you through the correct procedures step by step.
Book 4 demonstrates how to set up the camera rig and the camera movements, a pretty visual book with lots of tips on how to make sure you end up with great visuals. You learn about pans, tilts and tracking shots using a pipe dolly. It also explains the importance of a work station and how to set one up.
Book 5 deals with camera operations and focus puling and gives you a good understanding of what is involved. It offers you a number of production exercises to use in order to establish the basic disciplines and master the basic skills involved, starting with designing your shot. You learn about checking the limits and the working relationship between the camera operator and the focus puller. There are a lot of demonstrations which show both focus pulling and camera operational procedures and advice is given on hiring lenses and filters.
Every focus puller needs a tool kit to do the job correctly, and this item is covered at some length. The Prompt Note section includes the briefs for the production exercises mentioned above.
