Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

cameras no longer have tachometers, but they do have frame ratecontrols that must be checked regularly.The first should also keep track of how much footage is used on thefirst take and then check to make sure there is enough stock left toget all the way through another take of the same shot. It can be veryfrustrating for the director and the actors to roll out in the middleof the take.As soon as the director announces she is through with the scene,the first AC immediately checks the gate. This is to ensure that ahair or other piece of junk has not crept into the film gate and thusruined the shot. Anything like this would not be visible through theeyepiece, and if something is in there, everyone must know immediatelyso that it can be reshot. There are three ways of doing it. One isto look into the lens from the front. This can be difficult with zoomsbecause there is so much glass between your eye and the gate. Thesecond is to open the camera and gently lift the film up and examinethe gate. Many ACs don’t like this method because there is a possibilitythat something was there, but lifting the film moved it. The mostreliable method is to pull the lens and look at the gate.Second ACWhen the DP or first AC calls for a lens change, filter, or any otherpiece of equipment, it is the second who will bring it from thesecond assistant camera isalso sometimes referred to as the clapper or the clapper/loader. This isbecause one of her main duties is to operate the slate or clapper, as it isthe editor or video transfer person to coordinate the visual imageof the stick coming down with the audio of the clap, thus achievingsound sync.The slate also identifies the scene number, the take number, andthe roll number. It will also identify a scene as day-interior, nightexterior,and so on. The reason for this is that the timer at the labor the video transfer person needs to know the general type of lookthe scene should have. It should also indicate whether a shot is syncFigure 15.7. A typical day exteriorsetup. The sound mixer is at the left,boom operator is at the corner of theset. In the foreground is a dockingstation for the SteadiCam — a rollingstand with a U-shaped hook forwhen the operator needs to set thecamera down.set operations293