1 The Director of Photography – an overview

146
17
Testing
Why so much checking?
There are two reasons for meticulous preparation of all the equipment
and stores you will need for a shoot.
The first is clearly your own professional pride and the need to pack
equipment in such a way that the crew can find any piece of equipment
quickly and efficiently, even in the dark of a night shoot. Also, it is
essential that all the equipment starts the job in the finest possible
condition.
The second reason, and indeed the reason for some of the more
obscure test procedures, is that the production company probably raised
a completion bond to insure the picture gets finished and the bond company
will require hard evidence that all was well before you started.
A completion bond is a form of insurance taken out by the production
company in order that they, the production company, will be reimbursed
any expenses incurred due to unforeseen circumstances. For
instance, an artist might become ill during production and delay shooting
for several days. The completion bond company will then be
responsible for all additional expenses incurred.
Another example might be several rolls of film being found to be
scratched after development. The bond company might have to pay
for a reshoot. It is clearly in everyone’s interest to be able to prove that
none of the camera bodies nor any of the camera magazines were
scratched when first loaded onto the camera car at the beginning of
shooting.
For these reasons everything, but everything, must be checked and,
where possible, physical proof of a successful check must be available.
Who checks?
The focus puller is normally in charge of the preparation and will
almost always be assisted throughout by the clapper loader. This is
sensible, for during the shoot the focus puller will be responsible for
the day-to-day running of the camera and the loader will be expected to
know exactly where every single piece of equipment is at any given time.