1 The Director of Photography – an overview

The camera crew 27
Because the film sometimes arrives at the loader’s bag or darkroom
carrying its little supply of hairs, loaders must be continually vigilant in
their photographic housework. It has been known for a senior member
of the camera crew, when passing the loader’s bag, to turn it inside
out and see how clean the corners are. It is no use them claiming they
were going to clean it – it should have been clean. If, after a couple of
inspections at the beginning of the picture, all is well and there are
very few hairs appearing, then the loader will be left in peace.
Perhaps the most important responsibility of the loader is the paperwork.
It is boring, but if the camera report sheet is not both legible and
accurate it will be impossible to find the appropriate piece of negative
come neg. cutting. Also, on most pictures the production office will be
keeping a very close eye on the daily camera report sheets. This is for
several reasons. The shot footage must be logged to see if the production
is on budget in this area and they will want to know how much
footage is being entered in the waste column. A reputation for good
paperwork is the most common reason for a production office to
approve the DP’s nomination of a clapper loader. My loader keeps all
the information regarding the lens, exposure, filters, etc. very neatly in a
little book similar to a policeman’s notebook. Should I need to refer
back to any set-up, he then has the notes for the whole picture in his
back pocket – very efficient.They also keep the notes on filters and the
like to a minimum on the report sheet; this way, my techniques for
achieving certain effects are not broadcast to too great an audience.
Most DPs like to keep their ways of doing things within the crew, at
least until the picture has been released.
At the end of every day the loader should check with the DP to see
if there are any special notes they want entered on the laboratory
report sheet. A typical, blank, report sheet is shown in Figure 3.4.
On a 35 mm picture it is the perceived wisdom in the production
office that good loaders can save their salaries by intelligent juggling
of which magazines are put on the camera when and thus reduce the
amount of wasted film stock. A loader who is efficient in this area gets
hired again.
The clapper part of the job is deceptively simple. I am appalled at
how often a clapperboard is unreadable. It is vital that all the relevant
information is on the clapperboard and that it is easily read. If you
have ever tried to check the slate on a very blurred board that has
started to leave the frame just before the clap is closed you will understand
why.
Not only should the clapperboard be neat, but it must be put on film
in the correct way. The board should be held very still as the clap stick
is brought down and should then be held still for half a second after
the clap; only then should it be removed. This will give the cutting
room 12 frames of perfectly sharp board after the clap, which makes
synching up the sound and picture very much easier. There is also a
correct way of putting on a mute, or silent, board.The board should be
held by the stick with the stick open and the board should be held only
by this hand. This shows the cutting room that it is a mute shot as only
an idiot would now clap the board on their own fingers.
Once, clapperboards were made wholly of wood, originally using
chalk numbers, hence often being referred to as the slate, and later utilizing
plastic numbers attached with Velcro. Almost universally these
days, a board known as a backlight board is used and these are a vast