Ow-perating the Cam

ow ow ow. ow ow ow.

Alo there, this is Oscar, Camera Operator for Res.Life, and that's about how I feel right now, a few hours after we finished shooting our second day of "Res.Life". I knew operating the camera was going to be a painful affair, but I didn't really want to think about it until the day had come. After three months of pre-production-and to be completely honest me sitting on my bum as everyone else in class did a million and one things-I finally got my hands dirty.

For our first two thirteen hour days, I was in the thick of it with our Prof. Schneider, Director Patrick, and DP Leo, and our wonderful actors as we found the best way to shoot our story. It was a painful process that requires a lot of micromanagement, tweaking, and repeating, but when we get 'that shot', it is incredibly rewarding.

We've done a few dolly moves, including one today that involved the dolly moving forward, as the camera was lowered and I had to tilt up and pan right following the action, but we've mostly stuck to handheld shots. And you know what that means? The 50 pound beast that is the HD camera is on my back for most of the day. If it weren't for my amazing 1st AC Dave and 2nd AC Josh, I would be writing this blog entry from a physical rehabilitation ward in the nearest hospital. Thankfully, I am just in my room, with three cooling pads stuck to my back.

The trickiest bit of handheld camera operating is getting the correct marks and following the action as best as possible. My field of vision is limited to what I can see through my black-and-white viewfinder, and that's it. I cannot see to my sides or behind me, so when I am following an actor or waiting for him or her to come into my frame, I am blind as a bat. This is when I rely on visual cues from the surroundings, or on other guides set by the director or my AC. Also, some of the actors are tall. Really tall. Others are short. Really short. I am neither really tall nor really short, which makes things complicated when a tall actor and a short actress are in a scene together.

My favorite things about the shoot so far? The food. Craft services is awesome. Or are awesome. I dunno. I'm from Puerto Rico. We speak Spanish there. Anywhoo, I also really like the cast, they are nice and very eager to learn and work with us. I also like that because I'm the guy lugging the fifty-pound camera around, I don't have to carry heavy things when we are setting up or breaking down. That's pretty nice.

My not so favorite things? Waking up early. A necessary evil, but still. Also the weather today, poo on that. I also don't like the awkward positions my body makes as I hold the camera. Emily's pictures of me should be HILARIOUS. [on a side note, my hair will probably look different in each picture, as I have a habit of pulling on my hair every.other.second.]

I was extremely nervous before we started shooting. Would I keep the camera still enough? Would it prove to be too heavy for me to hold all day? Would I delay filming because I missed a shot? or I couldn't hold the camera? Would I drop the camera?

These things still make me nervous, but after the second day of filming went so well, I can relax a bit more. I made it work, somehow. You'll see. One day.

Soon.