Sole Mates

My role on the production Sole Mates was a focus puller. I have never been a focus puller before. The focus puller on the graduation film Room 9 shared a lot of her ideas and tips, which I found helpful. The role of the focus puller is basically to keep focus on a certain subject or subjects in the shot, change lenses, build and calibrate the camera and be around the camera at all times. The first day on Sole Mates was a little hectic. It was raining heavily, runners had umbrellas over it constantly but even then the camera was getting splashed. Changing the lens was difficult in these circumstances because the lenses had to be changed in the car. The crew moved to the interior afterwards and that was when the Red was broken. A single pin was broken inside the media card compartment. My heart truly sank. There seemed to be a curse that swarmed us that day. The intimidation of the Red came back. I believe I treated this extremely expensive camera with care but obviously I hadn't or the Red would have been running for the rest of the shoot. These things happen but it was extremely inappropriate but on the first day, come on! Next time I'll handle the camera with care and will take all the time I need to ensure it is safe. For the rest of the shoot I worked as a 2ND camera assistant simply because we replaced the Red with a 550 d. The 550d is built for one person but if two people were to be around it, the whole process will slow down. The focus puller baton was handed to the camera operator. The whole experience was exhausting and shattering but I loved it. The more experience I get on set the better I will become.

Red Camera Training

Week Beginning: Monday 31st May

The Red Camera training started with a overview of; what each part of the kit was, what it did and where it belonged. (I was a 2ND camera assistant on the 4Th year graduation film shoot of "Room 9", where I was in the shadows of the Red camera, there seemed to be many different parts. I found the camera slightly intimidating because of the time took to set it up and generally the expense of each part. I doubted myself thinking that I would need a fair amount of training before I could set it up hence I wanted to use the 570 for or end of term films.) After some training on where parts attached, assembling the Red Camera was easier than I thought. The intimidation of the Red left me. The next level of the Red was to configure the settings which you require. This is where it became a little complex for me. After been given printed sheets of how to customise the settings, it is was simpler. What I need to do is to continually use the Red for me to store information in my brain. Later in the week marking lenses was the next stage. We had to learn the system of how to attach and detach the lenses safely, I had the experience of this on Room 9. Marking the lenses were straight forward but was a little time consuming. I need to learn more behind the theory of when, where and why use them.