The Importance of Great Camera Operators

Having great camera operators, that can take direction, and have initiative of their own to find the right shot, is invaluable. I have worked in the past with camera people who can't take direction. For instance, you tell them you need a shot, only to look at the footage later, and it's not what you asked for. Or I ask them to back off so that they don't get into my shot, only to find that they wander right back in, wrecking my shot.

The current camera operators working on Emma's Revenge have been great: Jason Riesgraf and Andrew Crandall. Both have ideas for shots, but both also do what they're asked.

Jason responded to an ad on craigslist, posted after we let our previous producer/actor/2nd cameraman go. As second cameraman, he always comes up with ideas for shots but he never argues when I tell him what to do. As lead cameraman, I will tell him I am going to walk into his shot for a moment, and walk back out, as I move the steady camera around. He has no problem with that, unlike others I've worked with. Jason has plenty of his own creative ideas but always gets what I ask him for, before we experiment with his suggestions. His footage is top-notch and invaluable to our movie.

Andrew, on the other hand, is what I call my roving cameraman. He has shot several features himself, and he always has ideas I would never have come up with. When Andrew is on set, I have very little direction for him. He always knows what shot to get. Having shot several features himself, he knows what the good angles are, as well as original, creative shots. For instance, distant shots through debris, super-close ups, POVs, and other shots that had not occurred to me. As a result, whenever he's not there, I now find myself saying 'what would Andrew shoot?'

I've worked with Andrew previously on his project, Nephilim, one of several projects Krisha Saxon has worked on with Andrew over the years. He has worked in Hollywood and on many features, giving him lots of experience. That is why I just let him shoot what he feels is needed. It always turns out to be shots that add so much to the scene.

I recommend that once you find good camera operators, as well as any other crew, stay in touch.