How & What to do for Camera Test

[Kresna Astraatmadja]

I am doing production service in Indonesia, mostly for foreign filmmaker. Only rental house in the capital city has film camera, lab and telecine. Now, the shoot take place in the city 48 hours from the rental house. The DP and AC will never has a chance to do his own camera test cause they will arrive directly to the island where we shoot. should i rely on the camera guard from the rental house to do this? Anybody can explain all the things to be done in camera/lens test? I've never do this myself. Also the producer ask about "camera test result on paper and short end of tested material" What does it means?

Thanks

[chuck colburn]

I am doing production service in Indonesia, mostly for foreign filmmaker. Only rental house in the capital city has film camera, lab and telecine. Now, the shoot take place in the city 48 hours from the rental house. The DP and AC will never has a chance to do his own camera test cause they will arrive directly to the island where we shoot. should i rely on the camera guard from the rental house to do this? Anybody can explain all the things to be done in camera/lens test? I've never do this myself. Also the producer ask about "camera test result on paper and short end of tested material" What does it means?

Thanks

 

I would be more worried about a DP, (I take it he's going to operate also) who would show up on a job without doing the camera tests himself. So far as explaing all that is involved in camera and lens testing to someone who has never done it for themselves, that is a huge undertaking. Your producer wants a written desciption of the actual camera/lens tests and this goes back to that huge undertaking. A short end of tested material I take it to mean camera registration, lens focus tests, film latitude tests etc. Are you sure you want to put yourself in the position of being responsible for this?

Edited March 15, 2007 by chuck colburn

[Simona De Lullo]

If you can't have the entire camera crew for the tests you should try to get at least the first ac to check all the equipment or maybe you can ask the rental house if they know some local ac who is available to do just the camera test.

good luck

Simona

[Delorme Jean-Marie]

hi

camera test mean that when it's tested it's YOUR reponsability if there is a problem.

you'r not suppose to know how to run camera tests. it askes skills you do not have.

 

if no test are done and it happens it's the producer 's reponsability if there is a problem later.

He takes the risks.

 

maybe the AC will run a basic test on the island if he has the time.

 

it may work fine and it may not work fine.

usualy producers don't take riks at this stage of production but some do.

anyway it's not your problem as long as you let him know the issue.

 

camera test can be done by someone else, hire any AC you know for a couple of days and he will run the tests for you.

[Dan Salzmann]

You must have the tests done by a qualified 1st AC it is too difficult to explain all that is necessary to know and do to someone who has never done this before.

If this is not done you will probably have an angry producer and DP to deal with.

[timHealy]

You must have the tests done by a qualified 1st AC it is too difficult to explain all that is necessary to know and do to someone who has never done this before.

If this is not done you will probably have an angry producer and DP to deal with.

 

It is not worth the savings in labor for a member of the production to not do a proper camera checkout. If everyone shows up on set with a camera not properly prepared for the needs of this particular job, they could and probably will lose more money than they saved in labor multiplied by many x amounts. just a foolish decision.

 

Of course just my own 2 cents

 

Best

 

Tim

[Kresna Astraatmadja]

Thanks all,

the circumstances made me difficult to put the AC for this production do the test. so, i hire another AC (a qualified one) who'll never be on the shoot to do this test.

 

This is the first time i am going to be -sort of- responsible for this, because i'm the one who hire the AC and if something screw up on location, the one who test the camera will not be there. Usually it had to be done by DP's trusted AC. And the producer's trusted DP. And so on.

 

Yes, the AC or DP can do the inspections. But if there is an issue, will take 2 hrs flight to get the replacement. And no lab or TC on the island so they can not do the proper test.

 

So, maybe what i need is a check list, in case i have to answer whether the particular test is done or not like this:

1. registration test

2. stability/steadiness test (or is it the same with no. 1?)

3. all lenses test

4. speed test

5. shutter test

6. scratch test.

7. other accesories inspection like cable, video assist, monitor, etc.

 

anything else?

 

OK, let see what will happen...

 

K.

[Michael Nash]

Really, the AC you've hired should know how to do the tests. If he/she doesn't, then they're not qualified to do the job. The AC you've hired should be in communication with the DP and AC who will be on the shoot. Making sure all the equipment works is only part of the job -- the AC also needs to test that the gear fits in the combination that the DP intends to use.

 

To cover your responsibility, the AC should make notes on how everything checks out, noting any special problems.