A fistful o' queries

Derick Greenly · August 20, 2007

Ahoy folks,

I'm just in the midst of taking my learning into my own hands and getting my feet wet with some actual ON-SET WORK. Just wanted to ask:

-What's a good avenue for finding out about features in town?

-WHO hires the camera trainee/camera PA/New guy lackey? DP? PC? PM?

-How should I mention my past schooling or-more importantly-how do I avoid the image of quitter in what is merely a change of plans and methods?

-When do the aforementioned crews hire for? 2 weeks in advance? 2 days?

-How much experience would one want with a camera before signing on to 2AC it?

Any tips would be appreciated, folks. Soliciting oneself to a stranger for a job in which I have little remarkable experience could prove daunting. I'm in Toronto, by the way.

Thanks,

DG

Rory Hanrahan · August 22, 2007

Hi Derick, lots of questions, few answers, some may help...

1. New Features : Most civilized cities have a film office or some sort of production co-op. The film office (I think its the TFTO in Toronto) will help larger production crew up, find locations etc. They may have listing for upcoming crew gigs. The smaller co-ops, usually indy-minded, are there to help local filmmakers. This may be your best bet, at this stage in your career.

2. Hiring Lackeys : Once you've logged a few hours (or months, or years), your name will begin to get recognized and PC's/PM's will start calling. Until then, endear yourself to DP's, AC's, Ops and anyone else within 10 feet of a camera.

3. School (Or Lack Thereof) : Hey, you brought it up. Maybe you shouldn't. Most people really don't care about your film school experience, especially at the entry level (but here's an idea to kill 2 birds w/ 1 stone: crew up on as many student films as you can. Its basically a free film school)

4. Anybody's guess/depends on production

5. 2nd Exp. : Enough to know what your doing! Most people can 2nd on DV just fine (hey, its mostly tape labeling), but you need experience to work with an HD camera, film etc. Most important: DO NOT LIE ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE. That'll only put you on many-a s*it list!

Browse around the site, this kind of question has been asked ad nauseum. Best of luck.