people's profile

[Laurent Andrieux]

It's been years I didn't work as an assistant actually, edited mine too ! :D

[F Bulgarelli]

If you have shot a series of projects, either for yourself and/or other people then I believe you could call yourself a DoP or maybe better, cinematographer. How good or bad the work is, that will be for other people to decide.

I think it would be kind of demeaning to yourself as an aspiring profesional to label yourself

"beginner Dop" or "Apprentice cinematographer" on your reel. No one will hire you.

 

Francisco

[Mike Donis]

I say that if you are currently attending a formal education institution, you're a student.

 

If you were DoP on a film before, and are pursuing that as your career, you're a DoP.

 

If you're a student who intends to pursue cinematography as his career, you're a student who intends to pursue cinematography as his career.

[GeorgeSelinsky]

Just to add my opinions to this thread...

 

My cinematography teacher at NYU said during his first day introductory speech "This class does not make you a cinematographer. If that's what you want, take another class somewhere else that will..."

 

I guess the safest bet is if you have worked on a project and gotten paid for it, you can call yourself a DP. I've gotten paid for my work, and my material has aired over television in Europe so I guess I can call myself a DP. But frankly I'm more interested in being a director, that's what I really want to do - even though I also very much enjoy being a cinematographer. I haven't been chasing other DP jobs for a while now simply because I have decided to persue directing seriously. So I guess I'm in a tougher position than students and others, and if you notice I don't sign myself as a "DP" even though I technically have a right to.

 

Like others have said, if you say you're a DP and don't know your A from your elbow (and say stuff like "Duuuude, you should always use a niiicee slow stock to maximise color saturation..."), either you're one heck of a lucky SOB and professional BS artist who has gotten by without getting called on your incompetence, or you are fluffing your feathers. Either way you won't get away with it for long and will be called on it loud and clear.

 

On the other hand, if we're really going to get down to establishing a community with living faces, then Tim's gotta go through the trouble of verifying who we really are (via post, fax, etc). I've met David and a few others here in the flesh before, but some other people could be giving me baloney names for all I know. Spammers invent and steal names every day. If I signed as Burt Harbinson (to borrow from a Seinfeld episode), and then signed in another day as John Parker, would you know I'm a liar? Maybe you'd only catch on if I signed my name as Lazlo Kovacs and started arguing that Super 8 has the same resolution as 35mm with the right lighting, or that B-wind film is for daylight, A-wind for tungsten....

 

Furthermore, I do see a plus on the side of anonymnity. For instance, what if you have a major job for a big client, but never happened to use a certain piece of gear that is considered highly standard, or had to do a travelling matte shot and never did one? It's not always easy to sign on with your real name and ask a question like that. This kind of information can potentially be used against you unfavorably, this is a very competitive business and not everyone shares a feeling of friendly professional companionship towards each other. You'd be surprised how small of a world it can be, especially over the internet.

 

Furthremore, what if you had a bad experience with a lab, or a rental house, but still need to have a business relationship with them and are apprehensive about going out on the public record criticising them? There are, of course, ways of abusing anonymnity too, i.e. to defame someone, but anonymous comments are often taken with a strong grain of skepticism anyway, especially when you're criticising a single individual.

 

It's a tough call to really make. I'd rather people police themselves, and use common sense. Most people here are old enough to understand that. Otherwise someone like Tim needs to do a lot more work. I've run forums and email groups before and it can be a pretty tough and taxing task to keep everyone in check, without shooing everyone away yourself by being too harsh, or by letting some nutjobs shoo away people. It's a tough game of compromise, sort of like a bouncer at a club.

 

- G.

Edited January 3, 2005 by GeorgeSelinsky

[Guest Jon Armstrong]

The title Director of Photography is not limited to the ASC or to award winning cameramen or even to particularly good cameramen.  It does refer to a level of experience in that job description.  If you are a first year film student with one minidv project as a cameraman you might get more out of this site describing yourself as a student then a Director of Photography.  We were all starting out once and are thrilled to feel the passion and excitement students and beginners bring to this site.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The concept of DOP (Director of Photography) usually refers to the person required to set the photographic feel. They are mostly people with enormous photographic experience. I have known Camera Opperators who are far better than thier Guv at getting the shot. Some of these opperators have been doing this for years. The camera department is a team that often works together for years.

 

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