Ryan W

I've seen golf tee's used on more than one occasion as well.

We used golf tees for marking the center of tires on a vehicles starting point (side opposite the camera)

so the car was in almost the exact starting position for each take.

Try getting to a point where you can look right down the barrel of the lens straight into the gate. Then put it in front of your face. .

A funny story about this approach was told to me by a camera op.

He said he used to to the same thing and it worked...until one time he was told "it's not about you"

"I don't want to see your face in the monitor any more" (like he was hamming for the camera) so then he had to figure another way. trial and error terror.

Anyone else got any tips?

I just finnished working 24 days as a Camera trainee.

And the biggest problem I recurrently had was finding the center of frame for slating.

I always semmed to be to the left, right, high or low.

I laways checked the monitor during rehearsals and the length of the lens

to get the distance.

But the camera ops sometimes would change thier frame at the last second

or go wider and then I'm off.

It never seemed to be just right.

It seemed to agrivate the camera ops and the 1st's

Although some of the crew I worked with said it can take up to a year to get it down.

is there a way to judge from in front of the camera where the slate should go?

I found trying to judge from in front of the camera confusing, and it always looked as though

the slate was then way to the left or right of the mattbox from my perspective.

Any one with a surefire way?

THX