The New York Times covers the blockbuster merger between Netflix and Warner Bros with a litany of legitimate concerns and fears surrounding this deal from film industry insiders:

Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Cinema United, a trade organization that represents 30,000 movie screens in the United States, called the Netflix acquisition “an unprecedented threat” and vowed to fight it. “Theaters will close, communities will suffer, jobs will be lost,” Mr. O’Leary said, noting Netflix’s policy of giving movies only “token” releases in theaters.

For many crew, we have a love of movie theaters and the idea of The Big Screen. Does an industry without them expand or contract? Does it still occupy the same place in the cultural zeitgeist?

Entertainment workers in Los Angeles — camera operators, producers, hairstylists, writers, actors, set designers, editors — have already been struggling with a contracting job market. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, two union strikes, an exodus of production to cheaper locales and the rise of artificial intelligence tools, tens of thousands of workers have been laid off by Hollywood companies since 2020.

So on Friday, there was a keen understanding that “consolidation” was just another word for “job loss.”

It’s been a rough year – or five – for many of us working below-the-line in the industry.

Netflix has a lot of jobs here, said a high-level aide to one City Council member, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he did not have the authority to comment publicly on the merger. But, he said, the Federal Communications Commission would have to approve the deal, and the worry would become what Netflix needs to do to appease President Trump.

With what Trump and his administration have already done to the media arts landscape writ large (60 Minutes / CBS, Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, the Kennedy Center takeover) this is a real wildcard.

There is no angle in which I see this merger as “good” news except two perspectives:

1. Netflix is the lesser of two evils. Warner Bros selling to Paramount to create a mega-studio would’ve been much worse from a monopolistic perspective.
2. You’re a Netflix stockholder.

The consolidation of the legacy studios into even larger, monolithic media mega-corporations does not bode well for an industry already hurting.

Finally, I can’t help but recall what Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said his goal was way back in 2012: “to become HBO faster than HBO can become us.”

The post Does anybody who’s not a Netflix or WB executive want this deal to happen? appeared first on The Black and Blue.

To be short, I’m not very tall.

Google says I’m a little below average, but working next to cameras often emphasizes my shortcoming. I’m reminded of it when tilting monitors down as the camera goes up on the DP’s shoulder; when I stand on my tippy toes to peak at a lens marking as the camera sits high on the sticks; or when I’m asked to cram into a car to shoot driving scenes – like what happened recently.

Early in our shooting day, the director of photography (DP), director, and I had been talking about another job the DP wanted me on. It was one of those low-pay “favor” jobs and my reluctance was palpable, so we were talking about who could be assistant camera (AC) in place of me. The name of a mutual friend arose who has plenty of production experience, but is not an AC by trade and would basically be a set of hands for the DP.

“Colin can’t do it. He’s too tall to be an AC,” I said sarcastically.

“What do you mean?” The director asked with a tilt of her head.

I challenged her: “Think about it. Do you know any tall AC’s? We’re all short. DP’s are often tall, though”

In a silly picture a friend posted on Facebook once, two AC’s are laying down in a straight line across a hallway: one with his feet against the wall and the other with his feet near the first one’s head. The caption read, “Human tape measures.” To which a quick-witted commentor offered: “The room is approximately 4′ across.”

In my own life, I’ve wrestled with being short on and off set. Once my then-girlfriend threw me a shade of doubt after I claimed I was 5’ 9” when getting sized for skis. As anybody in a loving relationship knows, doubling down on this claim was my only option. I emphatically pushed that I was 5′ 9″ and even showed her my license which had it listed (never mind it’s self-reported to the DMV). Not to be outdone, she got out the tape measure and had me stand against the wall…

…turns out I’m actually 5’ 8” – and on the short end of that.

Shortness doesn’t really matter, of course. It’s like pointing out that grips are more likely to have tattoos or script supervisors to wear glasses: informal generalizations that will always have exceptions and follow no particular trend to any particular conclusion.

When I asked the director that day whether she knew any tall AC’s, she thought for a few moments before being distracted with actual matters a director has to deal with.

Meanwhile, I started prepping the camera for driving shots inside the back of a Honda Element with the seats removed. I was told I’d be one of four crew in the back – director, DP, sound mixer, and myself – alongside the camera. “OK, well, let’s make it fit then,” I thought as I stretched my legs between and around the hi-hat the grips had secured with ratchet straps.

“You’re right,” the director said from behind as she climbed in minutes later, “Colin is too tall.”

She nodded to my legs. I looked down at the pretzeled contortion they had made to get right up against the camera and laughed: Colin really would have had a harder time squeezing back there!

In my unofficial research I’ve certainly never found any correlation between height and skill in camera assistants; the slate doesn’t clap any differently based on stature nor does the follow focus care how tall you are. That said, grips may prefer a towering person pulling focus considering I need a full apple box to stand on more than I’d care to admit. And, well, being taller would save my neck from craning up on some of those handheld shots with bigger operators.

But as we were crunched up in the back of that car driving over potholes and cobblestones, I had the last laugh as the shortest – and by far the most comfortable – person in the back.

(A rare occasion.)

The post We AC’s Are a Short People appeared first on The Black and Blue.

It’s been awhile, don’t you think?

I’ve wanted to post new stuff for awhile now, but the site had become so old and languished for so long, it no longer had a sound foundation to blog upon. I’m the only one who maintains this site – including the code for the custom design – and I’ve been busier with other things that prevented me from keeping it up to modern standards. I felt like any new post would draw more traffic to the site and put stress on the parts of it that were literally breaking.

So, at the beginning of this summer, I set a goal: bring The Black and Blue up to modern web standards (or at least enough that it wasn’t breaking) that way I could begin posting again. While visually things don’t look very different, there is a lot of work “under-the-hood.”

None of this is of particular import to you, but if you’re the type of person who likes to know about the nuts-and-bolts and inside baseball of things, I’m happy to expound! Let’s dive into it…

Version 5.0 “Foxtrot”

This version is codenamed “Foxtrot.” The previous theme was “Delta.” If you’re astute, you may notice these are military alphabet terms (and also what us camera assistants use for slating). If you’re even more astute, you may notice that I skipped “E.” That’s because the appropriate word “echo” is used extensively in the coding language PHP that this site (and its foundation, WordPress) is built upon. So, I had to skip it or suffer all sorts of messes, programmatically speaking.

Modern Standards, Streamlined Codebase

The focus of this update was to bring things in line with modern standards. As a result, the site should feel faster, less bloated, and easier to navigate. It should be better to use on a mobile device and it should be less dependent on web technologies that used to be necessary. When refactoring the theme, I prioritized support for modern browsers – ditching all the “hacks” you used to have to have to support legacy browsers like Internet Explorer.

More Privacy

Because I stripped away a lot of external code libraries, there should be more privacy when browsing this site. There are still cookies and trackers that are unavoidable when using services like YouTube players, Disqus commenting, and things like that, but I have removed social media sharing buttons and Google Analytics entirely and, where possible, used the most secure privacy settings available. For instance, all contact form submissions now auto-expire personal data after 180 days.

Stronger Foundation Moving Forward

Not only was the site brought up to modern standards, but it was also designed to be more extensible and flexible for the future. That means that I can add features or parts to the site that will improve the reading experience without it being such a big lift (because this was the big lift).

Experimenting with Advertisements

This site was never engineered to make me rich, but it does have significant costs to host it on quality servers. So, to offset those costs, I’m experimenting with running advertisements. You may see them on some visits and you may not depending on whether it’s “worth it.” I’m also going to experiment with things like Patreon and paywalled content to see how we can find a balance between making the articles on this site accessible while making it sustainable for me to devote time and resources to it.

Legacy Pocket Guides are Free

Lastly, the Digital Cinema Pocket Guides, which have been a staple of this site for years are now completely free. They had not been updated in a long time and, even before this, I stopped charging for them. It’s official now: you can have them for free if you still find a use for them. They were very useful to me (and many others) for their time, but the pace of camera software updates as well as their mostly handcrafted nature, made them near impossible to keep current.

I do sincerely appreciate anyone who purchased them. I hope you found value in them.

Plus, you helped support this site! Almost all of the money made off of those guides has been used to pay for servers, mailing lists, etc. that keep The Black and Blue alive right here and right now at a time when so many other blogs and websites simply turn off the lights as they are abandoned.

A New Chapter for The Black and Blue

I’m hopeful that all of these changes are the beginning of a return to form for The Black and Blue. In all the years I’ve left this site unattended, there hasn’t been much content to fill its place. I still treasure it as a unique corner of the internet that I hope you will continue to support.

Let me know in the comments what you would like to see covered moving forward.

And thank you to you, amazing reader!

For a full list of changes, you can read the site’s changelog here.

The post Version 5.0 of The Black and Blue is Live! appeared first on The Black and Blue.

As you read this, negotiations for a new agreement are ongoing between our industry labor unions and the producers of film and television shows. These discussions have been drawn-out and grown increasingly tense. The current agreement was extended to September 10th, but there’s since been little progress. It appears there is still a wide gap between the unions of IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees), among them the International Cinematographer’s Guild (Local 600), and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Whereas the AMPTP wishes to continue the status quo, IATSE is pushing for:

• Livable wage for all crew
• Reasonable rest / hours (no “Fraturdays” and harsher penalties for delaying or denying meals)
• Sustainable benefits
• Better rates for crew working on streaming shows

These are not luxuries and the abuse in this industry of even simple things like meal breaks is too prevalent. When the financial incentives are aligned such that: it’s cheaper to pay meal penalties than to break for lunch; it’s cheaper to force calls than to let crew get sleep; it’s cheaper to shoot for 14+ hours than to schedule appropriately; then the penalties are not harsh enough.

Like many things in the world these days, this industry is experiencing tremendous imbalance. Never has film & video content been more consumed, more in-demand, and more profitable than it is now on the backs of overworked, overtired, and underpaid crew.

When some of the richest companies in the world like Apple, Amazon, and Netflix, alongside established players like HBO, Paramount, and NBC, are pouring tremendous resources into building their video content libraries, that means there is money to be made.

Meanwhile, crew are compelled to work 12, 13, 14-hour plus days – often consecutively – to pad their paychecks with enough overtime money to afford to pay rent or the bills for their children’s daycare.

Meanwhile, crew all over are getting into car accidents after falling asleep at the wheel because they didn’t get enough of a turnaround to have a good night’s rest and make it to work on time.

Meanwhile, crew are putting on their masks and face shields, subjecting their nostrils to test-after-test, only to watch those above-the-line sip their coffees with their masks on their chins almost daring us at safety meetings to “let them know” if you see anything unsafe.

Meanwhile, crew are choosing between basic life obligations or their career. They’re skipping doctor’s appointments, missing family milestones, and watching relationships crumble from neglect.

People are burning out in this industry in their 30’s, if they even make it that far.

These stories are not rare and they’re not entirely unique. I urge you to follow the Instagram account @IA_stories to see a sampling of how mistreated you can be if you’re working on a film set whether it’s union or non-union, big budget or low budget:

Of course, not all productions are malicious. Frankly, I’m not here to argue against every counter example. There are enough productions that it is a problem and we, the crew, the labor, have an opportunity to recognize it as such and only accept a path forward that rectifies these abuses.

I’m simply here to throw my hat into the ring and tell you that I believe crew deserve all of these things: a bigger slice of the pie, a better quality-of-life, and an opportunity to work in this industry without sacrificing their health, hobbies, and relationships.

A 40-Hour Three-Day Work Week

As I scroll through the unbelievable tales on @IA_Stories, I feel lucky that most of my work is commercial / corporate / documentary and that I’ve built relationships with producers who do care, work hard, and schedule appropriately. Whenever they give me a call, I go out of my way to be available for them because they understand we can get the work done well while still enjoying our evenings and weekends. It’s a whole different world.

In the circles I work, the idea of a 14-hour day isn’t foreign, but it is rare and usually borne out only by necessity. 12-hour days are common, but 10-hour days are the standard. They can still be long days, however, I usually have time to eat dinner at a reasonable hour, exercise, and get some decent sleep.

But I’ve been in the thick of it: my first official union job as a camera assistant was day-playing on a major network TV show with a 14-hour day followed by a 14.5-hour day. On the second day, they forced our call (we didn’t get enough time between when we went home and when we had to arrive in the morning, per union rules) and didn’t break us for lunch (they did provide cold spaghetti on a random table near set you had to eat when you could steal a moment away). At 11pm on the 2nd day, 13 hours into my day, I was told they needed me for tomorrow. I ended up missing a friend’s birthday party.

By the time I collapsed onto my couch, I had just about worked 40-hours in the span of three days.

From what I witnessed, these days weren’t long because they had to be, they were long because it was disorganized. It was easier to spend money to fix problems and buy time than it was to properly plan ahead for the shoot.

That experience was eye-opening to me. I remember telling the 1st AC, “You know, I joined the union because I thought I’d get to eat on time and go home at the end of the day.”

He laughed, “Nope! You just get paid to not do those things.”

I can’t imagine doing that for an entire run of a TV show or feature film, let alone for a six-day week.

Imagine instead an industry where you do get to eat on time, go home at the end of the day, and get paid that same amount – that’s what we’re pushing for.

When Crew Are a “Line-Item”

Another story: last summer, as COVID was still raging and this industry was starting to find its footing, I received a phone call to work as 1st AC on a commercial for Amazon. I quoted my rate to the production supervisor who scoffed and, in an apparent attempt to negotiate me down, said, “We should all be thankful we’re able to work right now.”

I am always thankful for work; but I don’t necessarily want to expend my time, skills, and knowledge contributing to the balance sheet of a trillion-dollar company unless the compensation is fair. Plus, it’s not like I heard Amazon and tried to take advantage. I had already booked multiple jobs in that same stretch at that same rate for clients that Amazon could buy with Jeff Bezos’ pocket change. Instead, they weren’t willing to pay the market rate – they were being cheap.

There’s an attitude that plays out systemically in many productions across this industry that crew are a line-item, a checklist, or a cell on a spreadsheet that needs to turn green so the person who’s texting you can move onto the next thing.

You see it in the way they don’t even introduce themselves when booking you. You see it in the way they assume you’re available for that COVID test or prep day nobody actually told you about. You see it in the way they put you on hold and never follow up to tell you they found someone else.

I saw it in the way that woman from the Amazon shoot hassled me about my rate, told me she’d get back to me, and then ended up hiring a friend for the exact same rate I had initially quoted.

Never has my relationship with production felt more adversarial than it has now. And I hate it. I still believe that most people in production are good people working hard and that we’re all part of the same team, but my patience to cling to that ideal has eroded.

(At least part of this feeling is because of COVID liability waivers, but that’s for a future post…)

For the person hiring you, it may not even necessarily be their fault. The pressure comes on them from above in the form of deadlines, budgets, and last-minute changes. They, too, are trying to do their job.

But it increasingly feels like the goals they represent as “The Production” and our goals do not have enough overlap to find alignment. At the end of the day, they have more power, and sometimes the responsibility, to relieve these pressures than those of us trying to get the camera rolling on the next setup.

Stand in Solidarity to Be Better

Even if you are non-union, the unions in this industry set a standard that trickles down to the rest of the production world. Also, regardless, it’s important to think about how productions are treating you, how you wish it could be better and how you can push it to be better. Explain yourself to producers and production managers. I’ve found many of them are understanding and can be accommodating when you assert yourself for what’s reasonable as a human being: respect, value, and safety.

And when that doesn’t work, we need to recognize that though this industry provides us with a lot of opportunity and many of us are passionate about the work, we need to be equally passionate about taking care of ourselves and each other and be willing to not accept anything less than reasonable.

The reality is that these issues are systemic and built into the industry through a tapestry of habits, traditions, misaligned incentives, and institutional inertia. Any one of us probably won’t move the needle too far, but collectively we can push this industry to improve beyond the status quo – which is clearly not sustainable – to be more inclusive, more accommodating, more fair, and more reasonable.

So, Happy Labor Day. Enjoy the time-off and, next time you step on set, I hope you do so with fresh eyes to recognize it doesn’t have to be like this: it can be, and should be, better.

The post Happy Labor Day: The Film Industry Should Treat Crew Better appeared first on The Black and Blue.

Editor Daniel Reis, working for The Criterion Collection, compiled this fun video showcasing that empty space at the end of an interview where the set falls silent for “room tone.” In his own words:

At the start of 2020, I had an idea that it might be fun to do something with all the footage of room tone I’ve accumulated. For those who aren’t familiar with film and video production, “room tone” is the ambient sound of a space typically captured at the end of a shoot. Editors think of it almost like the mortar between bricks: if I’m cutting together different takes, creating an artificial pause, or eliminating a speaker’s “ums” and “ahs,” I need to layer in that sound to make sure the final result is seamless. Room tone is something that can’t really be faked, because each space has its own ambience, and it’s very hard to re-create once you’ve left.

Some of the interview subjects seen in the video include: Martin Scorsese, Roger Deakins, Spike Lee, Bong Joon-Ho, Christopher Walken, Carey Mulligan, Alfonso Cuarón, Frank Oz, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tony Hawk, and more – including the hardworking production crew.

A pleasant, if not nostalgic watch, for those of us sitting at home a little more than we’d like waiting for projects to pick up steam again. Thank you Mr. Reis for bringing a piece of set life home to us!

The post ‘The Gift of Room Tone’ featuring Martin Scorsese, Roger Deakins, Cristopher Walken, and More appeared first on The Black and Blue.

A little late to this one, but this overview of the Light Ranger 2 from Chris Silano (“A” Cam 1st AC on Uncut Gems) from the Gods of Focus series in Jon Fauer’s Film and Digital Times is worth the delay:

… I don’t care how good you think you are. You can get marks, you can use laser beams, run your 200-foot tape measure, do whatever you want. The precision that the Light Ranger brings really lets you choose which eyelashes to keep sharp. It’s a really phenomenal tool. People might say, “Just press the Autofocus button.” I don’t use it a lot, but sometimes it’s really handy when everything’s moving, people wobble when they walk, and if you can get in sync with it, that’s great, but it’s just as easy to go the wrong way and get out of sync.

Silano later provides an example:

We had a good chuckle one morning. It was 2 am. We were in an enchanted, psychedelic forest. In this fantasy land, Jim McConkey was pushing an ALEXA 65 with the Betz Wave horizon stabilizer on his Steadicam. That’s a beast of a payload, but Jim’s a workhorse. He just won the SOC camera operator of the year award, well deserved.

I heard director Pablo Larraín say, “Jimmy, instead of stopping, can you just continue in?” Jim looked over at me. I was 20 feet away, pulling focus, guided by the video overlay bars of the Light Ranger.

The actors in the scene must have been startled when Jim shouted out to me, “Chris, I’m not going to stop. I’m going to continue in. I’m going to keep going in at the end.” They all looked at me and I just answered, “Always got to ruin the surprise, don’t you, Jim?” Everybody laughed, but really, it gives everyone enormous freedom on set. Now I don’t have to say, “Well, let me get marks first.”

More and more, pulling focus feels like playing a video game.

The post Focus Puller Chris Silano on Using the Preston Light Ranger appeared first on The Black and Blue.

As first reported by The Sun, Tom Cruise went on a tear against two members of the Mission Impossible 7 crew who failed to social distance. We don’t know the entire context of what happened – merely that these two people were standing within a meter of each other around a computer screen – but it’s not hard to imagine that Cruise, also a producer on the film, had seen too much of this or had seen these particular crew violate other policies previously. Plus, this comes after the movie already had to suspend filming due to an outbreak of COVID-19.

Based on my experience, it’s entirely plausible that people were flouting COVID safety left and right thinking that the mask shields them from other important measures like staying socially distant. In any case, Cruise’s rant, while aggressive is fair given the circumstances of the pandemic:

I don’t ever want to see it again, ever! And if you don’t do it you’re fired, if I see you do it again you’re f***ing gone. And if anyone in this crew does it – that’s it, and you too and you too. And you, don’t you ever f***ing do it again.

That’s it! No apologies. You can tell it to the people that are losing their fing homes because our industry is shut down. It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education.

[…]

I trust you guys to be here. That’s it. That’s it guys. Have a little think about it. . .[inaudible].

That’s what I think of Universal and Paramount. Warner Brothers. Movies are going because of us. If we shut down it’s going to cost people f***ing jobs, their home, their family. That’s what’s happening. 

All the way down the line. And I care about you guys, but if you’re not going to help me you’re gone. OK? Do you see that stick? How many metres is that?

A few thoughts: one, I like that he doesn’t want an apology, he wants them to follow the rules; two, I wish more producers would back up their safety measures like this. It sure would make me feel better about signing those garbage coronavirus liability waivers.

The post Tom Cruise Isn’t Messing Around with COVID Safety appeared first on The Black and Blue.

When the holidays come around and you’re building a wish list of potential gifts for your family to buy you, it’s tempting to put work-related items on there. The problem is: they’re usually so expensive! For instance, a single gold mount battery would blow most people’s holiday shopping budget apart.

Plus, if you’re like me, you tend to buy the low-cost items as needed as a business expense. If I need more Pancro, I order it. If all my bongo ties are “borrowed” by the sound department, I replace them. If I lose my beloved Leatherman, I buy another because it slows me down doing my job without one.

So what’s left after that?

Well, this list: items that are quality-of-life improvements that make the job of a camera assistant (AC) easier or better, but aren’t strictly required to perform well (or at all). Most importantly, these gift ideas are affordable for a wide range of budgets – everything here is under $100 and many are under $30.

1. Kondor Blue Mini Quick Release

Price: $25
Buy Now: Amazon, Kondor Blue

I never seem to have enough of these little guys when I build a camera package. They’re insanely useful and the possibilities are endless. I use them to mount monitors on the camera’s top handle that can be removed quickly when switching to a gimbal or Steadicam. I also use one on my focus pulling monitor and another on the follow focus hand unit which allows me to quickly switch between pulling focus from a stand to mounting the monitor directly to the hand unit. At $25 each, they’re well-worth having a few in your kit and a spot on your wish list.

2. Stubby Wireless Video Antennas

Price: $12.99 (Pair)
Buy Now: Amazon

The film industry is rapidly moving over to wireless video as the standard. These stubby antennas do a solid job of providing signal from the wireless transmitter on the camera with the advantage of having a lower profile than stalk antennas. This comes in handy on Easy-Rig jobs where an operator might cradle the camera like a football and keep bumping against regular stalk antennas. I’ve only ever used these on Teradek systems, but seeing as that is the current standard, you’re bound to find a job to use them on shortly. They also work great as an antenna replacement on Alexa Mini.

3. Sprig Cable Management Device

Price: $18 (6-pack)
Buy Now: GetSprig.co

If you spend any time at all on #cameraassisting Instagram, you know that cable management and clean camera builds are hot these days. And, well, for good reason: a sleek camera is easier to operate and trace potential issues. At the same time, AC’s are being asked to put an ever-growing number of devices onto cameras these days. We can find the space, but the cables! Ugh, so many cables. Enter Sprig: it’s a push-to-mount cable management loop that fits into standard 1/4″-20 holes found on most cameras and allows you to route the cables how you want them to go instead of whatever way they feel like hanging. Sprig is good for your build (and for those sick BTS pics.)

4. Nite Ize Gear ties

Price: $18 (6-pack)
Buy Now: Amazon

Let’s continue down the cable management rabbit hole: it doesn’t matter if you have all the Sprigs in the world to route the cable the way you want it to go if it’s a 3-foot BNC for a 1-foot distance – you end up with a lot of extra slack. Or maybe you’ve got everything running how you want it, but the natural coils in some of the cables makes them bunch in weird ways. These gear ties are like twisty-ties, but infinitely easier to use. They’re awesome for holding together loops of long cable or corralling an unseemly bunch that’s getting in the way. The 3″ and 6″ sizes are the best for camera rigs.

5. Walkie Woogies + Ear Mold

Price: $22
Buy Now: Walkie Woogies

Walkie talkies are a staple of film set life with most crew bringing their own headsets these days. Walkie Woogies are colored, cloth tubing for the coiled ear tube part of your walkie headset. They’re a fun way to add some style to what is otherwise a mundane, practical piece of gear – and they’re a little more comfortable than the standard issue plastic. Pair them with one of these ear mold pieces and you’ll have a solid walkie setup that will look fly, feel comfortable, and help you hear all those jokes from grip department when you “accidentally” switch over to channel 8.

6. Badge Holder

Price: $6.99
Buy Now: Amazon

I work mostly commercial gigs, so I’m not usually walking around with an ID badge as you might on studio lots in order for security to know you’re on the right stage. But every so often I film inside a secure government building or for a large corporation that requests crew wear badges. Typically, it comes with a lanyard. The lanyard sucks. It’s annoying. I bend down a lot in my job and that thing swings in the way. It gets caught on the camera. It gets caught on the pens in my pocket. There is a better way: a clip-on badge holder for your belt. Simple, cheap, useful.

7. Robocup + Accessories

Price: $21.99
Buy Now: Amazon, Robocup

I love my Robocup. I could write an entire article about it. This thing is amazing. It’s not hyperbole when I say it changed how I work on set. I use my Robocup – paired with add-ons Robocup Holster and Robocup Plus – basically as a front box for my focus pulling station. And when it’s on the cart, it falls-back to its designed duties of holding coffee (which keeps cups off the cart, for the most part). I love it, DP’s love it, directors love it, you’ll love it. And it can’t hurt to have multiples – how many legs are on your camera cart? Four? Do you have a Robocup for each one yet?

Buy Add-ons here: Robocup Plus ($10), Robocup Holster ($18)

8. Portabrace Stuff Sack Padded Pouches

Price: $33 (for 3-pack)
Buy Now: B&H

Most camera assistants will already own several, if not many, of these already, but it’s great to have spares. I like to have extras lying around to build out grab ‘n’ go gear kits. For instance, putting everything needed for each monitor’s wireless video setup in one of these pouches and keeping it with the monitor will speed setup time. Or maybe you’re switching modes between cameras so it’s helpful to throw the necessary cables for the swap in one of these pouches that way you don’t have to dig through your bag or case each time. And, finally, even if you don’t put things inside the pouch, they’re soft enough to act as padding for free-floating fragile gear like monitors or lenses.

9. Domke Lens Wrap

Price: Varies (~$15)
Buy Now: Amazon

Lens wraps are another thing that’s good to have a surplus of. They’re insanely useful for those run ‘n’ gun days with multiple company moves. Instead of packing sensitive, fragile gear back into its case, where appropriate, you can wrap the gear in a lens wrap, put it into a ditty bag, store it on the cart (or in your car), and get moving faster. They come in various sizes and colors. Domke is only one of several brands that make them, but I’ve been satisfied with their version.

10. Engraved Filter Tags

Price: Varies ($8 – $14 per set)
Buy Now: Film Filter Tags

You can get away with filter tags made of camera tape and sharpie, but if you’re trying to score points for presentation, these engraved filter tags will spruce up your rig. You can get all sorts of sets from ND’s to Black Promist’s to POLA tags. And if you work a lot of multi-cam jobs, there are even A, B, C, D camera labels that will prevent confusion when trying to find that third angle for… “which camera is that?” These are a great gift for AC’s: a nice to have upgrade which contributes meaningfully to our perception as professionals and also helps communicate important information effectively.

11. Travel Stool

Price: Varies ($20-29)
Buy Now: Amazon

When my feet get tired on set, I used to be an apple box guy. But too often I’d settle in for that long take when, last-minute, someone would shout: “We need a full apple!” and the best boy would look at me and I knew now I had to stand for this 3-minute focus pull. Lame!

(Also, sometimes you don’t want to go back to the grips for the third time in 10 minutes to ask for an apple box after they already got you a sandbag and a bajillion monitor stands.)

So, anyway, I got kicked off my apple box one day and saw the sound mixer with one of these stools. I bought one right then. They’re lightweight, small, and comfortable enough for short stints. There are a lot of options out there if you search “camping stool.” This is the one my rested feet approve of.

12. Robertas Nevecka Shirts, Stickers, Prints

Price: Varies ($1.50 – $39)
Buy Now: Robertas Nevecka’s Store

If you’re unfamiliar with his work, 1st assistant director Robertas Nevecka draws hilarious sketches on Instagram (@robertas_neve) that poke fun at life on a film set. Nevecka’s ability to integrate a nugget of truth into the absurdity of how we make a living is what makes his art so funny and endearing. And now the beloved sketches come on t-shirts or as art prints and stickers. Each would make a popular gift: stickers get plastered on carts and cases while a t-shirt is one of the simple, subtle ways crew express themselves on set. An art print is perfect for those who wish to live the #setlife even at home.

13. SmallRig Top Handle Extension

Price: $39.99
Buy Now: Amazon

Sometimes you walk into prep to a bare bones camera rig and it’s up to you and your bag of tricks to turn it into a more usable camera. That’s where these top handle extensions come in handy. They’re especially great for Easy-Rig style filming, but also any extra surface area to grab and carry a camera is welcomed when so much brick-a-brack gets mounted on top. I know, this is SmallRig and some of you are above that, which is fine, but this is the most affordable option. There are always higher-end options, so if you want to ask Santa for the Wooden Camera version ($180), have at it.

14. Camera Essentials Cable Wallet

Price: $39.99
Buy Now: Camera Essentials

With every job comes a slew of cables: p-tap cables, lemo cables, BNC cables, MDR cables, EVF cables, LBUS cables, extra lengths, 90-degree options, and then backups to those cables. Too often we don’t do anything to handle this spaghetti of electronic rope, so it ends up being a hassle to find the right cable when you’re under a time crunch. This cable wallet solves that issue by providing clear segments for various cables in a small, foldable footprint. It’s perfect for those of you with FIZ systems that have all sorts of extra motor cables or different run/stop options for the varying cameras. Having used one on set, the convenience makes it well worth the price.

15. Micro Voltage Meter

Price: $50
Buy Now: Rencher Industries

One of the most inconvenient things that can happen during a take is for the monitor to run out of battery. When it happens at video village, they lose their minds. When it happens to your monitor while you’re pulling focus, it can be, well, more than problematic. That’s why I keep this micro voltage meter hooked up on my monitor so my battery level is always in my eyeline. But you don’t own a monitor? No problem, these are also wonderful for the director’s monitor when using battery power. Velcro it on there and tell your 2nd AC or Camera Utility: “When this gets under 13 volts, change the battery.” They can also be used as p-tap / d-tap testers. There are a lot of entrepreneurial minded AC’s who make these as a side hustle (easy to find on Facebook groups), but I own and happily recommend the one from Rencher Industries seen above.

16. Conterra Chestpack Harness

Price: $74
Buy Now: Amazon

From what I’ve seen, AC pouches are so blasé now. They’re being left behind in favor of small ditty bags, fanny packs, and the chest harness. I did a small stint on a big budget HBO show last year and each one of the 2nd AC’s had a chest harness on. After that, I ended up getting one for myself and have used it sparingly (on the infrequent occasion that I’m 2nd AC). One of the best features is the radio pocket, as you no longer have a clunky walkie talkie bouncing on your belt. I also liked the quick access to small tools and found it much more comfortable than wearing a pouch (which I gave up on 5 – 6 years ago). The one I bought is this Conterra harness, but there are other options out there. At $70+, it may seem expensive, but it’s well-built and has a good layout.

17. Alexa EVF Adapter

Price: $80
Buy Now: Jerry Hill Products

The Alexa Mini and Mini LF are some of the most heavily used cameras in the industry. Part of their attraction is their size which makes them well-suited for Steadicam. There is a catch, however: much of the camera’s settings are controlled in the electronic viewfinder (EVF) that’s traditionally mounted off to the side in a less-than-ideal position for Steadicam balance. This little adapter lets you mount the EVF anywhere you can screw the adapter into. In my experience, it’s most popular for mounting the EVF onto the back of the camera’s top handle to keep the weight closer to center for Steadicam. You could always tuck the EVF in or remove it completely and stab in when needed while using wifi control and a WCU-4 – but having this adapter will make your operator happy. That counts for something.

18. MyGoGear Mini Slate Set

Price: $95
Buy Now: MyGoGear

One thing all camera assistants have in common is we love niche tools that do one very specific thing well. When we have an opportunity to use that tool, that’s a good day! That’s what I think of when I see these mini slates from MyGoGear: they’d sit in my bag for a long time and then, one day, the perfect shot would come up to use them and it would excite me to no end. But really, I just think these would make a fun gift for a camera assistant who can choose to display them on their desk or, eventually, put them to work for up-close, macro shots.

19. Leatherman Wave Multitool

Price: $99.99
Buy Now: Amazon

A good knife has many uses on a film set, but if you’re going to carry around a knife, you might as well make it a multi-tool with options for screwdrivers, saws, and other tiny tools. There are many brands available, but I carry a Leatherman Surge on my belt for every shoot. I use it frequently for the knife, the flathead screw driver (perfect size for camera screws), and the pliers. For a more affordable option, I’ve linked to the Leatherman Wave. And if you want to try another brand, Gerber has been spotted floating around the kits of AC’s.

20. Dollymate

Price: $88
Buy Now: Amazon

Originally designed for dolly grips, the Dollymate is a great alternative to the front-box. You can put your most-important, must-have tools inside of it and, with an additional mounting plate, attach it to your camera cart or your monitor stand for quick access during those magic hour moments where you have 5 minutes to get the shot 10 minutes ago. It may not be the cheapest gift, but it is built to last and it will serve you for many years on set as it can be transformed for several different purposes as your needs grow and your career changes.

Trying to Keep the Budget In Check

If you’re still not seeing anything on this list, you could always increase the budget!

Expensive items like batteries are always needed. A beefy noga arm such as the Bright Tangerine Titan would fit well into any kit. A Pelican case or one of the many ditty bag options to hold an AC kit would be a generous gift.

Ultimately, what I’d suggest is asking for a gift that you wouldn’t already buy yourself because, frankly, we get a lot of tax deductions. If I’m already going to spend money, I’d rather to have the deduction, so the best presents are on my “would love to have, but can’t justify spending” list.

(This assumes that you already have a basic camera assistant (AC) toolkit. If not, help building out that kit is a much better idea.)

Look, you can spend all of your day rate pimping out your cart, finding sweet stickers for your Pelican, or getting custom-milled AKS for your bespoke camera rigs, but maybe this year let your family and friends get you a few of these items and consider putting that cash into a savings account to help the next time a pandemic completely disrupts the industry.

Finally, what are some of your favorite gifts? Is there something on the list you’ve received as a wrap gift or birthday present from a fellow crew member that you think would go over particularly well? Share it in the comments!

Happy holidays and stay safe!

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This post contains affiliate links that will help support The Black and Blue with a small portion of the sale if you buy the item. You can read my full disclosure here.

The post 20 Holiday Gifts for Camera Assistants (That Your Family Can Actually Afford) appeared first on The Black and Blue.

This is the fourth post in the series about filming amongst the coronavirus pandemic and the changes in our industry. New posts will be published daily.

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As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, the phone ringing for work is more rare these days than most of us would like. When it does chirp, and the name of your friendly neighborhood producer pops up on the caller ID, it’s hard not to get excited to answer hoping there’s a job offer on the other line. You’ll want to cover all the normal topics: what’s the gig for, when is it, what’s the rate, who’s involved, and all the follow-up questions that result.

Now, however, there’s a whole other bundle of questions to ask in order to assess the safety measures, if any, the producer hiring you is putting in place to combat COVID-19 transmission. I’ve identified nine particular questions that, combined with the day rate, hours, and other factors, will help you decide if a job is worth the risk of exposure to coronavirus.

1. What protocols are taking place?

This is the ultimate question! By asking this one, you’re likely to get answers to a majority of the other questions listed below. In their response, you’re hoping to hear that they’re implementing safety protocols like:

• Temperature checks
• Symptom pre-screening
• Physical distancing
• Individual transportation
• And more…

In my limited experience, it’s very likely that whomever is hiring you will volunteer this info without you having to ask. Good producers know that everyone is cautious and want you to feel safe coming to set, so in all my conversations they’ve preemptively covered this ground to provide reassurance.

This question will also help you screen which shoots are taking coronavirus seriously versus those who aren’t. By the time you’re being hired for a job, the production should’ve already formed a safety plan. If you get some generic response like, “We’ll have a safe set” or “We’re doing everything possible,” without specifics being divulged, I would tread carefully.

2. Are masks required?

If you’ve been keeping up with this post series, you’ve probably caught on to the idea that masks are crucial to our return-to-work. If you’re getting sick of reading about it, well, I’m not sorry. As I wrote in my “Pulling Focus in a Pandemic” post:

Wearing a mask is the single most important action we can take to make sets safer. And I am thankful that something as simple, affordable, and easy-to-find as a mask is able to give me the protection needed to get back to doing the job I love to do safely.

All it takes is one asymptomatic person to show up without a mask to wreck havoc on the collective health of a production crew.

So, in that context, it’s critical that we continue to hammer home the point that masks are a keystone safety measure. By now, many areas have enacted mask mandates and requirements, but there are still some holdouts amongst governments and citizens.

In fact, just today a producer told me they had to send two crew members home on a shoot in the state of Montana because they refused to put masks on. Without a mask requirement on set, those crew would’ve been working alongside you. Are you comfortable with that? I wouldn’t be. A set without a mask requirement is a non-starter for me.

3. Is production supplying PPE?

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), for our purposes, usually means masks, gloves, and face shields. There is other PPE out there, but there aren’t going to be many shoots where you need a Tyvek body suit (unless you’re filming in a vaccine laboratory).

According to regulations, the production should be supplying these items, but that doesn’t mean all of them will follow suit. I would also lump disinfecting products into this question. Will production have paper towels, disinfecting solution, wipes, and everything else you need to sanitize equipment?

I worked one job recently where they paid us $100 on top of our normal rate and kit fee to supply our own masks, cleaning products, and other PPE. All of that stuff can really add up if you’re bringing your own (which you should, as backup), so confirm that production plans to have an ample supply or request additional payment.

4. Is there a COVID Officer?

The role of the COVID Officer is still in its infancy, but broadly speaking, it’s a person who’s in charge of enforcing all coronavirus-related safety protocols on set.

In one of my other pandemic posts, I stressed that enforcement is one of the most important factors in how compliant crew are and how safe sets feel:

The main lesson I learned over these pandemic shoots is that while everyone says they’re going to implement physical distancing, mask wearing, temperature checks, etc., it’s an entirely different conversation about whether it’s carried-through with any sort of consistency to be effective.

If there is somebody who is in charge of safety, chances are higher that your set will be a safer working environment. It’s a no-brainer. That said, one of the jobs I did last month had a “COVID Officer” who was entirely useless – he mostly sat around at crafty and said like two sentences at our safety meeting. So it really depends on who shows up.

But, honestly, most people hired for a job want to do a good job. I would expect any production taking the steps to empower somebody in this role to be one that is taking safety measures seriously.

5. How big is the crew?

Guidance from every major health organization worldwide advocates for interacting with the least amount of people possible in as small of groups as possible. This, on-the-surface, would seem to indicate that bigger crews are more unsafe than smaller crews. But the correlation isn’t exact. For instance, a crew of 50 people spread across a huge soundstage may be as safe as a crew of 10 people filming together in a single bedroom apartment.

Still it’s worth asking because the number of people you’re working with is an essential risk factor, combined with other data points, in determining how safe a set has the potential to be or not be.

6. How many locations are interiors vs exteriors?

As I mentioned in a previous post, research is starting to form a consensus that transmission of coronavirus outdoors happens comparably less than when inside. This is likely due to a few factors:

• Generally, more space outside to physically distance
• Greater air circulation outside
• Sunlight plays a role in disarming the coronavirus

That does not mean there is no risk outside. Epidemiologists and experts still emphasize physical distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing are key even when outdoors. But it does mean that shoots taking place outside probably pose less of a risk of transmission than shoots filming indoors.

A sound mixer I worked with recently stayed completely outside the entire time and will not accept any jobs that film inside due to a family member in his household that’s considered high-risk – you can bet he’s asking this question.

7. Are any of the locations open to the public?

So you have a decent idea of the location split between exteriors and interiors, now: are any of them open to the public? Are you filming a bar scene in a working restaurant? Are you shooting a basketball game on a blacktop with pickup games happening? It there B-roll in a park where families frequent? Are you working at an office that still has employees coming in for meetings?

If these locations are private, great. There’s no additional risk there.

But if these locations are open to the public, not only are the extra people around increasing your risk, but they’re not beholden to the same protocols the production has in place for the crew. A big family not wearing masks wants to come picnic near your camera cart? Well, you can ask nicely for them to leave, but if it’s public property it could be a tough sell.

8. Do I need to travel for the shoot?

Travel jobs can be one of the best parts of this industry, but unfortunately during the pandemic, they also carry the increased weight of COVID risks.

So, is the shoot local or will you have to hop on the big metal tube to get there? Which airline? Are you OK with their policies? Additionally, are there any restrictions where you’d be traveling to? Is there a mandatory quarantine? Do you need to have a negative test before arrival?

Or is the shoot out-of-town, but still close enough for you to travel in your own car? In that case, your risk assessment will largely center around where you’ll be staying: in a hotel, motel, AirBnB, apartment with another crew, wherever.

Plenty of people I know and trust have been on airplanes recently for out-of-town work and, from what I’ve seen, things have turned out OK. This is much more a personal decision of what risk-level you’re comfortable with accepting.

9. Will you alert me if another crew member tests positive?

In the unfortunate situation where somebody else on the crew tests positive after a shoot you worked on, it would be nice for you to be told about that so you can go get tested yourself.

Notifications like this also strengthen the effectiveness of all those pre-screening forms that ask, “Have you been in contact with anybody in the past 14 days who has tested positive?” It could put you in an awkward situation with another job if you’ve been around somebody positive and didn’t know it until it was too late. Repeat ad infinitum and this is pretty much why cases continue to rise and what makes the pandemic so pandemic-y.

As of this week, my state of Virginia now requires all employers to notify other employees whenever an employee tests positive, but this regulation is buried in a 47-page document, so who knows if any of the local production companies have gotten around to reading it yet. It’s best to just ask them.

Make an Informed, and Safe, Decision

Ideally, you’ll want all of these questions answered to get a complete risk assessment of any upcoming shoots you’re contacted about, but cherry-pick as you please. After all, maybe filming interiors doesn’t bother you at all, so it’s not a big deal if the job is 90% inside. Or perhaps you’ve already flown for work and realized you’re comfortable with how the airlines are operating and you’d be willing to travel anywhere work demands.

Just remember that no single job is worth serious health consequences as a result of coronavirus infection. If you’re on the fence in regards to the safety of a set, in ten years, you’ll probably forget you ever turned the job down. But if it results in long-term damage to your health, you may be lucky to forget about it in ten years.

The key is that you’ll have the ability to make an informed, and hopefully safe, decision. No matter what you decide: wear a mask, wash your hands, and stay physically distanced!

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This post is part of a series about filming amongst the coronavirus pandemic and the changes in our industry. New posts will be published daily for the rest of this week.

Tomorrow’s post:

Should You Sign Those COVID-19 Liability Waivers?

Previous posts:

• Pulling Focus in a Pandemic: What It’s Like to Go Back to Set During COVID-19
• 10 Ways Production Can Improve COVID-19 Sets (and Why Testing Won’t Help)
• 12 Pieces of Coronavirus Advice for Camera Assistants

The post Get Answers to These 9 Coronavirus Safety Questions Before Taking a Job appeared first on The Black and Blue.

This is the third post in the series about filming amongst the coronavirus pandemic and the changes in our industry. New posts will be published daily.

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Earlier this week, I shared what it felt like pulling focus in a pandemic on four non-union commercial jobs spread out over several weeks. In that post, I wrote that our jobs were, mostly, the same. The skills that we, as camera assistants, have cultivated in our careers are still relevant with a face mask on. That doesn’t mean there aren’t adjustments to be made. Coronavirus will disrupt every single department on a film crew in some way and the camera department is no different.

For starters, we work with some of the most high-touch equipment on set including cameras and monitors that are constantly surrounded by a carousel of crew and talent. When “action!” is called, it’s the camera operator who stands closest to unmasked talent with their eye in the viewfinder. And there’s plenty of departmental interactions as well from reloading the camera to changing lenses.

The work is the same, but we’re obliged to rethink how it could be safer in the context of our current pandemic. I don’t have all of the answers. We’re all still learning what’s good, bad, safe, and unsafe.

If you haven’t yet already, take the time to read guidelines put out by our industry trade unions, the Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization. Their knowledge is a good first step towards finding some answers and much of their protocols inform what productions are currently doing as well as the advice I’ll impart.

Everything I discuss below is safety-related, though I tried to concentrate on the practicalities and obstacles of the new COVID safety measures rather than the “how to be safe” messages we’ve been hearing for months (and that I already wrote about). After all, it’s important that we not only work safely, but also learn to work effectively while incorporating these new protocols.

So, after four shoots and countless bottles of hand sanitizer thus far this pandemic, I’ve compiled these twelve lessons learned for you mask-wearing camera assistants…

1. Masks Make Communication More Difficult

Before I continue, do not interpret any talk about the obstacles masks pose as justification for ignoring them. Without masks, we aren’t even on set. And just because something is difficult doesn’t mean it can’t be overcome. It bears repeating again from my initial pandemic post because it’s so crucial:

Wearing a mask is the single most important action we can take to make sets safer. And I am thankful that something as simple, affordable, and easy-to-find as a mask is able to give me the protection needed to get back to doing the job I love to do safely.

Full Stop.

That said, while masks are the most important safety measure we have access to, they do present a few drawbacks. Besides potential dehydration, they can make communication difficult in two ways:

It’s harder to speak loud enough.

A proper mask with enough layered protection also stunts sound waves on their way out of your mouth. That makes it harder to hear those speaking. You also can’t see mouths moving, so if you don’t hear the person talking, you may not even be aware you should be listening.

Even in the best of times, sets can become noisy environments, especially on MOS shoots where crew know sound isn’t being recorded. I found it particularly difficult to hear instructions from the Director of Photography (DP) when, for instance, he was at video village across the room video-conferencing with the director while I was minding the camera. It was not uncommon amongst any of the crew to ask for something to be repeated, or have to repeat ourselves, once, twice, three times.

You can’t read lips.

At one point during one of the shoots, the director pulled me aside and asked me to roll the camera during rehearsals in case talent did something worth capturing because he was worried they would tense up during a “real” take. I told him no problem and put my finger on the run button ready to go.

When “magical” things began happening, the DP turned toward me with a look of urgency on his face. Not wanting to reveal we were recording to talent, I turned to the DP and mouthed: “Rolling”

Except I had a mask on.

I realized almost instantly and felt like an idiot. So I quickly took one hand off the follow focus to give the universal “rolling” hand signal (point your index finger up and spin it in a circle.)

This was just one incident, but it turns out I have a habit of communicating in this type of silent mouthing way. And it’s a hard habit to break, damnit!

One tried and true method to combat this is hand signals. Many camera assistants are already aware of some, such as counting hand signals, but you can also make your own. One particularly great example I came across was on an episode of Keeping It Sharp with Joshua Cote (around the 36 min mark) where host Meghan Commons explained how she uses the sign language signs for “battery” and “card” for silent communication with her 2nd AC.

Additionally, walkies, Eartec headsets, and other wireless comm systems can enable us to speak to each other without having to yell through masks.

2. Disinfecting Gear is Extremely Time-Consuming

I quickly learned on the first COVID-job that it’s a fool’s errand to disinfect everything constantly as the day goes on. There isn’t enough time to be a camera assistant and Mr. Clean and perform both tasks to an acceptable standard. A more practical approach is to focus disinfecting high-touch items like:

• Camera top handle
• EVF eyepiece
• Monitor screens
• Follow Focus
• Panhandle
• Tilt and Pan locks
• Matte box filter trays
• Exterior buttons on camera body

If you try to disinfect every piece of gear throughout the day, you simply won’t have time to get anything else done. Even at the end of the day, when there’s no pressure to “get the shot,” the pressure to wrap before clocking overtime makes it extremely difficult.

Instead, I believe disinfecting gear is best left to the rental houses.

Proper rental houses will be inspecting gear anyway and, hopefully, have greater resources to disinfect effectively. After all, I can wipe a camera down, but as soon as someone comes and starts operating it, there’s no guarantee it’s still sanitized. Whereas in a rental house environment, with their employees following best practices, they can wipe the camera down and have it packed away in a case, wipe that case, and the camera will stay sanitized before its next user.

There are always exceptions: if someone comes and sneezes on the camera or maskless talent starts laughing close to the director’s monitor, it’s absolutely worth cleaning up. I also made it a point to disinfect any contact made by someone outside of camera department, such as the director adjusting the pan handle or the sound mixer fiddling with camera menus.

As a department, our efforts at sanitizing are best spent on ourselves. I kept a pump of hand sanitizer on the camera cart and near my monitor that I would use liberally whenever I handled gear. I would also offer it to the DP often. If we prioritize the hygiene of our department, which is handling all the gear, there is a decreased need for constant sanitization of the equipment itself.

Be diligent, but selective, and focus your cleanliness on your own persons rather than the gear or you’ll drive yourself into exhaustion trying to disinfect every piece of kit after every single instance that it is handled, touched, or breathed on.

That said, if you have the time, resources, and supplies to disinfect, absolutely do it, especially when receiving hardware from a third-party you’re unsure you can trust or returning gear to somebody else.

For best practices on how to disinfect all different types of gear, Roger Cicala, the founder of LensRentals.com and a former physician, wrote a great tutorial and hosted a podcast on the topic:

3. Check Rental Houses for Their COVID Policies

Rental houses are often organized, but they aren’t always clean. I don’t mean that to knock them, it’s just that so much equipment that comes through there is handled, operated, and transported by a small village of people before it’s repacked for your job. How many hands touch your average C-stand throughout it’s lifetime? Hundreds? Thousands?

There have been days in the past, after leaving the rental house, that I’ll wash my hands and watch in horror as a froth of gross grey water circles the drain. Gear is dirty, man! And we touch it all day.

As I discussed above, it’s difficult on set, under the time constraints placed on us, to disinfect everything. So, imagine the gear that has come back from another job where they didn’t make or take the time to do so: now it’s up to the rental house to pick up the slack and do the disinfecting.

Take that seriously.

Now more than ever, be cognizant of the procedures rental houses are taking to clean and disinfect the cameras and equipment you’ll be renting from them.

And if you don’t care whether the rental house is disinfecting their gear, consider others in your department who do and have to interact with it:

• the operator who will spin the wheels on the head
• the DIT who will be using the Teradeks
• the 2nd AC who’s poking around the menus on the monitor
• the director who wants to look through the finder.

Consider their desire to know that what they’re handling is starting from a place of cleanliness and exercise your best judgment to ensure the rental house is doing their part responsibly.

How do you know?

Are they posting about it on their website or social media profiles? When you ask them what they’re doing, do they give you specifics or is it a generic platitude? When you show up to prep, are they cleaning other prep bays and cases? Do they “flip” gear in front of you, for you, without disinfecting?

On one of my jobs, I had to pick up walkies and was impressed that each battery and surveillance headset was vacuum sealed in its own baggie with a note saying it had been disinfected.

I’m thankful that both of my local rental houses are on top of it. I urge you to confirm yours are too.

4. Wireless Follow Focus is a Must, Wireless Everything is Ideal

At a minimum, a wireless follow focus is a must-have for any sets employing both a camera operator and a focus puller. This prevents the operator and 1st AC from spending substantial amounts of time close to each other, close to talent (who may be maskless), and allows the focus puller to position herself with plenty of physical distance, leaving more space for other crew to do their jobs safely.

Ideally, wireless monitoring would also be deployed to avoid crew from touching BNC cables that get laid on the floor and stepped on by shoes that can potentially carry infected droplets from home, bathrooms, or outside. As a bonus, wireless monitoring allows quick repositioning of video village if physical distancing becomes difficult in its original placement.

For shoots with higher budgets, remote heads that enable camera operators to do their jobs removed from talent provide even greater protection.

All of these options are designed to get you and your department safely distanced from other crew, talent, and people on set. And with wireless technologies, not only will you be distanced from the main hubbub of the set, you can be isolated from video village and other staging areas.

Even before COVID-10, the camera department was already trending heavily towards wireless technologies. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that I expect the pandemic to accelerate adoption.

5. Bring As Many Monitors as Budget Allows, At a Minimum Two

Budgets should be adjusted to plan for additional screens on set: gone are the days of a packed video village due to physical distancing requirements. You need at least two monitors, but ideally more. Three may be the sweet spot:

1. one for the director and cinematographer
2. one for the focus puller
3. one for the clients & agency

(This doesn’t include other monitors that crew like the DIT may bring as part of their normal kit.)

Beyond that, adding a fourth monitor would be immensely helpful for hair & make-up, wardrobe, art department, and the gaffer to get eyes on a screen. Often I found these crew getting close to my monitor, essentially breathing on it, while also standing very close to me and watching over my shoulder. In pre-pandemic times, I was used to that and OK with it, but in COVID-world, I don’t want anybody standing that close to me unless it’s my wife or my dog.

What I ended up doing when I had to step away from my monitor was just turn it off so that these crew would use the larger 17″ monitor closer to set. I’m not against anybody using my monitor, I just want it to happen on my terms and having to get too close to someone who is nose-deep in my monitor to ask them to step aside isn’t ideal when I’m trying to physically distance.

For producers, I know this sounds expensive, but putting all these monitors up on set will allow better physical distancing. Plus, not everybody needs the fanciest or biggest monitors. Smaller 13 inch or even 7 inch monitors will often be enough for ancillary crew who need to reference composition (art department) or see if a talent has their sleeves rolled up (wardrobe).

Camera folk: if your department is going wireless for video, consider how many receivers you’ll need and distribution of the signals. Don’t forget that if there is any remote monitoring via Zoom or otherwise that you’ll want to account for that as well.

6. Bring Your Own PPE and Cleaning Supplies

Production absolutely should provide cleaning supplies and PPE, but I urge you to bring your own, especially early on in the return-to-work. In my experience, while production had supplies, the face masks were the cheap, blue, over-the-ear surgical kind and the cleaning supplies were spread out amongst the departments. It’s much easier to wipe the camera if you have your own wipes on the cart and you’re more likely to sanitize your hands if you can keep a bottle of sanitizer in your ditty bag.

Among the items I brought myself:

• Disinfectant Wipes
• Disinfecting spray
• Paper towels
• Hand sanitizer
• Comfortable face-mask

Start buying this stuff now to place in your kit. You don’t have to use it, but there’s a solid chance you will. Charge extra on your kit fee if you do. Leave it in your car as backup.

(One of the shoots actually gave me an extra $100/kit fee to cover PPE expenses on the expectation that production would not provide any. I talked more about that in Monday’s post.)

At the very least, I suggest investing in a good quality face-mask. You’re going to be wearing one of these bad boys for 8+ hours a day, so find one that’s comfortable and doesn’t require a lot of constant adjustment or maintenance. I’ve been very happy with this 4-layer cotton mask (for interiors) and this 2-layer cotton mask (for hot exteriors) from SWRVE.

You may also wish to invest in your own surveillance and earpiece for walkies that way you aren’t jamming unknown germs into your earholes. My setup involves a walkie woogie coil, a simple black ear mold, and this affordable two-wire surveillance mic. It’s more comfortable having my own walkie set and it’s one less thing I need to worry about being cleaned.

7. Beware of Those Who Try to Leverage COVID

I truly believe that the majority of people working in this business are kind, respectful, creative individuals who want to do a good job making interesting work. Unfortunately, the pressures of business can twist decent people into making shrewd decisions. And right now there is unprecedented pressure from the top down to cut costs and remain profitable. While the relationships we have with producers, production managers, and coordinators are human, ultimately many of our interactions with them are transactional, especially when working together for the first time.

So, what I’m trying to prepare you for is: some of these people, representing their businesses’ interests, may attempt to use the worldwide pandemic as a reason to cut costs and remain profitable.

These are a few ways I’ve already seen this happening:

Reduced Rates

While on set last month, I was speaking with a grip about whether rates will drop with less work happening and he told me about an exchange with a producer when it came time to discuss money.

Producer: “We have a special COVID rate on this job.”

“Oh, that’s great. So like hazard pay, you’re paying more?” the grip asked.

“Oh no,” said the producer, “we’re paying much less.”

Needless to say, my friend turned down the job. And yet I anticipate somebody, probably, eventually picked it up because for many these are desperate times. And desperate times give those with the power of the purse more leverage in their negotiations.

One of the jobs I did recently proposed a rate that was ~30% lower than my standard rate by lowering both the dollar number and shifting the timebase from a 10-hour to a 12-hour day. I negotiated for what I could and made up for the remaining lost wages in rentals and mileage.

If you’ve been cultivating relationships with production companies and clients that understand and respect the rates you deserve, now is when you get to enjoy the fruits of that labor. These companies will still pay fairly and, if they’re unable to, you can trust their word that the budget really is low, not just your rate, and make an informed decision on whether it’s worth it.

Smaller Crews

Between physical distancing and capacity limits, there’s a strong chance productions will start asking you to work with more responsibility on consolidated crews. I know the union is fighting strongly against this, but in the non-union world, producers are watching their headcount for more than just budgetary reasons: one less crew member = one less exposure risk.

What does this mean for camera department? It means positions could go unfulfilled starting from the bottom-up: Camera PA’s, Utilities, Loaders, and 2nd AC’s, in that order, may find booking jobs more difficult. And requesting those persons may also be more difficult.

Productions asking AC’s to shoulder the extra responsibilities of multiple AC’s or other tiers of our department is nothing new, but with even more justification for doing it, I anticipate some shoots will squeeze a little tighter than before, even in situations where additional crew are needed.

Granted, on some shoots, it is justified. For instance, on the tiny political ad I did last week, I was the only camera assistant also doing data management, but our entire day was a single-camera filming 7-8 takes of one-shot.

There’s no clear guidance here: only you know what bandwidth you’re comfortable with and capable of, but don’t be afraid to speak up if you feel a 2nd AC or a loader is necessary for you to perform your duties to satisfaction.

Liability Waivers

If you’ve taken any jobs yet, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve been asked to sign some type of Coronavirus Liability Waiver. They’re slowly creeping into start paperwork as a standard expectation of employment and they can be nasty!

While some simply ask you to acknowledge that, in spite of all safety measures, there is a risk of exposure to coronavirus; many others reach far beyond that to unreasonably ask you to release and indemnify your employer from any and all claims arising out of your time on set.

I have an entire post about these for Friday, but the takeaway is this: Read all of these waivers carefully and be aware if you’re being asked to literally sign your rights away.

Five More Small Adjustments AC’s Should Make

1. Camera preps need to be smaller. Limit how many people show up to the prep. Can the DP attend via FaceTime instead to go over the info you need from them? Does the producer truly need to show up only to sit on their laptop? Do the rental houses a favor and cull the number of people (and exposure) you’re bringing along. I understand it’s not always up to the AC, but prep time is our time and, as the head of our departments, it’s our responsibility to voice these concerns.

2. Use Pancro to wipe marks off the follow focus. I don’t know how other AC’s do it, but when I need to remove a mark from the follow focus ring, I simply spit in a Kim Wipe pulled from my pocket and wipe away the marks. Except, well, that’s about the worst thing you can do now. And water isn’t quite as accessible as it once was. So, use disinfectant instead or a spray of Pancro to provide the moisture needed to remove marks.

3. Turn your focus monitor off when walking away. As I mentioned earlier, I got into the habit of turning my focus monitor off when stepping away because people would get too close to it – breathing on it and crowding it for when I needed to actually use it. It also made physical distancing harder having to keep asking them to move away from it and I worried about getting my own face so close to something someone had been a finger’s touch away from.

4. Consider bumping slates or panning away from talent. Slating often brings camera assistants close to talent – like your hand in front of their face close. And in many of these instances they won’t be wearing masks. So talk to your operator about panning away from talent to slate or, even better, start bumping slates (for MOS or non-critical sync shoots) when the set is empty or talent is still masked. A third option would be to coordinate with the Assistant Director about slating before talent removes their mask.

5. Streamline your gear so there’s less to disinfect. The less gear you bring on set, the less you’ll have to disinfect. Of course, because work is still so sparse in these early days, my idea of “disinfecting” is simply to leave it in my car or in the cases for several days to let the virus naturally die off. That said, when/if work starts to increase, the more efficient we are with our kits, the easier it will be to deal with between jobs and at the end of the day.

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This post is part of a series about filming amongst the coronavirus pandemic and the changes in our industry. New posts will be published daily for the rest of this week.

Tomorrow’s post:

Get Answers to These 10 Coronavirus Safety Questions Before Taking a Job

Previous posts:

• Pulling Focus in a Pandemic: What It’s Like to Go Back to Set During COVID-19
• 10 Ways Production Can Improve COVID-19 Sets (and Why Testing Won’t Help)
• 9 Coronavirus Safety Questions to Ask Before Taking a Job

The post 12 Pieces of Coronavirus Advice for Camera Assistants appeared first on The Black and Blue.