Quick Tip: Lock Offs
It happens occasionally that you will need to create a shot that is a full lock off over time, or at least land a shot, lock off, and then begin the shot again from that exact same place. Usually this is because there is some change in the scene that has to do with a time lapse. It can be as simple as a dissolve from one thing to another (mom leaves the kitchen door and says don’t mess things up, camera locks and cuts while the set decs create chaos, and then rolling camera and having mom walk back into a complete mess), or multiple days of changes (camera dissolves through a series of scenes as the sun moves through the room).
Lockoffs are not conceptually hard, but can be broken very simply, so there are a few things to think of. If you are on a fluid head, land your shot and ask an assistant to lock the pan and tilt as soon as you nod your head that you are ready. Assuming you may have to walk away (it will resume the next day or even the next week), put tape over the locks, remove the pan handle so it doesn’t get smacked, and sand bag/secure everything you can so nothing can move. You’ll also want to put cones around the camera setup with tape and a sign that explains that the camera can’t be touched.
If you are on the wheels, same things apply, but remove the wheels so that the camera can’t be panned or tilted.
The bottom line: you want to make sure that no one accidentally moves the frame in any way.
But wait, you aren’t done. If it's a situation where you may need to leave the setup overnight, always assume that it will be touched. Mark everything you can (pan axis, tilt axis, dolly, sticks, hi hat, sliding base plates) and have the assistants take measurements of everything (height, position in space, angle etc). I’ve even gone so far, when applicable, to have the grips hang a plumb line over a specific part of the camera. This all may seem like overkill, but as Murphy once said, if it can go wrong it will and when you come in the next week and they’ve moved the camera because the warehouse owner needed to get a forklift in there, at least you ahem a fighting chance of restating that frame.
Consider this. A camera is set for a five day shot where you will come back and roll once a day as a small shack is being built. There is a fence in the foreground. The only way this works is if nothing changes from day to day with regards to the framing. So you do everything you can to ensure that the camera is not moved, and then you take a few precautions in case it actually is. It’s not easy to get back to an exact frame you had previously set, but if you have enough information, it's not impossible either. If something happens (even an earthquake can be an issue), you can use the information to put the camera back on the exact frame and then use a video slider (video assist will usually have this, but, if not, it's worth asking) and wipe between the shot that had been recorded and the new frame to make sure it’s set exactly the same. Trust me, it’s going to be excruciating but with time you will get there (maybe).
You will rarely need all of the extra info you have collected, but if you ever do, you will look like a hero and become invaluable to the production.
As the scout motto states, be prepared.
