Why Are You Doing That?

There are usually two cameras on most shows these days, the A Camera and the B Camera. The A Camera is generally, but not always, helmed by the operator with more experience. I say not always because sometimes a decision will be made to put someone with less experience but with a special skill set, such as steadicam, in the A camera position. While I am happy to do B camera, C Camera, and beyond (sometimes being farther down the food chain means eyes aren’t on you and you can do more interesting stuff), being a steadicam operator I am often on as the A Camera Operator.

I’m finding more and more, as I get older, that the B camera ops are newer ops and are interested in learning from someone who has been around. On more than one occasion I’ve actually been told by a DP that the B op is someone who is a little green and can I take them under my wing and help them move forward, something I’m always happy to do.

It was one of these occasions, where I was helping along a young woman who had only a few years under her belt, where something funny happened. I would often take a look at what she was doing and give her tips when and where I thought they could help, or when I saw something that hadn’t worked too well I would try and take her aside and explain what she could do differently next time.

One day at lunch she came over to me and asked if we could talk. I sensed that she had something that was bothering her and told her to sit down. She sat and looked at me and asked “Am I screwing up?”. I was taken aback because she was actually doing quite well to begin with and had really stepped up in the past month or so. I laughed and said “Are you kidding, you’re doing great”.

She sighed a sigh of relief, laughed and said in an exasperated tone “Then why are you always coming up to me and saying “Why are you doing that?”? I feel like you are constantly questioning what I am doing and it’s freaking me out.”

I laughed and realized that this one was on me. I assured her that the mistake was totally mine and not an issue with her. “The reason that I am coming up and asking you ‘Why are you doing that?’ is not because I’m trying, in some passive aggressive way, to tell you that you are screwing up, but rather because I want you to start thinking about why you are doing something rather than just doing it.”

The first step in operating is just trying to figure out how to get the shots, how to land the frames, how to work with the gear and how to work with people. Once you have gotten proficient at that (in my opinion you almost never master anything as there is always more you can learn), it’s time to step into the next arena and start to question why you are doing what you are doing. Sometimes this reveals a better way to achieve a shot, but sometimes it simply reinforces your instincts and forces you to think about operating on a different level. I explained that she was doing great so instead of trying to show her new tips and tricks I was trying to get her to examine what she is doing and learn from herself. She was moving to that next level. We laughed about it for a good bit and I apologized for any concern I had caused her. Lesson learned.

Two days later, as I was setting up a shot, she came over and said “Why are you doing that?” and as I started to explain to her what my choices were, surprised she didn’t understand, she started to smile and broke out into a laugh.

What goes around comes around.

Respect.