As A New Operator, What Can I Do When I’m Not Working To Continue Learning?
There are many things a new operator can do to improve their skills while waiting for the phone to ring. First, dig into the fantastic content on theop.io! Check out a great industry podcast like Roger Deakins’s “Team Deakins”. If you do steadicam, find others in your area and skill level and set up practice sessions. Head to a local rental house and set up a camera on a gear head and improve your skills on the wheels. Take a still camera out on a hike or a stroll downtown and work on your framing by shooting photographs - make sure to look at your finished work and critique it. Work on spec projects or short films for friends or film students. Shoot your own films and edit them yourself - understanding how shots cut together will make you better as an operator and later as a DP if you take that path. Watch great movies and pay attention to the framing - ask yourself why it is framed the way it is, and how does that framing make you feel.
Study art, mainly renaissance art. Understand why they painted the way they did and where they placed their subjects in the frame. Take photos. Not 100, but 1. This will teach you how to frame, how to tell a story, etc. Think before you click and once you get good, click fast to see if you can frame quickly. Observe the world. Look at reflections and move to see what happens. Network. If you see a movie you like, google the operator or DP and email them to let them know how much you liked their work. Ask them a question about the project to get them involved. Watch classic movies. Once you know them well enough, watch them with the sound off. Go to photography exhibitions and ask yourself what speaks to you in the frame. Listen to all the podcasts that are out there (like The Op) about filmaking and use this website!
