What do you know now that you wish you had known when you started?
No one else remembers your mistakes like you do. Don’t carry that weight with you, from day to day or even shot to shot.
I wish I had set my goals on more than just getting the next job — no matter what the circumstances. I know that in the beginning any career — any experience is important. And that saying yes to every opportunity will eventually lead to more skills and then more work. And just being able to make a consistent living as a camera person is an accomplishment.
But after that point of getting established — I wish I had been braver about getting to know some of my “hero” cinematographers and camera operators who I hadn’t worked with. I was sometimes fearful of stepping on toes — trying to make connections with people who always hired the same camera crews. I think now the idea of asking someone to mentor you — without necessarily asking for work — has become more accepted than it was when I started my first assistant career and then my camera operator career. I would have sought out the advice and expertise of colleagues that I hadn’t previously worked with. And had specific conversations about some of the technical hurdles I couldn’t see to master — especially learning crane work when I was a B camera and the opportunities to get my hands on that equipment was so limited.
I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone ALOT but I would have pushed even harder…especially to be able to work on feature films and commercials as well as episodic television.
Starting in the movie business, I wish I was more aware of the intricacies of politics and diplomacy, and mastering the art of dealing with diverse personalities on set. This insight is crucial for camera operators but applicable to every crew member. As you climb the professional ladder, your performance is constantly under scrutiny. Effective communication with actors, directors, cinematographers, and producers becomes increasingly vital. A subtle misstep can have lasting consequences, affecting your reputation in ways you might not realize until later.
In the film industry, success is not solely about technical proficiency; it's a delicate balance of relationships. Whether you're a camera operator or part of the crew, collaborating with individuals of varied working styles requires adaptability and social intelligence. Communication extends beyond words, encompassing body language, tone, and the ability to read subtle cues. Every interaction is an opportunity to build or damage your reputation, emphasizing the importance of mastering the art of politics, diplomacy, and effective communication for a successful career in the movie business.
I know NOW that I’ll never stop learning how to better do my job, no matter how many decades I’ve been doing this, and that the day I feel like I haven’t learned anything is the day I should retire. I also know that pretty much everyone has an inferiority complex, no matter how experienced they are. When I started in the business, I thought I was the only one on set who felt like I didn’t belong. I know now that everyone pretty much feels like that all the time. It’s the ones who feel like they know everything that probably shouldn’t be there.
The one thing I think I wish I knew when first starting out was how much I didn’t know. I’ve said it before but there’s a fine line between confidence when first starting out so people know you mean business and want to be an operator…and maintaining humility when realizing how little you know and how to use the expertise of those around you when you set up a shot. Any shot, wether it’s handheld, studio mode or on a crane there are a handful of people you should ask for advice if you really need it standing right next to you. Or call/text someone you respect while setting up said shot….texting and instant messaging have made other people’s advice open to you while on set if need be and I think it could be very helpful…
In no particular order.
I’m going to fail. Everyone fails. Failure isn’t the issue, it’s getting back up, dusting yourself off, learning from it, and moving on.
Cold weather gear and rain gear. Layers and dont cheap out.
If I drive home tired, I will fall asleep behind the wheel.
I shouldn’t have taken the feature in the spring on 97.
Being good is important. Being nice is more important. Give people the benefit of the doubt and assume everyone is having a tougher day than I am.
Ego can kill my career. It’s not about me. It should never be about me.
When considering a job, if my gut tells me it’s a bad choice, listen and don’t take it. My gut is rarely wrong.
Don’t ever forget that while this is a job, it’s also something that I enjoy. Don’t forget to enjoy it from time to time.
We all gain knowledge as we age, mature, and spend thousands of hours on set, but there are certain things I wish I’d known when I first started out.
1) You can say no. I always assumed I needed to do whatever was requested of me, but that isn’t true. You can say no to an unsafe situation on set. You can say no to working on Halloween when you have young kids. You can say no to a vampire show with “Night” in the title, or a movie with with “Rain” in the title. You can say no to working with angry/belittling/horrible people – life is simply too short. The list goes on and on – the word no has power, and it is yours to wield as you see fit.
2) Always bring a weather bag to set, filled with rain gear, extra shoes, warm clothing including gloves, a full change of clothes, a hat, and sunscreen – you never know what might happen day to day, and it is always better to have something and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
3) Always be kind to people, especially those below you on the ladder. This should be obvious, but it is also smart in a practical way. Those working below you as a PA, or camera intern, may very well be a producer, or a DP one day, and it is always good that they have a favorable impression of you from when they were starting out – and more importantly, their jobs are harder than yours, the hours are longer, and it’s the right thing to do.
4) If you don’t know something – ask. This goes for any job, including director. Nobody benefits from someone with not enough experience pretending like they know the best way to do something. If you are asked to do something (in my case as an operator, a shot), and you don’t know how to accomplish it, ask. If I was asked to perform a complicated shot, and I wasn’t sure how to go about it, I’d ask my team – the dolly grip and 1st AC – if they didn’t know either, I would go back to the DP and ask for clarification and advice. It might seem embarrassing in the moment, but not as embarrassing as the AD calling for a 1st team rehearsal, and the director and DP watching your shot on the monitor for the first time when it is nothing like what was assigned to you - the conversation that follows will likely be more embarrassing than if you’d just asked for help in the first place.
5) Realize where your jobs come from. Jobs can come from anywhere – DPs or directors that have worked with you before and liked your work and demeanor, fellow operators who know you’ll do good work and not be a pain in the ass for their DP, thus reflecting poorly on them. That part is always a given, but what most operators starting out don’t necessarily realize is that a lot of their jobs will come from 1st and 2nd ACs. ACs don’t want to work for people that make their jobs harder, or are a pain to work for. They want to work with people who are kind, considerate, qualified, cool, and the kind of people that don’t throw others under the bus, and are pleasant to work alongside for 12-15 hours a day for months. I’ve heard many stories of DPs that gave a list of possible operators to their 2nd to check their availability. The 2nd looked at the list, and chose not to call the #1 operator because they had a bad experience with them. The 2nd then told the DP that #1 wasn’t available, and that they’d already booked #2. This sort of thing happens all the time, and brings it back to rule 3) above – always be kind to the people working under you. They can often decide your fate, even if you don’t realize it at the time.
6) Prepare financially for the worst. This is pretty obvious now with the WGA and SAG strikes finally concluding, but you need to establish an emergency fund. It is recommended that people with normal careers have a 6 month emergency fund, but it is probably better to work towards a 12 month fund, so if there is another strike (my last day on set before the two strikes was April 4, and I won’t be back to work until December 4 – exactly 8 months later), or you suffer an injury (I’ve had back issues as an operator that have kept me out of work twice, the longest stretch being 8 months), or the DP you’ve been working exclusively with takes a job in Eastern Europe and can’t bring you along – there are many reasons you may find yourself without a job for an extended period. Protect yourself by putting a little money away from every week’s check until you have enough in savings to keep you stress-free and solvent long enough to ride out the hardship.
7) When I was a steadicam operator, I had backups of everything – two arms, two vests, two sleds, two follow-focus units, transmitters, extra screws, extra cables, etc. In my time, I overdid it with redundancies, but it is important to remember that you were hired to perform a job, and without the equipment production is renting from you, you’ll be unable to perform that job if it fails on you in a jungle somewhere and you don’t have a backup. At the very least, have backups of the things most likely to break or fail in the field. This advice also goes for people renting things to production other than steadicams.
8) If you are renting heads (Lambda, O’Connor, Arrihead, Tango, etc) to production, make sure they are clean and well maintained. Having bad equipment reflects poorly on you and can affect your ability to pull off a shot. Also, ACs don’t want to work with bad gear, or lift heavy Lambda/Arrihead cases that don’t have wheels – you potentially run the risk of getting on their naughty list (see rule 5) above) and not being hired for the next gig.
9) Make friends with people who do the same job you do – in my case, fellow operators. This was especially true when I was first starting out as a steadicam operator, and the early equipment was temperamental, and prone to break, turn off, or start smoking mid-shot. The more operators I knew, the more likely it was that someone wouldn’t be working that day, and be able to bring their rig to my set and get me through the day. The equipment part isn’t as true today, but knowing other operators that work in the same circle you do or aspire to do is vital. Early in my career, I befriended someone who was 6 months ahead of me in getting started. He helped me land jobs, by throwing gigs my way if he was double-booked. This kindness helped establish my career, and get me through the difficult first couple of years until I had a recognizable name of my own.
10) Always pay attention to the people on set that you aspire to be, and whose job you want to fill one day. There are many ways of being a director, a DP, an AD, a gaffer, an operator – paying attention to the traits that you think make that person good at what they do, or conversely, make them not so great at their job is important. Knowing what separates the good ones from the bad ones will help you be great at what you do when you land the job you’ve been striving for. I was a PA for my first two years in Hollywood, and I saw all types of personalities in the people above me. It shaped who I wanted to be as a person, and how I wanted to treat the people around me on set when I eventually worked my way up the ladder. Pay attention and make mental notes as to what works and what doesn't.
That ShowBiz will take your life away if you let it. And, some people want it to be their life. But, if you want a family, make a career plan that matches your goals. Features are a lot of travel, not a regular schedule. TV series, are long runs mostly in one place, sleep in your own bed or bring family on the road. Live audience shows, commercials, documentary, you get the idea.
Also, I used to really worry about taking a day off to attend a family event. No one ever holds that against you in the long run nor does the show fall apart without you.
