[rollei_list] Re: Coated Lenses in Hollywood
----- Original Message ----- From: "Marc James Small" <marcsmall@xxxxxxxxxxx> 
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 11:34 PM
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Coated Lenses in Hollywood


At 02:04 AM 4/19/2007, Richard Knoppow wrote:

>    Actually you never know about movie cameramen, maybe
>some one wanted a particular look and found or throught that 
>uncoated filters gave it to them. Also, not all D.P.s are
>well educated in the basics of photography.

Richard

With all kindness and respect, I detest acronyms
and initialisms.  What are "D.P.s"?

Deranged Pomegranates?  Determined
Pseudohumans?  Dispised Pomeranians?  Degenerate Patois?

Argh!

Marc
When I was a kid these initials often meant displaced persons. Director of Photography is it, AKA Cinematographer. In Hollywood there is a director for everything. In England these people are often called "lighting caemramen" to distinguish them from camera operators. In the US there has been a variety of names for the various people who do the photography. A DP was sometimes called a First Cameraman, a camera operator was sometimes called a second cameraman or an assistant camerman and the camera assistant called a third cameraman or third assistant. The last is called a focus-puller in England. This is the fellow (or lady) who works the clap-sticks. In the old days the third assistant worked follow focus, where it was used, and sometimes loaded magazines. In the silent days Directors of Photography often operated the camera themselves and assistant cameramen worked any additional cameras where shots were made with more than one camera at a time. Also, duplicate negatives for foreign release were often made with a second camera, hense a second cameraman. In the sound era DPs rarely operated the camera or cameras. These days, where there are a lot of independant productions DPs sometimes do run a camera. For the most part the cameras used for Hollywood productions in the "golden days" did not have any way of determining focus while the camera was running. Where a dolly or trucking shot was required the camera was set up using its through the lens telescope finder and the floor or dolly track marked for focus. The third assistant rode at the side of the camera and adjusted the focus during the shot to match the marks. When one knows the methods and clumsy equipment that had to be used back then the quality of the work is astonishing. 

---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
---
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