Camera Operation & Fitness

Hello again!

So as the title of this article suggests today I'm going to be talking of camera operation, but more specifically I'm going to talk about how it fits together with fitness.

Few people enjoy fitness, many despise it, personally I like the idea of it, but actually doing it is a lot of effort, recently however I've began to do more exercise in my free time, this is due to a rather recent bout of battling with a recurring knee issue I have, and the only way I've ever found to get rid of it is to exercise it, it also coincides with a philosophy I've held for a few months without acting upon.

My argument is that the fitter a camera operator is the better they will become, if you have an amazing operator technically, but his body simply can't keep up on the day of a shoot, then he'll be restricted by the limits of his physicality, if you have the same camera operator who's at a good fitness level then his body will be able to keep up, and he'll be able to do his best work all day.

Having worked on a couple of Indie film sets and spontaneous film shoots I can say it's no surprise that it's a lot of running around, and as a camera operator you find yourself having to run in front of someone, backwards, with steps or other objects behind you which you have to doge, whilst concentrating on the camera, making sure the framing is perfect and everything is in focus. If you didn't quite get my point it's that it takes a lot of effort working on a camera, and on an Indie Film set you'll often find directors and DoP's taking the role of camera operator as we have a lack of funds, and it's also something we enjoy doing!

If you can remove the physical strain of being active all day you primarily make shoots a lot easier for yourself as a film-maker due to the removal/mitigation of the physical strain, and it can also help you creatively, especially if you're running on a treadmill or even going outside to run, it's a menial task, so put on some music and you may find that the time with yourself will enhance your creativity, even if it is as a means to mentally procrastinate from the running!

I'm sure some of you will disagree with me, so feel free to comment with your take on what I've discussed today!


Keep on filming!

-Geraint