Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/11/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Strictly speaking, in movies, a camera operator is the person who frames the image and operates the camera under the direction of the director but working to the Director of Photography or 'Lighting Cameraman' if you are in England. In documentaries and news in the UK 'Cameraman' was used in news & current affairs to designate a DoP working without a Camera Operator in the field, and if it was a woman we said 'Camerawoman' or 'Camera Person' or 'DP' (sounds American to a Brit). We would only use 'Camera Operator' if it was a two camera setup and the DP had a deputy. In other words 'Cameraman' and 'Camera Operator' are not interchangeable. I have NEVER heard 'Camera Operator' used in the sense of 'Gender Neutral term for Cameraman'. 'Camera Person' is the closest. So it's a terminological inexactitude IMNSHO. In TV the standard UK credit is 'Camera' which doesn't work very well in conversation. Of course most lay people (persons?) don't realize the important that tv/movie people attach to credits. It always astonishes people when they realize how many pages of my contracts deal with the size, prominence and relative position of my credit. - -- John Brownlow pictures: http://www.pinkheadedbug.com warblog: http://www.unintended-consequences.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html