Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/07/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Harrison McClary wrote: > >Claes, since you have been there could you please explain to me why todays >video shooters have to have the producer, or reporter tell them how to >shoot? Is it because of this trend of using untrained people to opperate >the cameras. My wife is a TV producer and I have been on several shoots >with her and I have seen her have to spell out exactly how a shoot is = going >to go. I like your expression "video shooters". Let=B4s not call the new = breed Photographers! To find the best pictures and to choose the right angles was in past = always the responsibilities of the photographers. But with video the = operator tend to wait for instructions from their reporter or = producer. The new breed, who doesn=B4t doesn=B4t know what emulsion is, look at = their work in a different light. The old school of film photographers = were always reminded of the fact that the cost of film and processing = took the biggest part of the production budget. And we soon figured = out how much each second of shooting cost. And that knowledge made us = a lot more conscientious in our filming. Todays video shooters keep = wasting tapes and often end up with a 50:1 ratio. Compare that to the old newsreel photographers who had to get an = edited news story out of one 100feet roll of film! 100 feet gave you = 2 minutes 30 seconds. With that amount of film they were expected to = deliver a news piece of 2 minutes 30 seconds! Believe me, they had to = plan every shot very well. They had to change angles and go from wide = to close-ups (no zooms) and all the time count the seconds. The audio = was recorded on the film(magnetic or optical). And the film would go = from the lab straight to the movie theaters around the world. Those = guys were truly photographers. Not just shooters! There is a risk that still photography will go the same way with the = new fully automatic cameras and the zoom lenses, who maybe soon will = cover everything from extreme wide angles to super tele. With the new = APS you don=B4t even have to touch the film at loading. Maybe you = don=B4t even see the film? All you have to do with the new automatics = is to point and shoot. But does that make you a photographer? OK, back to the theme! Leica is truly a photographers camera. It=B4s = the perfect tool for intellectual creativity. How I wish I had a = video camera like the Leica! Claes Bjerner