As-live....Rehearsals

Practice, practice and more practice... yes I had to practice a lot, as senior cam op, not only do I need to be seen setting an example, but also I have to know what Im doing, or how else am I supposed to be able to help anyone else? I had to learn how to operate a camera that was on a dolly, so that the director could have tracking shots, and lots of movement in my shots.. This was particularly difficult as the dolly's wheels were castor wheels, similar to that of a shopping trolley, so when I was changing direction the wheels were constantly fighting against me and trying to turn the other way. The rehearsals went ok, and as they went on my movements became smoother, specially once i had changed one of the wheels over for one that was working properly. I had one incident, where my dolly's wheels caught on the cable of light, which resulted in the light crashing into my leg and breaking, and leaving me bruised.. Other than that, there weren't any other incidents for myself, but the rehearsal did make me very aware of how important it is to be on your guard and watch out for cables, not forgetting that on the record day we would have a live audience in, who i would have to manoeuvre around. My cable basher was going to have a hard job, trying to mange my cable and making sure i didn't bump into people.