Before anyone touches a camera
A good session starts well before the first shot. Owen Parry, who leads our camera training, arrives early to check the pedestal, the cable run and the prompter feed, because a stiff column or a snagged cable teaches the wrong lessons. I work in audio, so I am often in the room while this happens, and what strikes me is how little is rushed. He raises the column through its full travel, listens for friction, and sets the drag so that a small push produces a small move.
Only then do the trainees come in. They are asked to walk the floor first, without a camera, and find where the cables lie, where the lights hang and where the talent will stand. Operators who know the floor before they roll tend to move with confidence. It takes ten minutes and saves a good deal of embarrassment later, when a camera is pulled back into a cable that nobody noticed.
- Check column travel and drag before anyone operates
- Walk the floor and note cable runs and obstacles
- Confirm prompter and talkback work at the camera
Framing exercises on a still subject
We begin with a stand-in sitting still at a desk, because framing is easier to judge when nothing else is changing. Trainees are asked for a medium close-up, then a wider two-shot, and each one is held for a full minute. Owen watches the monitor rather than the operator, and he tends to say very little. A slow drift in headroom or a creeping tilt shows up on screen long before the operator feels it.
After each hold we pause and compare shots side by side. The point is not to find one correct frame but to see why one feels settled and another feels cramped. Talking about nose room, lead room and the space above the head in plain words gives trainees a vocabulary they can use on a real show, when a director is speaking in their ear and there is no time to explain anything.
- Hold each frame for a full minute to expose drift
- Review shots side by side on the same monitor
Learning to move without being seen
Movement is the part people find hardest, and it is where most of the session time goes. Trainees practise a slow push-in on a subject, starting and stopping so gently that a viewer would not notice either end. Owen asks them to plan the move first: where it begins, where it finishes and what they will do with their feet. Operators who plan the body position tend to deliver a steadier shot than those who simply try to be careful.
We repeat each move many times, and the repetition is the lesson. By the fifth push-in most people have found the pressure their hands need, and the move starts to look the same every time. That repeatability matters on a live programme, where the same shot may be called three times in an hour and the director expects it to match.
- Plan the start, finish and footwork before moving
- Repeat each move until it looks identical
Focus, and what happens when it slips
Focus work is done with a deliberately difficult setup: a guest leaning in and out while a second person stands behind. Trainees learn to set focus at the longest end of the lens, then pull back to the framing they want. It is a dull exercise and it is the one that prevents soft pictures later. We also teach them to say aloud when they have lost it, because a quiet operator who is struggling helps nobody in the gallery.
On a handheld camera the problems change. Weight, breathing and the length of the shot all affect steadiness, so we spend time on stance, elbows tucked in and a relaxed grip. A short handheld take on a stool, with the strap adjusted properly, teaches more than any explanation. Most operators are surprised how much of a steady image comes from standing correctly rather than from holding tighter.
- Set focus at full zoom, then frame back
- Tell the gallery at once if focus is lost
- Adjust straps and stance before a handheld take
Working with the gallery and the talent
Once the basic moves are reliable, we connect the cameras to a small gallery and let the trainees take direction. This is where the earlier work is tested. A director asks for a tighter shot on camera two, and the operator has to respond smoothly while the shot is not live, then be ready before it is called. We practise the short phrases used on talkback so that nobody wastes the director's time with a long reply.
I join for the sound side of this. Operators learn that a bumped pedestal or a squeaking cable can be heard on a nearby microphone, so we keep movement quiet whenever the mics are open. It is a small point that connects the two jobs. Cameras and audio share one room, and a crew that listens to each other produces cleaner results than one that works in separate corners.
- Practise short talkback replies
- Keep movement quiet while microphones are open
What the session ends with
We finish by recording a short run of shots and watching them back together. Trainees see their own pushes, their own corrections and the occasional wobble, and that review does more than any comment from the side. Owen picks two or three points for each person to work on, and we write them down so they leave with something concrete rather than a general impression.
There is no pass or fail. The aim is that each operator knows what they do well and what to practise before the next booking. If a studio wants to continue, we suggest a follow-up on the cameras they actually use, because the feel of a particular pedestal differs from one make to another, and training on your own equipment is always the most useful.
- Record and review a final run of shots
- Leave with two or three written practice points
Camera training is mostly patient repetition in a quiet room, with someone watching the monitor and speaking only when it helps. The pedestal, the cables and the floor are prepared first, framing comes before movement, and the gallery joins last. That order is what turns careful practice into shots that match on a live show. If your team is thinking about a session, tell us which cameras you use and we will build it around them.
