5 Situations Why You’ll Want to Hire a Professional Focus Puller

A lot of productions reduce their budget by excluding the focus puller, which is another term for camera assistant (AC). They don’t realize that they’re making a mistake by doing so. When the Director of Photography (DP) is anxious about the grips, the lights as well as composition, would you want to leave them also dealing with the duties of lenses and filters?

It’s important for you keep in mind that not every project will need a camera assistant, and it’s a fact that corporate events, reality TV, and documentaries stay alive every so often without having to use a devoted focus puller. Well, there are some situations in which you can’t afford a remote focus puller and plan to go-ahead with a skeleton crew. Then there are times when you may allow a production assistant or intern to shoulder responsibilities of a camera assistant.All these situations are acceptable, but there are some situations in which you’ll feel the need to hire a professional focus puller.

Here we’ve put together a list of 5 situations why you need a pro:

1.Have an Unfavorable Schedule

You ask yourself "When don’t I have an unfavorable schedule?"No doubt it has always been a part of filmmaking to make your film surpass the budget allocated and it often states pushing those pennies to the limit. These schedules, especially unfavorable ones demand a lot from the cast as well as crew to work effectively and rapidly while maintaining the professionalism and not minimizing the standards of the process. Hiring a professional focus puller or assistant camera has the desired expertise in this field.

Even when schedules are not intimidatingly challenging, they attempt to be the first ready without you taking notice. A pro AC will not let complicated troubleshooting tasks appear and get the camera to its work before you even think about asking for it.

Thinking if it’s feasible to work without hiring a pro AC? Think this way: without a camera, you will not be able to shoot anything, so having someone who’s skilled and technically sound can ensure that camera will allow you to shoot whenever you want.

2.Want Your Shots in Focus

Finally, the most crucial situation you will want to seek assistance from a professional AC is when you want your shots in focus. Camera assistants, also called "focus pullers", are highly trained at keeping focus between subjects in a scene.

Well, it may seem like an effortless job, because it really is, but it does not mean that anybody can easily get on the follow focus. Know that there’s no other way to become a master at pulling focus without doing it and a professional AC will give you the experience you need for focus pulling. A pro knows everything when it comes to pulling focus, the common mistakes made and so on.

3.The Film’s Packed with Camera Movement

In pre-production you initiate extensive talks with the DP about wonderful and far-reaching camera movements. They are truly eager and enthusiastic and you want to do everything within your reach to help them achieve the shot they need.You present the idea to the director of photography and he likes it. Then he starts bringing up jibs, dollys, cranes, and other camera movement systems that seem too complicated when it comes to controlling them as the shots they follow to capture.

Planning extensive camera movements? If so then a professional focus puller or AC is going to play a vital role. They’ll be aware of the right way to build a camera to be firmly fixed on certain rigs and ensure it is properly attached.

4.Renting Out a Professional Camera

Not knowing much about every job does not make you an expert at them.If you’ve decided to rent the up-to-date camera and it seems the most professional thing you have ever come across, you may not even know how to use the camera.

Here comes the professional focus puller who’s not only well-trained to get used to, but learn new camera systems in no time. Other than being able to pick up controls, they’re also aware of what’s crucial for them to become skilled at, including exposure control and sensor settings.

A professional focus puller or AC will have thorough knowledge of professional camera systems than anyone else, which plays an essential role when you’re tacking a costly equipment.

5.Working with Film

Working with film? Then you will certainly need a professional assistant camera (AC).

If there is any drawback of film it is the fact that it seems much easier for one to waste a great amount of money when working with film. Pulling focus is a game that one cannot achieve in the blink of an eye and loading magazines is the main opportunity to damage some stock, and last but certainly not least, the mechanics of the film camera rely on continuous maintenance as well as care.

Don’t consider anyone else, unless you have the right experience working with film on your own. Hire a pro who’s already worked with various film cameras and knows their fine points.

Is Hiring a Focus Puller Important?

A focus puller or the 1st AC (assistant camera) plays a very important role as this person is the one who sets the camera up at the beginning of the day, prepares the camera for every shot, changing the camera speed, lens, filters and so on and so forth.

While the DP (Director of Photography) is the head of the camera department, the focus puller takes the responsibility of all technical things. Being a member of a film’s crew camera department the major responsibility of the 1st AC is to maintain image clarity on any subject or action that’s being filmed.

Many filmmakers have been emphasizing on the efficient use of 3D printed Dslr accessories. Being a filmmaker, you must understand the importance of these accessories before they can be used for making films.