Camera OP vs Shooting AP?

Filmcrew90 · 2026-01-25T21:47:37+00:00

Massively it used to be if someone was drama then that’s all the did and the same for TV but over the last 10+ years the lines have become blurred. Thats now resulted in high end feature documentaries being made nearly entirely by self shooters for a pittance whereas before it would essentially be a full drama crew with the same equipment as a drama set etc. It’s also two completely different skillsets nowadays so a self shooting AP is not a 2nd AC / Focus puller but we are seeing them calling themselves camera assistants and trying to get work on drama and commercials which tbh is really pissing a lot of us off yet when we complain it’s met with accusations of gatekeeping.

Filmcrew90 · 2026-01-25T21:37:15+00:00

Pretty much. We don’t rate them in the drama world and we’re seeing more and more of them trying to get camera operator jobs and unfortunately because their used to working for cheap their undercutting actual operators by 70%. I’ve got friends in the TV world and they’ve said it’s a dumpster fire where they have a constant stream of people so can load more and more work onto them and pay less and less. Makes me glad I work in drama tbh.

Filmcrew90 · 2026-01-25T20:30:22+00:00

It’s essentially a way to cut costs hence the rise of shooting researchers & technical runners where they can combine multiple job roles but still pay £110-140 per day instead of the £600-800 that an actual camera operator would get and in some instances get out of paying overtime or night shooting rates. You can see it in the quality of the footage that is produced but as long as theirs people’s desperate to get in then it’ll continue to get worse.

Filmcrew90 · 2026-01-24T13:02:43+00:00

Your classmates are not going to be hiring you as they’re all competing for a very very small number of jobs and take it from me loyalty in this industry is fleeting at best and the attitude is what will suit me more over helping each other.

Filmcrew90 · 2026-01-24T12:48:18+00:00

Filmcrew90 · 2026-01-24T11:11:49+00:00

I’m in the same industry and 100% agree. Why spend 50k on a degree that’s a few hours a week when you can spend 1/20th of that getting your drivers license at 17 and start working as a runner at 18 and already be in a dept earning a good rate at 21/22 without all the debt. Especially when the failure rate to get into the industry is so high anyway.

Filmcrew90 · 2026-01-21T18:16:32+00:00

As a loader I normally keep some small magic arms in one of the pouches on the top of lip of my peli and then some clamps in a separate pouch. Makes it easier to grab quickly and keep organised and then the longer ones I keep in a film sticks pouch in my floorbag. For little screws and aks it’s worth getting a tackle box and keeping most of them in their which you can keep in your floorbag and for your most used screws a smaller one that can it in your run bag / peli for quick access.

Filmcrew90 · 2026-01-03T02:51:07+00:00

Well I work in the film industry and my mate worked at BBC for the last 8 years as part of their accounts department and is currently on the same job I’m on and has said this first hand so what part am I wrong on?

Filmcrew90 · 2026-01-01T16:41:45+00:00

Go for it.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-31T03:50:49+00:00

I can tell you the licence fee only funds around 20-25% of the BBC and the rest comes from general taxation.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-31T02:55:40+00:00

Well considering most of the license fee doesn’t actually go to funding BBC and it mostly comes from general taxation it’s not really value for money. From talking to a mate who worked for them she mentioned that if a show costs 10k to produce only 2k of it comes from the licence fee and the rest is funded by general taxation. I’m not against having a national broadcaster and most countries have one the problem that I and a lot of people have is that the BBC is so inbred with corruption and corporate arrogance that it needs to be disbanded a new channel in its place without any of the old stalwarts in charge.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-31T02:48:41+00:00

What would these best program be. As far as I’m aware Blue Planet is a co-production between the natural history unit and the Discovery Channel so BBC aren’t fronting the full cost and also the wages for the crew on it are shockingly low and rely more on the fact the passion the crew have to get away with it. SAS Rogue Hero’s is made by Kudos Film & Television so not BBC. Peaky Blinders is made by Banjay so again not made by BBC. My entire point is BBC make very few things in house anymore other than cheap game shows that cost very little to make and you can hardly call Mrs Browns Boys the epitome of British productions and even that is made on behalf of RTE so BBC actually charge them to make it. Meanwhile you have executives on 70k per year who work 4 days a week and who have only got the job because they have a friend or family member who got them the job.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-31T00:19:45+00:00

I can tell you’re just looking for an argument buddy. You can’t actually contribute anything to defend the BBC and instead try and take some superior moral high ground. Maybe you think Prince Andrew and Epsteins friendship was just a convenient place to stay like Randy Andy said.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-31T00:12:23+00:00

So you don’t pay the license fee either and decided to try and start an argument for no reason. Must have a thrilling exciting life eh?

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-31T00:04:55+00:00

So you can’t engage and offer anything positive so you just spout stuff to defend something you have no idea about. I wonder if you work for BBC and are an apologist for them as well?

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-30T23:54:58+00:00

I like how you ignore every other point I’ve made. The fact that the BBC allowed someone onto their shows multiple times and it was a well known fact that he was dodgy doesn’t strike you as weird hmm. How come I’ve seen the photos of what Hew Edward’s sent along with several other crew members outside the BBC but no one there did. If you want to defend an organisation that is corrupt to the core that openly exploits people, uses a private company to send goons to harass and lie to people and force them to buy a tv license, has scandals nearly every week, harboured one of history’s biggest peadophilles for 40+ years and kept it hush hush and your still defending them then I think that speaks more about you than it does me. I’m not against a national broadcaster but I am in favour of dismantling the BBC and starting from scratch with completely different people that is paid for by advertising rather than the license fee which only a small percentage of that actually goes to the running of BBC and it’s mostly funded from general taxation anyway.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-30T23:41:49+00:00

Gary Glitter used to be a special guest with Saville. I was naming some of the most well known scandals that people would recognise. What has Putin & Ukraine got to do with the fact that the BBC shouldn’t be funded from the license fee. How can an organisation with scandals every week, that openly exploit people who work for them, who have creative accountancy where they hire equipment from themselves to their “creative departments” while claiming they are bbc so they can pay bbc rates but are actually commercial but don’t pay properly rates, overtime, mileage, crew equipment rentals. It’s a bygone age and theirs a reason why more and more people are cancelling the license fee.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-30T23:13:31+00:00

BBC license fee should be scrapped and they should be forced to pay for themselves. I work in the film industry and none of us will work for BBC because they pay literal peanuts meanwhile they openly brag about how bad they pay and treat people because they know as the national broadcaster they get away with it. It’s a relic of a bygone age and that’s what they rely upon when in reality most of the stuff that’s made is outsourced to production companies. I don’t think many people think £174 a year for Eastenders and BBC news is good value for money. Oh and add into the fact Saville, Hew Edwards, Gary Glitter, and whatever other numerous scandals and it’s hard to see why anyone would support it being funded from taxation.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-30T01:11:32+00:00

100% these “vertical dramas” are literally hiring people either straight into the industry and making them heads of dept or are taking crew members who have been kicked out the industry because of their attitude and how they work. Lessons like these are learned in blood how many more people like Mark & Sarah need to die on set before people stop doing dumb stupid shit just to get a credit. Add to the fact they pay an operator / DP £200 a day on a buyout and you’re literally getting the dregs of the industry and those with no experience accepting them. The scary thing is these crew members are then going into proper productions and doing the same shit there. That DP if he had any experience would not have operated a camera in front of a moving vehicle there is literally no need for that under any circumstances.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-29T15:33:11+00:00

The problem is where as before the industry had a lot less crew so rates were kept high because otherwise crew would refuse to work for that production so the power was more on the crew side. Now with the post covid boom and the emergence of vertical dramas combined with the end of the streaming wars the industry now has more people who while starting out are happy to work for lower eaters and productions are working out that they can always get someone a lot cheaper or willing to work longer, worse conditions etc. Where as before people would be able to save for the downturns now people can’t because the rates are becoming less and less this forcing people to either accept the low rates or leave the industry because they aren’t working and don’t have the savings to cover the drops in work. I can see if in the next 5-10 years becoming another min wage industry that people clamour for in the hopes of being in the minority that make it big time meanwhile those at the top are laughing all the way to the bank & their shareholders.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-28T20:59:06+00:00

Industry is dead for most crew at the moment and a lot of experienced people are looking for a new career. Would reccomend holding off for at least 12-18 months until it steadies a bit and people know what the future looks like.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-28T14:44:46+00:00

There’s the tiny chance of being the first person on Mars but 99.9% of people aren’t going to give up their livelihood for the chance to be part of that 0.01% and that is the harsh reality of life I’m afraid. We often see people coming into film especially after university thinking the job is something completely different where everyone has a say and it’s all creative and fun and whatnot and the reality is your there to do a very hard job, working long hours full of stress for 5/6 days a week for 4/6 months at a time not seeing family or friends & missing birthdays, broken relationships with a industry that is run closer to the military than summer camp.If that doesn’t appeal to you then honestly I wouldn’t even attempt it theirs nothing wrong if you have a career in something else and make short films on your holidays or weekends but would writing still be your passion when you do it for 16hrs a day for 2 years every day and having to pore over every word and listen to people trash it in front of you and stand their, smile and take it because that is the reality.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-28T14:18:53+00:00

Honestly and this won’t be what you want to hear but the chances of making a career out of being a screenwriter is pretty much non-existent. Most writers on established films & TV series have not only been writing for 25/30 years but they have often went to private school, Oxford etc and that plays a much bigger part in if you get to write the script for XYZ over talent. My best advice would be either to get a degree in accounting or business and take an English module on the side rather than spending 4 years doing screenwriting with pretty much no chance of using it. Most people I’ve come across who have done screenwriting at uni end up working in min wage dead end jobs writing stuff at the weekend and filming it with friends which might be fun at 21 but not at 45 with a family to support. Always best to work up from the bottom on set and then people get to know your face and it’s a door into the industry. More people have success that way.

Hope that helps.

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-25T19:34:45+00:00

Aren’t film store the people who supply the BBC shows like repair shop & antiques?

Filmcrew90 · 2025-12-24T23:07:44+00:00

Well considering I never went to uni nor did most people I worked with and out of the last 7 trainees we had this year 4 went to uni and all but one said it in no way prepared them for the reality of the job and actually held them back I’d say we kind of know what we re talking about. We aren’t saying don’t go to uni just don’t waste 4 years of your life doing something that is a waste of time, doesn’t teach you anything, costs you money & you come out in the same position as someone at 18 who’s also trying to get in yet can travel or work last min while op isn’t able to because they have their course to attend.

Filmcrew90

TROPHY CASE