I'm awake kind of early this morning. It's a big day. I'm stepping up from Gaffer to Director of Photograhy for the last two days of this film. My boss had to go away and do a union commercial, and so he is leaving me to complete the photography.

The cool thing is that we are shooting film rather than video or HD. It's 35mm with sprocket holes. So I get to look through a glass eye-piece rather than a grainy little video picture. I realized yesterday when Keith had me operating shots on the Arri BL-IV, that the ground glass viewing system of a film camera is its real advantage over HD video. You see the real thing.

It was ten years ago that I finished school and set out to become a cinematographer. I went to work as an electric to learn the basics of lighting, and then ten years was gone. That's how long it took before I was asked to shoot. Had I known that starting out, I probably would have pursued another career. But no matter. This is where I am. This is all I know how to do.

The first question of the morning will be: WHERE DO YOU WANT THE CAMERA?
Then: WHAT LENS DO YOU WANT UP?

And then get the grips and electrics moving. Come up with an idea for the lighting. Maybe go handheld, or on the dolly.

So I'm awake early. This is kind of important. There are so few shots in this business.