Jelley’s Q&A: Send In Your DoP Questions!
Ever since I made the decision to really take a career as a DoP seriously and work out what it actually means to be one (I’m still working on that) I have been faced with questions, queries and general gaps in my knowledge that I’ve tried tirelessly over the last 5 years to plug like holes in an ever-sinking ship. Part of what I love about being a DoP is that I don’t feel like it’s something that I’ll ever really reach the summit of — you’ll never make an objectively perfect film. I’m on the same journey that countless thousands of other people have made before me and that thousands are also making with me.
Part of what has really helped lift me up, and yet at thesame time caused me huge amounts of frustration, is the amount of available information out there. Sometimes I find it really easy to find the answers to some questions, and find that some are answered repeatedly or numerously in several places, and yet others are as rare as can be. I’m not sure if anyone else has ever found themselves watching something and thinking “they must have some industry secret that they’re not telling me, because I have no idea how they did this”, but I certainly have.
This new section of my blog isn’t an excuse to get on my high horse and pretentiously ego-trip on my ability to splurge my knowledge all over the internet, but instead to admit that while yes, there are some things that I’ve picked up along the way and am happy to share, there are indeed a lot of things I don’t know and will have to try and find out about.
For the time being (and to get me started) I’ve called upon friends of mine who are either just graduating from film school, or just finding their feet in the industry to ask me their niggling questions. Hopefully, if this picks up pace, I’ll be able to take questions from the wider filmmaking community!
If you have something to ask, whether it be technical, philosophical, super specific or mysteriously vague, ping an email over to me.
I’ll do my best to answer as thoroughly as I can, and hopefully we can all help each other on this journey.
