CAMERAMAN
If you are interested in a career in film as a cameraman (or camerawoman) you should first determine what exactly you want this career to be about. When you say “cameraman”, you can mean either the cinematographer or the actual camera operator. Of the two careers, the cinematographer has far more responsibilities, and therefore is paid at a far higher level than a camera operator. It is the cinematographer’s job to take care of each film shot, and should be experienced when it comes to color palettes, lighting, the use of perspective, and a lot more other complex notions.
You may be contemplating you need to attend an established film school in order to become a cinematographer, given its exceedingly technical demands, but some of the most acclaimed cinematographers in the film business never did attend film school. Most of them harnessed their expertise from the “indie” film scene and then continued on to get mainstream success. Spike Jonze, acclaimed director of “Being John Malkovich” and “Adaptation” actually taught himself the art of cinematography as a teenager by conducting experiments in filming his fellow skateboarders. He has helmed the camera on a number of projects, intermittently doing double duty as director as well. This illustrates the fact that there is no definite need to obtain formal training at a traditional film school in order to be either a cameraman or a cinematographer.
When you attend traditional film schools, you can be sure of getting access to camera equipment plus additional technical training; however, the kind of experience you get when working at an actual film set is indispensable compared to this stuff, “Ivory Tower” approach to the art and craft. If you want to hit the ground running, you really should seek out an alternative or non-traditional film program, one that puts less of an emphasis on book learning and more of an emphasis on street smarts. Such programs may have you working on a film set from day one, allowing you to be taught as you go. Some programs even help promote a one-on-one mentoring relationship with an a skilled cameraman or cinematographer, and this can be of great value besides as a source of knowledge, and also as a source of connections, as when your work with your tutor is complete, he or she is likely to have numerous contacts throughout the film industry that you can utilize once you strike out on your own.
