A Better Camera Report & Log
With the digital cinema transition now fully underway I have found myself increasingly frustrated as I try to cram digital camera information onto a film-style report or log book. So, I set out to design a Camera Report and Camera Log better suited for digital cinema production.
The design of a camera report or log book may seem like a small thing, but as assistants we spend a lot of time recording important information and should be working with well designed forms. These designs have made it easier for me to keep good records, something I now hope to share with other camera assistants.
Camera Report
The Camera Report is designed to fit a 5.5 x 8.5 inch sheet and so fits cleanly in all the common tins. The first unique items you will notice are the media fields, which allow for recording a Media ID (mag number) and quickly selecting the Media Type with a circle around the appropriate type.
Large and easily seen, there are seperate boxes for the Camera ID, Roll, and Sheet number. Even though the Take column is properly sized to allow takes to be written like [ 5/6 ], I prefer to write a single take per line and add sheets as necessary. Because this is a digital report there are columns for the Clip number and the approximate Duration.
For all the assistants working on episodic productions who are wondering why there is no field for the episode number, I have found that writing the episode number on the far right end of the Title line is simple and clear. If you want an episode number field, send me an email and I'll hook you up.
Camera Log
The Camera Log fits the same 5.5 x 8.5 inch sheet as the report, but in landscape orientation. It is designed with room along the left side that allows it to be clipped into the police-style tins while still having access to the Scene column. While I haven't bound one yet, it should be simple to tightly spiral bind the top edge. Binding this way avoids the center fold of the standard folded-camera-logs so common on sets and allows the page to lie flat.
The Framing field is included because even though the digital file may be 2:1 the intended framing may be 16:9 cut from the center. Some camera manufacturers like to frequently change how the camera behaves in signicant ways, something we can now keep track of with the Firmware field. The idea behind the Color/Look and Codec fields is that it is also important to record things like RC 7:1, LogC, ProRes and so on.
Everything else should be fairly obvious, but if you are wondering, the angle symbol represents the Shutter Angle column.
Customizing & Printing
Because these are PDF files you can open them in a slew of applications and add your production's title, director's name, or camerman's name and save yourself some handwritting. If you are looking for somewhere to have these printed in duplicate or triplicate, Rich at NCRForms.com has given me good customer service at an affordable price and the print quality seems okay. Do me a favor and let him know I sent you.
If you are having trouble customizing these, shoot me an email and I'll try to hook you up. If I'm working long hours on a shoot it may take me a little while to respond. I'm sure you understand.
Licensing
I am licensing these templates under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0, which means you are encouraged to use and share them freely but not allowed to sell them or any prints made from them without first asking me.
