So, you are filming the movie.

You could be the DP (Director of Photography), the Camera Operator, the Focus Puller or all three. In any event, congratulations! If anything in the footage looks like crap, it's all your fault! I mean anything! Get it? Just so you know.

You'll be working closely with the director in creating the planned (hopefully storyboarded) vision of the film.

O.K., Here's the basics you'll need to know.

1. Know how to focus the camera perfectly every time. View finders and small monitors can lie, so test your footage and know how your camera translates the image. Use an external, 8-inch monitor, or bigger, if possible. Do not use the auto-focus!

2. Learn to recognize when the image is "blown out" or "grainy." Once again, viewfinders lie and there's no way to fix this problem effectively after it's been filmed. You need to experiment and get a feel for how your camera reacts to light. See how your reference screen interprets what we will see on screen or in post.

3. Know how to "white balance" the camera for each shot. This makes your whites, and all other colors closer to their true tone, not reddish or bluish.

4. Get comfortable with angles create a dynamic shot and accentuate the scene.

A worms eye view is filmed from near ground and gives the subject a large, imposing look.

A birds-eye view is looking down on the subject and makes them look small and victimized.

A close-up invades personal space.

A medium shot shows neutral ground.

A long shot establishes environment.

A silhouette creates mood and obscurity, and so on... Study the different shots and learn what they mean to enhance the scene.

5. Be aware of continuity. Even though this may not be your job, take note. From scene to scene, most things need to move in the same direction as last we saw them. Don't show a car going down the road toward the right side of the screen, then cut to the interior shot with our passengers facing the left side of the screen. Things going in a certain direction should continue that way until we see that direction diverted.

6. Practice and incorporate ways to steady and move the camera with fluidity.

7. Use your picture frame as a canvas and manipulate emotion through balance and composition. There are good and bad ways to fill a picture frame. It's better to cut a persons head off than their chin. If there is motion, give them space in the frame for the direction they're going. Remember that what you cut out of a shot is often more important than what you put in. Keep the "subjects" the focus of the shot, yet avoid creating "talking heads."

It’s all just a magic act. People don't always believe in what they see, they believe what they are "convinced" they are seeing. It's up to you to keep the viewer from seeing the strings.