The LOOOONNNGGG-Take

I must say the Long-Take was quite a challenge as a camera operator.  Part of this was due to the fact that we attempted to imitate David Lynch's long-take where he made the single shot appear as multiple shots with multiple cuts and transitions.  In order for our long-take to also appear as multiple shots and cuts, we utilized the Bolex's variable shutter and closed it to create the cut and opened it to continue the shot.  As the camera operator, many rehearsals had to be done prior to shooting the take.  It was a lot of fun though.   A big challenge as the operator was trying to maintain the proper composition in the frame as I quickly switched between one subject to the other.  Because time is so limited, I had to do it fast and make sure I switched the variable shutter back and forth on time so the cuts did not appear to take too long.  Another interesting part of the long-take was seeing the footage after we developed it.  Because it was so hard to quickly adjust the shot and adjust the variable shutter, it was nearly impossible to adjust the fStop as well. I learned to make sure that wherever we are doing a long-take to appear as separate shots, we need to make sure that each subject is under similar light intensities.  Overall, the long-take assignment was an enjoyable challenge.  It was nice to know that we could film, develop, project, and transfer the footage all within four hours. The assignment also reiterated the importance of proper lighting, lens, and fstop choices.  Basically, how hard it is for film cinematographers to perform at exceptional levels.