Teradek User Story: 1st AC Joshua Cote on Designing the Optimal Camera Setup
From Teradek
...my career in the film industry, and as a 1st AC, can be boiled down to a handful of amazing mentors and friends giving me opportunities and teaching me the ropes. When I wanted to drop out of the mediocre university film program I was attending to begin pursuing a real career in movies and television, my parents and girlfriend (Jenn) were very supportive and gave me the courage (and the occasional tank of gas) to get through that first year of unpaid short films and reality TV day-playing PA gigs.”
“When I began working in the Camera Department in Michigan, I was taken under the wing of a couple of really generous and knowledgeable guys in the industry there. Early on, I was hired onto a Christian feature film as the B Camera 2nd AC, and was forced upon the 1st AC & Operator. I was a slow and clumsy 2nd, and the show we were on was challenging to say the least. The B Camera Operator realized I was green quickly, and giddily spent the next 6 weeks using me as a stress-relieving punching bag. The B Camera 1st AC (Lance Mokma) could see that, despite my inexperience, I was driven and eager to learn. Instead of taking the same approach as the Operator, Lance worked hard to catch me up and mold me into an efficient 2nd. And when the film was finished, he decided to continue hiring and training me in the years that followed. Cheers to him for instilling my love of clean builds and pushing me to always be better on the next job. When I started pursuing work as a 1st AC, a Detroit-based DP (Adam Rock) gave me a lot of great opportunities to hone my focus pulling skills. He’s a big fan of Diopters...read more
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