CHAPTER 14

Video Assist Systems

The Theory and Practice of Video Assist

The theory behind video assist is that it takes too long to process and print and view film, and that a video camera mounted piggyback-style on a film camera, looking at the ground glass image in the camera viewfinder, offers “instant dailies,” allowing the director to decide instantly whether or not the scene just shot is acceptable and whether the company can move on to the next shot.

The theory continues; if the director can see immediately what the finished shot will look like, without waiting for the lab, then fewer takes need be made, less film will be shot, less time will be needed to film a particular scene, and the producer will save money and time, which also really ...

Get The Camera Assistant now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.