Eric the Cameraman

Eric Hoyton is a cameraman who has done work on programmes including Dr Who Confidential, Eating with the enemy and various adverisments. When Eric came in to talk to us he tried to hammer home the point that being a cameraman requires you to be very imaginitive and be able to improvise on the spot. Eric told us that the working day of a cameraman can frequently be as long as 12 hours or maybe longer on some occasions. As a freelance cameraman, nearly all the jobs are at the last minute and you will never know till then what or where the job is. This was of partitular interest to me because this is what I would love to be once I have finished my degree. He demonstrated that the cameraman has to be able to learn quickly when he was presented with the Sony HDV Z1 which was brought up for him to use. He admitted he had never worked with that camera model before. This act allowed him to demostrate the basic skills needed for when he works with a camera he has never used before.