Many production companies, news/TV channel, crews abroad want to hire camera operator / Director of Photography (DOP) / filmmaker in Vietnam for their projects. This is because not all Clients/companies have their own cam op/DOP, they usually hire freelancers and they can hire someone from their country or can also hire someone in Vietnam.
When hiring this position, Client usually cares about: skills, experiences, rate, communication, English-speaking skill, ability to communicate and work with the Director and the crew/team.
Knowing a rate for budgeting and considering is important, but a rate depends on many factors, such as:
- location of the project, indoor/outdoor, filming condition
- the story/content/script/complication of the project
- what camera/equipment to use
- how many crew to support/assist
- timing/hour many hour per day, how long is the project.
Our camera operator / DOP can work with different kinds of cameras: arri alexa mini, black magic, etc. For lists of cameras available to rent and what our drone op can use, please check this post!
Responsibilities of Vietnam camera operator
- Operate the camera according to director’s instruction and discuss with director about filming to get the best footage.
- Managing and responsible for the camera, batteries, tripod, etc. If the cam op has an assistant, then the assistant camera would be also responsible for those.
- Moving and using the camera to film people with their consent and trying to respect people and the environment as much as possible.
Sometimes a camera operator is also DoP.
Responsibilities of Vietnam Director of Photography (DoP)
A DoP is a filmmaker that design movements and distance, setting of a camera to serve a filming purpose. This filming purpose can be decided by Director/Producer/Creative Producer.
Sometimes a DoP is also camera operator.
Show reel:
Filming and photography at a steel company:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/6/folders/1s-3wNQrmEXk9msjJTpjuAUmdxutYgXEI
Short movie – high school love story (milk tea):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PVszKIvqnmJinT87P6PJyrhfkLe28MT8/view
Video introduction about Hue:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RCGPTQrlpdx3iqauT9opaiIktR3V8MFs/view?usp=sharing
Story about a clinic/hospital:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h5j_TsnFFHUC9KGaVZGy9V-ehIhN3eMh/view?usp=sharing
Documentary about bomb removal:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OGAXJsGEjKcnOc-Z3oO6u8bGxu3kECCo/view?usp=sharing
Projects
Hiring Vietnamese cameraman with equipment for interviews at a conference in Hue.
List of equipment: FX3 (4k 120)
Lens 24-70 GM2
Lens 70-200 GM2
DJI Mic Dual
Light: Nanlite 300W
Softbox
China Ball
Vietnamese cam op filming Vallet scholarship awarding ceremony at the Opera House, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Requirement:
- The shooting is indoors with just a few location shots outdoors. the Venue being the Hanoi Opera House.
- There will be only short reaction interviews to do at the end of the ceremony and probably a 15 or 20 minute interview with someone responsible for the event. During the ceremony we will also have to take cutaways of the participants so to do this a light can also be useful.
- We won’t need to film the entire ceremony. It will above all be a question of taking the strong moments which will be integrated into the production of a documentary.
So a single camera should suffice, but we will have a filming technique that will multiply the shooting axes as if there were several cameras.
The event will last approximately 2 to 3 hours but the exploitation that will be made of it in the final film will not last more than 4 to 6 minutes. - We will therefore work between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. and perhaps a 20 to 30 minutes interview in the afternoon.
- A hybrid camera that have a lens suitable for taking both long shots and close-ups.
Equipment
Camera: Sony fx30. lense: tamr 17 70 f2.8
Mic rode go2
Light: godox sl100
Gimbal
