Here's a site that has some definitions of film crew jobs.

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I can't picture her or nilly doing this.

No, everyone else would be doing that. Because of the niceness (sorry Lee) vacuum.

Mmm. I'll have to ask Z. Maybe it was two dolly grips, a puller, and a DoP. Seems weird that no one gets called camera operator or cameraman. And by weird, I mean weird to someone who has no clue.

There can be a camera operator on many sets. At times this is the person behind the camera. Though if it's a small shoot the DP will double as their own camera op. If you want to get really crazy, I've seen more than one shoot where the scriptie (Script Supervisor) is doubling as the focus puller.

But I mean this set in particular -- you've said the guy nearest the camera was a dolly grip, and the DoP wasn't at the camera, and the guy zooming and panning you said was a PA or camera assistant.

Or is the dolly grip also a camera operator, and I'm counting wrong?

On that set it would just depend on how they were dividing things up and on what the bulk of the shots for the shoot would be.

Typically there is a dolly grip around for all of the camera moving and mounting on vehicles and other items. If this is an overall shoot that doesn't have a lot of that they may just have a camera operator. Most of it just depends on the size and budget of the film.

In the case where there is a dolly grip controlling the camera's location in space, a focus puller controlling the focus -- a) we call the guy controlling the camera's direction in space the PA/camera assistant and b) there's no camera operator?

I guess the question I meant to ask lo so many posts ago is that I don't get the term "camera operator." Your page says "Smoothly and efficiently operates a camera during the production and keep the frame composed properly," but that seemed like at least two guys were doing that, and in the puller's normal operations, he'd be contributing too.

But I may just have to make peace with not being able to work it out.

That's the trick on most films. There really are anywhere from 2 to 4 people doing the job that makes the camera do those things. To me that's what's so cool is that they all work together to get these amazing smooth shots.

OMG, I just read something that made The OC gayer. Consider the parallels between Ryan in season 1 and Alex -- the ones that were freaking pointed out onscreen by Seth, and the whole tossed out of the family home and invited (even jokingly) back to the Cohen house -- she's a total Ryan substitute. Which, judging from previews, will become even more apparent. Yay.

eta:

To me that's what's so cool is that they all work together to get these amazing smooth shots.

See, I can't imagine how the focus puller does his job, period. To think he's synching in real time with so many other people, boggles the freaking mind.

Computers are easy.

See, I can't imagine how the focus puller does his job, period.

Me, either. Cause I'm guessing movie lenses aren't SLR.