How does one become a professional video cameraman?
I’ve got a friend who does camera work for NBC News (mostly remote stuff, but a little studio work too). He started out in his teens shooting weddings and *Mitzvahs for a local videography company. He moved onto local cable news a little later (since he’d had experience shooting and editing), and eventually went to school for “communications,” whatever that means. Through his school, he managed a few internships at MTV, VH1, etc., and after graduation landed the freelance gig he has now. It’s a lot of hours (I don’t know anyone who works like him; he never, ever turns down a shift), but the pay is excellent (and unionized) and he really likes doing it. But, in any case, no, he doesn’t have a specialty degree of any sort. As for how hard it is to break into, he busts his ass, but was not particularly connected. You will definitely want to get some experience behind a camera or an editing deck before you go trying to get professional work, and wedding photography really isn’t a bad idea
I sometimes do contract camera work (today, even), and I know about ten others folks in my area who do the same thing. We, for the most part, fell into it around high school or college, where we were in the various media-related classes. /me dons other hat As an owner of a company who hires cameramen, if I didn’t know you were a good shooter, you wouldn’t be on my list. You would be better off working up from the ground, which in the specific niche I’m in, means being a production assistant or cable puller. Being a cable puller tends to be low-paying dirty work, but you can follow a real cameraman around and find out how they do what they do. Being a production assistant means getting coffee. For everyone. Mostly joking here, but think glorified errand runner. Not as much exposure to actual OTJ training.
1) No degree needed. Hard work, long hours, please. 2) No – but they must have an eye for it. 3) Semi tough. Lots of apprentice time – waiting for a break to go higher up. 4) First step. Shoot. Then go see if your local cable/news/college, needs someone to run cable (preferable for live events, like a football game). You’ll work your way up the food chain, lugging equipment and cables…being the eyes for a cameraman who is sprinting downfield. Then, you’ll progress and shoot some second camera (or work in the truck.) Then you’ll look outside your small pond, working your way up.
