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A production department

Camera

The camera department: who is in it and what each of them does

The camera department captures the picture: everything the audience will ever see passes through a lens this team chose, built, focused, moved and looked after. Strictly layered, top to bottom.

The camera department works at the front of the action, which makes it one of the most exciting places on a set and one of the most pressured: when the camera is not ready, nobody is shooting. The director of photography heads it and also has the electricians (under the gaffer) and the grips (under the key grip) answering to them, but those are separate departments with their own heads. The titles below are exact; getting one wrong on a CV is the fastest way to show you have never been on a set.

  1. Director of photography (DoP)

  2. Camera operator

  3. Steadicam operator

  4. 1st AC (focus puller)

  5. 2nd AC (clapper loader)

  6. Camera traineeEntry-level job

  7. DIT (digital imaging technician)

  8. Data wranglerEntry-level job

  9. Video assist and playback operator

Drawn from MFJF's own Foundations course Camera Trainee (What the camera department does, and who is in it; the day; the routes in) and MFJF's camera trainee careers guide. The words are My First Job In Film's. © My First Job In Film 2026.

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Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Camera Trainee. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: Camera TraineeTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. The career planner: Camera TraineeWhat to do, learn and be able to do, from no experience to paid work.
  7. The career guide: Camera TraineeThe job, the day, the way in and the pay, in one guide.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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