Crew
The crew we build around a shoot.
We do not run a fixed crew. Each production is staffed from a network of people we have worked with for years, sized to what the job actually needs. A single operator day looks very different to a full camera department, and both should feel properly covered.
Director of Photography
Ashley Caldwell shoots as DOP on every Caldwell Media production, and is also engaged directly by agencies and production companies as a cinematographer. Ashley Caldwell, cinematographer
First AC
Focus puller. Pulls focus on every take, builds and maintains the camera, and keeps the lens package clean and calibrated. On anamorphic and long lens work this is the difference between a usable take and a soft one.
Second AC
Runs the camera cart, slates, swaps lenses and filters, and manages media and data wrangling on the day so nothing is lost between the camera and the edit.
Sound Recordist
Field recording, radio mics, timecode and mix. Handles the dialogue and the atmos that post production is going to need, rather than the sound that merely survives the shoot.
Boom Operator
Works with the recordist to keep the microphone in the right place and out of frame, which matters most in the moving, unscripted moments where a lav alone will not carry it.
Gaffer and Lighting
Designs and rigs the lighting with the DOP, runs power and keeps the set safe. Everything from a single source in a workshop to a full exterior build.
Grip
Camera support and movement. Dollies, track, cranes, car mounts and the specialist rigs, plus the flags, nets and frames that shape light on location.
Aerial Operator
Licensed drone and FPV work, including the planning and approvals that go with flying in controlled airspace or near people and infrastructure.
Producer
Scheduling, budgeting, locations, permits, talent and the logistics that hold a shoot together. On larger productions this is a dedicated role rather than something absorbed by the crew.
Editor
Story and assembly. Works from the rushes to find the cut, with the director and the client across the stages rather than at the end of them.
Colourist
Grade and finish. Sets the look, matches the shots and delivers to spec, in DaVinci Resolve Studio.