Have you ever taken your handicam out to shoot at a party, and been disappointed with the footage at the end?  shaky?  grainy?  colours that just aren't accurate, and shots that only show half of what you wanted to record? imagine now a camera a hundred times more complex than your home handicam, and you begin to realise why our camera operators are pedantic about detail when discussing an event.

When organising camera to screen, a number of factors affect the camera operator's ability to record or capture the images he or she wants to, so these need to be discussed ahead of time. the distance between the camera and the presenter influences whether or not the camera can be operated from a tripod or on-the-shoulder (imagine the 'shake' when you zoom out on your handicam), and the amount of light available.

Unlike your handicam, we generally record audio from the sound-desk rather than from an on-board microphone, and this can be done through either a cable (not practical for moving camera situations) or via wireless transmitter.  specialist lenses may be required if the focal distance is quite long, in order to get the size of image desired, as well as a camera riser to give height, in order to get the correct angle. at the control end, is generally a vision mixer, audio mixer, and lighting mixer, all working as a team to combine all elements as a whole.