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Learning path · Camera

2nd AC, clapper loader and loading film

The clapper loader's job: slating, marks, camera reports, film stock, loading 35mm and 16mm mags, and the camera trainee basics.

Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course. This one prepares you for Camera department Foundation.

20 lessons · About 3 hours · New to set to working crew · Not started

Lesson 1

Introduction to Health and Safety in Film and Television

XpoNorth Digital · 17:44 · original on YouTube

You will learn: Explain how UK health and safety law applies to the camera department.

Note: UK practice. From 8:00: equipment, cables and working around kit.

Safety first

Weight, heights, vehicles and batteries

Camera kit is heavy, expensive and lives on heads, cranes, cars and boats. Trainees carry the most and know the least, so this comes before any camera skill.

The hazards

  1. Manual handlingCases are heavy and awkward. Use the trolley, team-lift, and never carry so much you can't see where you're going.
  2. Cranes, towers and heightsCranes, scaffold towers and platforms are built and run by grips. Camera crew go up only when the key grip says, with the right access and, where needed, a harness. Nothing is ever left loose up there.
  3. Vehicle rigsCar mounts, tracking vehicles and process trailers are rigged by grips and driven by specialist drivers. Nobody rides on a rig, or in a tracking vehicle, unless they're seated and secured as the grip says. Moving-vehicle scenes are briefed by the 1st AD.
  4. Lithium-ion batteriesHigh-capacity batteries can catch fire if damaged. Charge them where the 2nd AC says, label them, cover the terminals, and take any swollen, dented or hot battery out of use at once. Flying with them follows airline and Civil Aviation Authority rules.
  5. Lasers and LiDARSome rangefinders and focus aids use a laser. Check its class label and never point it at anyone's eyes. HSE's artificial optical radiation guidance applies to anything brighter.
  6. Long hours and the drive homeCamera has some of the longest days on the unit: prep before call, data and wrap after. Fatigue causes most of the worst accidents, often on the road home. Use production transport or rest before driving.
  7. Water and weatherRain covers on, cables out of puddles, nothing electrical in standing water. Work on or near water needs a marine safety plan.

Who is responsible

  • The DoP is head of department; the 1st AC runs the camera team's safety day to day, with the 2nd AC.
  • The key grip owns cranes, rigs, towers and vehicle mounts.
  • The 1st AD briefs every moving-vehicle and hazardous scene.

As a trainee, never

  • Never climb onto a crane, tower or vehicle rig without the grip's say-so.
  • Never charge or use a swollen or damaged battery.
  • Never leave a camera unattended on a stand or head.

Anyone can say stop. If something feels wrong, say so to your head of department or the 1st AD.

Where this comes from

Checked 13 November 2026. This is awareness, not a safety qualification: follow your production's risk assessment and your head of department.

Check yourself

4 situations. Get them all right.

Pass the safety check before the rest of the path. One wrong safety answer means try again. It's practice, and your answers stay on this device.

Question 1: A battery on the charger is hot and slightly swollen. What do you do?

Question 2: The grips are finishing a car mount. The operator says, 'Jump on the back and hand me the lens.' What do you do?

Question 3: You've done a 14-hour day and have a 70-minute drive home. You feel drowsy at wrap. What's the safest choice?

Question 4: A crew member is about to check a distance with a laser rangefinder pointed at an actor's face. What do you say?

By the end you will be able to

  • Slate correctly using UK and US systems, including timecode slates
  • Lay marks and keep accurate camera reports
  • Load 35mm and 16mm magazines with a changing bag
  • Work as a camera trainee: cart, kit and communication

Test yourself

Could you do it on a set?

4 real situations, one for each thing this path teaches. It's optional practice, not pass or fail, and your answers stay on this device.

UK slating: it's slate 112, take 3. What do you say and do?

Camera rolled on a false start. What goes on the camera report?

You've just unloaded an exposed roll into its can. What happens before it leaves your hands?

The 1st AC calls for 'a 32 on A camera' while you're at the cart. What do you do?

Next: do it for real

This path prepares you for Camera department Foundation.

Eight lessons in the order a camera trainee meets the job: safety, who's who, prep, kit care, slates and camera reports, media, lenses and marks.

It's free and open in the pilot. Finish it to book a competency check, then a practical on our unit.

Start Camera FoundationBook a competency check

How learning with FIF works

Learning path. Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course.

  1. Learn onlineFree films, paths and Academy coursesYou are here
  2. Competency checkA short check with us, online or in person
  3. In-person practicalOn our unit at Pinewood or 3 Mills
  4. FIF CertificateFrom the practical only

The FIF Certificate comes only from the practical. How it works · Book a competency check

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