The camera report, the prep checklist and the media log — drawn properly, sized for a clipboard, and free to print on any job you like. Take them and go.
| Scene | Take | Clip | Lens | Stop | ✓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12A | 1 | A017C001 | 32mm | T2.8 | |
| 12A | 2 | A017C002 | 32mm | T2.8 | |
| 12A | 3 | A017C003 | 32mm | T2.8 | ✓ |
Every one is a single page, prints clean on a mono laser, and survives a photocopy. Nothing is watermarked, nothing expires, and nobody has to give us an email address to take one.
One sheet per camera, per day. Twenty rows across a landscape page, with the roll and clip fields where your thumb already is, and a summary strip along the bottom so the totals are on the paper rather than in your head.
Ten sections, from the body through to the expendables, ending with the five things worth checking before the truck leaves the rental house. Blank lines in every section, because no two packages are the same.
Chain of custody on one page: which card, which roll, which clips, and the two offloads that have to agree before anybody formats anything. The column nobody regrets having is the one that says who cleared it, and when.
A camera report is the camera department’s record of what was actually shot. It is read by the editor deciding what to load, the producer deciding what was covered, and occasionally by an insurer. Write it so a stranger can follow it.
Copy what is on the slate, exactly. If the slate says 12A-2, the report says 12A-2. Editorial matches on this and nothing else.
The file name the camera generated — A017C003 is A camera, roll 17, clip 3. It is the only field that ties your paper to the media.
A circled take is one the director wants. It is the first thing post looks for, and the reason a report gets read at all.
No good, and why: soft, boom in shot, plane. The reason matters more than the mark — it tells the editor whether the take is unusable or merely imperfect.
Stay on the same sheet. The sheet is the day; the roll is a segment of it. Note the new roll and carry on — the clip range at the bottom does the rest.
Totals, clip range, cards used, and your name. An unsigned report is a rumour.
Paper works. What paper cannot do is total itself, number the clips, or reach the editor before you have left the location. CamNotes logs a take in one tap, counts the scene, take and clip numbers itself, and exports the same report as a PDF or a spreadsheet before wrap. It works with no signal, and it is free to use on your own.