Camille Pacaud graduated in 2019 after 3 years at CinéCréatis in Nantes, majoring in image. First camera assistant on the graduation film Moustaco, she is now continuing her studies in the same field and has gained experience all over the world.
You graduated 3 years ago. What memories do you have of your training?
Overall, I have nothing but good memories of the course, both in terms of what I learned and, above all, the people I met (both the teachers and the students).
After you graduated, how did your job search go? How did you find your first jobs, internships and assignments?
I found my first work placement by canvassing all the branches of the rental company TSF, and after that everything went pretty smoothly! I did my next placement with Bangumi thanks to a former CinéCréatis student. They then hired me on a fixed-term contract. I stayed there for a year and a half in total before getting a golden opportunity thanks to the director of photography Alfredo Altamirano (a former CinéCréatis student who gave us a masterclass for a few days in the 3rd year of image studies). He trained me for a year in Mexico, teaching me an enormous amount about the profession, in the field! Thanks to him, I was able to work as a camera assistant over there and train directly in the professional world. My subsequent jobs came about thanks to recommendations from work colleagues in the industry and even friends from my year!
What is your current job and what are your duties?
Today, I’m a second camera assistant. My tasks are more or less different from those of a French assistant because I’m working on an American series, but overall it’s a question of assisting the 1st camera assistant by helping him to equip/accessorise the camera, to get his bearings if necessary, to bring him the filters, lenses, accessories, etc., to help him change them, to do the clapperboard, to do the camera reports, to take care of the batteries, the memory cards, etc., and mainly to be attentive to the post supervisors so as to be able to anticipate requests and propose solutions quickly…. and, above all, to be attentive to the shift supervisors so as to be able to anticipate requests and propose solutions quickly.
How did you feel about entering the professional world? Did it live up to your expectations?
I had a very good experience of entering the professional world because everything went very quickly. Despite the doubts and questions (of course), I listened to myself a lot so as not to get stuck into something I didn’t like and to follow my desires, which have also evolved since leaving school.
How does it feel to be working on professional projects rather than academic exercises?
It feels… good! In hindsight, what I really got out of the school exercises was a good ability to work in a group, a certain rigour in my work, and all the basic theoretical knowledge (which is super necessary) to prepare yourself to arrive on a set and know what you’re talking about! And it was when I arrived in the professional world that I really learned the most about the job itself.
After these few months post-school, how do you look back? On your training and on the school?
Three years after leaving school, seeing the gap between training and the professional world, I regret not having taken enough advantage of the equipment made available by the school to tinker and experiment! I learnt an enormous amount during the masterclasses given by former students and professionals who talked to us about the professional world by teaching us their way of working, which was different for everyone!
