At Ultralight, we believe our gear is only as good as the underwater photographer, cinematographer, or camera assistant it supports and no one showcases that better than our Brand Ambassadors. To give you a closer look at their images, stories, and the passion behind their work, we asked each Ambassador a series of thoughtful questions about their backgrounds, favorite rigs, and what inspires their photography and filmmaking. It’s our way of sharing not just how Ultralight gear is used, but also the creativity and spirit of the people who bring it to life.
Could you please share a little about yourself and the journey that brought you to where you are today?
Yes, my name is Fabio Giolitti, I’m 42 years old, and I’ve been a camera assistant for the last 15 years, working in literally any type of production you can think of, from super independent feature films, to 4 million-per-episode TV shows, passing through commercials, videoclip, short movies and documentaries.
And this is one of the things I like the most about my career, you never get bored, and any kind of production faces its own challenges, and the more different projects you have been in, the easier it will be to overcome those challenges. I was born and raised in Italy, but I’ve been living in Spain for the last 20 years and worked in Italy, Morocco, France, Germany, the UK, Norway, Bulgaria, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, the USA.
What inspired you to specialize in camera assisting?
When I first started my studies in a film school in Barcelona, back in 2006, I wasn’t really sure about what I wanted to be in the film industry, also because I soon realized that I didn’t even know a lot of the jobs that people do on set, actually, I barely knew what a director of photography was. So I was a bit lost, but I was lucky enough to meet in one of my first classes one of the best camera assistants in Spain, who happened to be giving classes in the school I was attending. His name was Guillem Huertas and he has done a crazy bunch of big productions both in Spain and all over the world (among them Jurassic World and The Rings of Power). He was an incredible inspiration to me and showed me the first bits of the craft. It's funny because, since he was always shooting, we didn’t have many classes with him, but the few we did have were so good that they made me decide I wanted to be a camera assistant for the rest of my professional life.
Can you share a memorable moment or experience being a camera assistant?
If I may, I would like to share two of them, because I think that they are both memorable, and I can’t choose which one would be the best.
The first one happened to me when I was a professional young camera assistant, and for a series of circumstances I don’t wanna bore the reader with, I got to shoot a feature in Turkey starring Michael Madsen. To me Mr. Madsen was a legend, since when in college I dreamed of shooting movies while watching Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, so the fact that I was going to shoot with him was already mind-blowing. It was a horror movie, so we had a lot of night shooting, and one night we had this complicated Steadicam shot where the character played by Mr. Madsen found the body of a woman in the basement of a haunted house. Back in the days, there weren’t RF, or at least they weren’t light enough to be carried on the back of the monitor of the focus puller, so I had to stay on one side of the camera and rely on my marks and my ability to judge distance by eye. The shot showed almost 360 degrees of the basement, so I had to pull focus while moving and be careful not to cast shadows or appear in the shot itself. All the rest of the crew had to get out, and it was just the Steadicam operator, Mr. Madsen, and me. You can imagine how nervous I was but at one point, Mr. Madsen looked at us and said, “Ok, boys, let's make this happen”. So we did it, and the first take was amazing.
The second episode was right after the pandemic. One day I was in Italy visiting my parents and my mobile ringed, while on the display appeared the name of Jose Luis Alcaine, legendary Spanish DoP who has done more than 160 feature films and worked with directors like Brian de Palma, among many others. He had my number because I covered a colleague on a shooting with him for 4 weeks, some months before. His voice on the phone had the typical offer you can’t refuse:”We were going to shoot a mid-length feature directed by Pedro Almodovar and starring Tilda Swinton, but the 1st AC got Covid, would you like to take his place?”. For those who don’t know Pedro Almodovar, he is an Academy Award-winning director, and everybody working in the film industry in Spain dreams about shooting with him, so you can imagine my happiness. The shooting of “The Human Voice” has been one of the most amazing experiences of my career.
What challenges do you face as camera assistant, and how do you overcome them?
As a camera assistant, I face many challenges on a daily bases. I need to take care of the equipment, take care of my crew, make sure the director and the director of photography are happy, keep the camera department going smoothly, and avoid that anybody ever waits for the camera to be ready to shoot. And even though the technique is making our life on set easier sometimes, it is also true that we depend on a lot of variables that, in many cases, we can’t control.
I always remember what an old school 1st AC told me once: "digital cinematography looks easier, but at the same time it is true that back in the days when shooting on film, if the camera had a problem, most of the time you could fix it with a screwdriver or even a hammer. Nowadays, with all that electronics, the only thing you can do if the camera has a serious problem is to call the rental house, ask for a new camera body, and pray that they have one available”. So it is very important to always have a solution for everything, a plan B in case everything goes wrong. And pull focus and keep the shot sharp, of course.
How do you stay updated on the latest techniques and technologies in cinematography and the film industry?
With a constantly changing professional environment, I think it is crucial to always be as up to date as possible. Also because to know the different options you have in any given context, allows you to choose the best one for the job, and that is also super important because while before people needed to do a long career to get to be head of department, nowadays it is not unusual that the head of department (e.g. the DoP) is less experienced than the 1st Ac and relies on him for many technical and equipment decisions.
I try to read online as much as I can from specialized websites, forums such as focuspulleratwork.com or cinematography magazine’s websites. I also go to trade shows that are not too far from me (even though I would love to go at least once to the NAB and the Cinegear) and watch video reviews about new or upcoming products of the industry.
Can you share any tips or advice for aspiring camera assistants?
As I already told you before, having a plan B is super important, so this would be my main advice, because at some point, things don’t always go the way you expected. So be prepared. Another important tip, and it applies both to the equipment and the crew, surround yourself with people and gear you are 100% sure you can count on, the film industry is already complicated enough to have sloppy equipment or unreliable people around you. And last but not least, try to enjoy the ride, it is true that the money is good and you get to know people that you normally wouldn’t meet, but first of all, you have to like it, because if you don’t, it’s not worthy!
Thank you, Fabio, for taking the time to share more about yourself and your work with us. We definitely picked up a few new things, and I’m sure our customers did too. It’s always great hearing how someone finds their way into a field they love—the wins, the lessons, and everything in between.”
For more information, you can find Fabio on Instagram and his IMDb page
