Oliver Carter Wakefield began his AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award ‘The cameraman’s experience of the Second World War: a study of the Army Film and Photographic Unit’s ‘dope sheets’’ in October 2017. A partnership between IWM and the School of Advanced Study (University of London) the project makes use of the dope sheets to explore the role of the cameramen in recording historical events. How far did they remain detached from what they were filming? How far did they change their position from being mere observers to active participants? What does the study of these papers and the language used reveal about the circumstances in which they were compiled? Concentrating on a small number of individuals, this project will investigate how the cameramen’s backgrounds and education influenced their work, how their perspective changed over time and how they reflected on the events they recorded in later years.