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Opportunities Within Video & Film

we, uh I bring I'm bringing this back. This the opportunity slide because I wanted go a little bit deeper into this one on, have an opportunity to talk about it a little bit more. Um, I also want to make sure that yeah, we're good. The opportunities that are here in front of us as photographers going into the film world are very varied. And a lot of people that I know as photographers who have transitioned or in the process of transitioning are all over this place. They're all in there somewhere. So the one that seems the most and I'll move down the middle in the production one, the one that seems the most common, is that people want to become cinematographers or D piece. And I think for a lot of people, that's the easiest transition because they already feel comfortable handling a camera. They might have already gotten some film experience and using their camera as a video camera and in terms of the mechanism of shooting video, a lot of a celebrity were already there. So that is a nat...

ural transition for a lot of people. And I encourage you that if you want to go that route. Absolutely go that route, especially if you are into gear. If you are a total gearhead moving into moving into becoming a DP, you will fill your entire house with gear, and then most of that will become obsolete and you will fill your house with gear again so that in and of itself is the most natural transition. But from a different perspective. If you have been doing, let's say somebody like me who has been doing food photography or somebody like you was doing production, you are already dealing with the aspects off, building out a shoot that if you are just an assignment photographer who shows up on set and takes pictures, you don't have that experience. But if you're building out production, those skills translate very, very well into film. Because you're organized, you understand how to get things done. You understand a set, and then you understand how the work and put pieces in place to make things happen. So the idea of moving into a production role could definitely be something that you feel comfortable in, and you don't have to think about. You have to think about what taking the skills you already have and then just applying them to a different format. So, like a good food for food photography producer can step in and become a caterer tomorrow, right? They understand how the work with the materials with organizing the people, So like you have to think in terms of how am I gonna bring myself to to this kind of new thing? And I have a lot of skills to bring with me. Um, the other thing about being I want to be a DP well, being a DP is a pretty high level position on a film set. So before you get there, maybe you want a C. You may become an assistant camera person and learn about it. And if you're a second a C, then you learn and then get opportunity to start pulling focus and become a first a sea of once. You become a first day. See, now you could stay there, make a career there. There are people, particularly in the union. Jobs will make an entire career of being in a C, and they'll be very happy being there. That may not aspire to become the cinematographer because it's a very different job in terms off what you need to know creatively. What you need to do, see, like the doing part you learn is in a C the creative part you have to develop. So as a photographer, not clearly. You're suited if you're. If you're a good photographer, you should be OK if you want to move that way but learning how to opt the camera, learning how to build the camera. You know, learning how to handle the lens is learning how to talk the language, learning the differences between aspect ratios and what you can get out of different, which lenses the hard to pull focus on. All of those things are part of the job, but it is something that you will. If you want to place yourself in that world. You might need to take a couple of steps back and do it that way, and I've seen people do it, and they've built themselves up from shooting on DSL, ours to shooting on medium medium range cinema cameras or broadcast cameras and then finally being able to operate something like an ari or or a full fledged cinema, you know, package and then, of course, similar to the idea of being a producer. You have the opportunity like I did, to not go the route of being behind the camera. But being the director. And I think there are lots of directors who come out of the visual world. Some of them still get behind the camera. Steven Spielberg. It was a master of moving the camera, so, like he's a guy who clearly could have made a career as a cinematographer but, you know, took the skills with him to become, you know, one of the greatest directors we've ever known. So the idea is that if that is your path, and that is the way you want to go, being able to start to start with small projects. I think if you've had experience in advertising, that really helps. Because as a photographer on a big advertising job, it's It really does resemble what you do as a film director in terms of mechanism, right? Not film like a big film. But like if you're doing something like a commercial or like a short documentary, you got your team and they're executing all the mechanism right, and then you especially in commercial work. You're there schmoozing the client, right? You're they're operating everything else in terms of the people, you're managing the people. So as a director, you're expecting your cinematographer to take care of his job. You expecting your assistant director to take care of her job, And you're there working with actors, right? So the idea is that you you're not schmoozing client, but you're making sure your actors are going to give you the most that they can give you. So if you come out of the commercial photography world, you are well suited to be a director. If you handle people really well because that's really what the job is, the job is management. In a way. You are creative, but you also managing a lot of people. You're managing a lot of projects, and then you have toe guide all of those creatives to put it all together. And I think as a photographer, if you have those types of experiences, a lot of photographers have transitioned very comfortably into directing roles and done very well at it. Um, the post production piece is something that well, I didn't talk about sound either because that's an unusual one. It is unusual, but I do have photographer friends who have transitioned into sound, and a lot of it comes from the idea off other interests, like people who are musicians or people who have, you know, a lot of experience with sound in general, like if they've actually shot video, they may have migrated. Like if you're doing small video projects, your recording, your own sound, a lot of people get good at it and be really comfortable at it. So then they separate those skills and they go in one direction. So, like I have a friend who's done that, we started doing some video projects together, and he got very comfortable in the sound role. So now that my projects have gotten bigger, I've brought him along. But Onley in the capacity as a sound man because he's got interested in he's actually good at it, and now he's growing into a new career. And as much as he's a creative who's visually really gifted, it's also really good at that. So sometimes as you're going along the path, you're collecting these skills and then they buy for Kate and then all of a sudden you say I'm better at this on the next level than it would be at that. And again if you're a gearhead, The sound thing also kind of plays into that. I like to collect gear. So going forward, though, into post production. Now, of course, we all know these people, right, the ones who are absolute photo shop whizzes who can navigate through any of those adobe pieces of software with ease. They jump back and forth between in design or premier or whatever, and they're really, really good at it again. You start doing your own projects, you start building them out, you edit it yourself on all these things you captured sound. But now you realize what I really like editing. I love this part of the process, and then you've migrated that way, and you start to become more of an editor for other people's projects. And I've seen that happen as well. People who come out of the tradition of photography Gold went into video, started building out their own video productions and then realized they really like the postproduction aspect of it and became film, became film editors or became sound engineers because they were good at that. But the one I think is the most intriguing for photographers is becoming a colorist. It really is. It's a very, very difficult job, But there's one thing they can't teach you, no matter what course you take, no matter who you sit next to. They can teach you to have that eye for color because that's baked in its either in you or it's not. And if you're really, really good at it. And I've sat in the coloring sweet with somebody coloring things, and I was amazed at what they could see versus what I can see, and I have a pretty good, good tuned eye for color. But, man, it's on a different level, and there are photographers who are really that good at it. So if you move into that, um, it is a very natural progression for people who are really good at processing photography. You could definitely bring with you the innate gift of being able to do that job. So I would say by all means, if you agree, if that's your path, don't shy away from it because it's a great job and there are people who just are absolute artists at it and they are so invaluable in the film world, um, graphics and animation. Like I said earlier, you're that person who floats between in design and photo shop, and you're really good at all those things. There are ways to make a living in the film world doing those things as well, so the pads are varied. They very much start in the same place, and a lot of us grow in very similar ways. But as we move down that path towards bigger projects and more expensive projects, we start to realize you can't do it all yourself. It becomes really difficult to do it all yourself, on the weight of it becomes that your time and I have talked about this in business class, and I've talked about this when we talked about food photography is that you have to learn to delegate and take on the things that you're really good at versus the things that you want to pass off the other people. And this is part of that collaborative process of becoming a filmmaker. Is that understanding the things that you do better than other things and delegate those things other people or collaborate and partner with people who are really good at that. Even though you can contribute to it, it doesn't mean that you have to do it all. And in this process, there is no way you could do it all at the highest levels. It's just too big a job. So you want to start here And I think I would encourage you to do is many of these jobs on a set that you can do Capture your own sound, get behind the camera, move the camera, pull, focus all of these things. But then remember that if you all of a sudden realized I'm really, really good at this and I like it and it brings me what I'll quote Marie Condo, right? It sparks joy. Um, you should do it because the opportunities are plentiful. There. All there. There isn't just one path for sure questions. Yes, way finally tapped something. People had questions. Um, excellent. What do you think was your number one asset as a photographer moving to film storytelling? Absolutely. Um, I talked about being a narrative storyteller before I ever did anything in motion because I felt like my background in literature and my background in writing lead me to translate visuals the way, even though I still think in pictures, I think that being a storyteller was my biggest asset. And then I've been able to translate that particular piece of what's in my head to a lot of the different areas of what I do. So absolutely That's been my I think the thing I brought the most. You talked a lot about your transition being unique. But what is some advice for starting to get opportunities on film sets just to observe and sort of just sure from people wrap their heads around it. We're gonna talk a little bit more about the different jobs that people have on sets, but I think that the one way to really get in and observe and learn is to be a P A. I think that no matter where you are in your career, getting the opportunity to step onto a set as a P A, it's you know you're going to do a lot of different things, but it's really just about being there, watching, listening, hearing the language, watching how people move, understanding how to behave on a set. All of those things are really, really valuable. And I would say that, you know, I said in the past that being an assistant, it was a great path to becoming a photographer. And I would say, starting as a p A or volunteering in a particular department because that's what happens right? You come in as a P A and they ask you what department you interested in? I want to be in costume or I want to be in sound or I want to be on camera and then you go and you watch and you observe and you help and you get snacks and you make sure everybody has water and you pay attention. And I think that that's that's what my best advice would be is fine. Local productions that need help and b p A. So how did you start to build confidence as you're starting to do projects and film like with clients and sort of just, but they convince them that you're capable of doing it and then convince yourself to you that your yeah, I think that's an interesting balance is that I I'm a good talker and I think I can probably talk better than I have. The confidence behind the talk is probably a little bit less, but I think I have. I'm not afraid toe to say I need to learn something, and I'm not afraid to ask for help. So when I found myself up against a problem or found myself up against something, I didn't understand that No, I would delay an option off to escape and then figure out how to get some advice from somebody. But I also, uh, we'll go to the Internet. I will go to the books and I will continue to study and learn, even for this class. There are a lot of different ways to say the things I'm saying to you over the next couple of days, and I did my research to and not There are a lot of different ways, and I found the ways that I'm most comfortable discussing them. But by all means, this isn't the bible of filmmaking. This is This is my interpretation of it for people who come from our background. So So I took the long way to that pat to that class question. So I think it's helpful for people. Hear that? Yeah, eso for people just starting out with a really minimal budget. Um, who do you suggest partnering with a D. P. A producer like, Well, how would you pick? That's interesting. I mean, minimal budget. I mean, I've minimal budget means a lot of different things. I mean, but I do think that depending on what you feel, your best assets are what you bring to the table. So if you feel like you're really good at organizing and producing, then it would be good to partner with somebody more creative. But if you feel that you bring more creativity and you feel like those jobs or the things that you can handle more clearly than I would bring on a production partner. But I would definitely assess my own assets first and then figure out who complements me the best, because I think that one of the things that we learned through our process in making the first feature was the roles of the producers and the strengths that each of us brought to the table. And when we were at a conference, we we went to a conference together after the film was over to just, you know, get more of this and somebody broke it down for us, Very simply there, like you have producers who are your line producers. You have producers who are your business producers and any of you producers who are your creative producers and depending on where you feel you fit into that continuum, and that's where you plug yourself in and then you fill in around you. So when I work with Giulio, I am a creative producer. I'm also somewhat of a sort of problem solver, so whatever that looks like, I don't know if there's a technical term for that. But those that's the role that I fit in with our team is that I advise him and I help him creatively. And then I am a problem solver on Set because my experiences have been on sets where some of our other producers are much more clearly adept at handling the budget, dealing with SAG, dealing with insurance, you know, organizing, scheduling, getting our casting scheduled and set up. Like all of the mechanism, the mechanics of it and those people are your line producers, and then then you have your business producers were dealing with the industry right there dealing with distribution. They're dealing with promotion, dealing with all of those things, and they help influence you going backwards, meaning Here's what's happening in the industry right now. Here's what you should be thinking about in terms of how you want to create this content. So that's on a big scale. But even on a small scale, it really is just about assessing your strengths and the people around you and what they're good at and then dividing up the duties that way. So I mean, I think that would be my best advice again. Taking the long route. It's good Destiny has a question. Um, I'm not sure if my gear is enough. And also, if my storytelling will translate into film the way that I envision it, do you have advice for building that confidence? Well, like I said earlier, I've seen people shooting entire movie on an IPhone, so I saw his gear is concerned. Do not be intimidated by your lack of gear, because here's the thing. If you tell a story, well, you and you craft the story well, it will translate, however you shoot it now. Clearly it will look richer and more, you know, professional if you have better gear and the budget to pay people to help you. But it doesn't mean that you can't make something profound with the gear you have and in terms of your storytelling and how you envision it. My question, my advice to you would be get help. Don't go at it alone because everything I've ever been on when you bring creative people into the process, it gets better. So if you're not quite sure how to get to the get to the finish line, you need to bring people along. That will help you craft your idea. So you get a draft of, ah script. I see scripts all the time. People send me scripts, and a lot of times I read it through and I'm like, I'm not interested in this. It's not for me. But then, sometimes I read it, and I'm like, I really like this idea, but it's not there yet. And then I give advice and I give notes. And then if I give notes on a script, then that writer can go back and make revisions or if I give a different direction as to what I think you know how it should turn or twist or something. The idea is that nobody goes into the process knowing exactly what they want. At the end, everybody brings input into the process. Coverage is another word that we talked about in terms of filming, but coverage is also something we do on script revision. You send it out to people of all different parts of your audience, right? You send it to people in the industry. You send it to people who might be just the people who would read it. I mean, who would watch it like an audience, Different swaths of that audience And you let them read the script and you get the feedback. And then you say, Well, industry people feel this way about it. But the regular audience felt great about that. So maybe I'm not really writing for the industry. Maybe I'm writing for my audience and that in that way, that kind of feedback and coverage helps you advance the story the way you envision it. Better because sometimes when you say how I envision it, sometimes that necessarily isn't the way it's gonna go. It's like we all go at it with it with an idea, like, Here's what I think. But then you get somebody who comes in and says, But what if you thought about this and you're like, Wow, I hadn't thought of that right? And then all of a sudden, the story gets better. We're in the process of a short film that I'm producing this summer, and when the writer director brought it to me and I decided to become part of the project, he was like, Yeah, this script is 90% there. I'm ready and I can't wait to get this thing on film and I read it and I was like, Yeah, it's really good. But what about this? Oh, I hadn't thought about that. And times later, this script still resembles what he thought it was going to be. But it's different, and I think even in his estimation, it's better. So I wouldn't be so afraid that you try to put it all in your head at once, like trying to write a book, right? So I just wrote, I just wrote my first book, and my whole life I've wanted to write a book, and I never said I was like, I can't write 300 pages of whatever it is. What am I gonna write about? I don't know What do I don't know how to get there. And then the writing process for films occurred to me is that every film starts with a logline, and a logline is basically that thing that you when you click on the TV and you push the info button, it's one or two sentences about what you're about to watch. Every movie starts with that, and then from the logline, you write a synopsis and from the synopsis, you right a couple of pages and then you build it out and build it out and build it out. And that's exactly how I wrote my book was I just took the ideas that I wanted, and I put him in an outline, and then from each of those I built it out and built it out of business out. Before you know it, there's your 300 pages. So the idea is that all ideas should start small and build on each on themselves, and a lot of times the things that you get its firms of input and we're gonna learn more about this going forward. And today is that that input helps grow. Your own idea and you can't be afraid to share was the photographer. Mentality is this is my vision. And as a filmmaker, it's a little harder to just go at it that way unless you've become one of the greats, right? And even they need help as much as they won't admit it so