[newsletter]
Yes, another DSLR rant by me. I think this is the ultimate reason why I take issue with DSLR cameras. I was recently on a shoot, where some of my equipment was rented but I wasn’t shooting. There were no less than five Canon 5D mark II cameras on that set. There were enough in people hands that there could have been more and I couldn’t keep track. It was a combination photo shoot/video shoot, and they were shooting all on the 5D’s. I watched this production go down and it didn’t take long to realize – these folks were in over their heads. The whole deal was a sort of train wreck. While they were accomplished photographers, shooting film/video is totally different.
Look, my cameras shoot still as a bonus to the video they are designed to shoot. I don’t call myself a photographer. Quite the contrary. When people ask me to, I tell them to get someone who is a pro at that and have them do it. They know what they are doing. I have the equipment but not the technique, style, or understanding of still photography that a pro would.
Put a still DSLR camera in the hands of a still photographer, and they are awesome with it…until, it seems, they realize “Hey, I can be a video/film guy, too.” I have been on two shoots with DSLR shooters that didn’t know anything about video, and I have dealt with half a dozen of the same folks. They may know some basics to film techniques, but most haven’t had a clue. To top it off, they don’t know what to do with the footage when it comes to editing, and exporting it out. Not that all still photographers are this way, but the point is a lot of people are claiming something they are not simply because they have the equipment that can do it.
If I had a fast car, I would never tell people that I’m a race car driver. THAT IS ABSURD! The equipment doesn’t make you good at what you do if you don’t already know what you are doing. Just because your Canon 5D shoots awesome footage, you aren’t a film maker. I have people asking me about codecs, editing, compression, or how to fix their stuff. I have to tell them F*&$ NO! You go out and take someones money, claiming to know what you are doing, and then you can’t do it? That’s makes you a fraud and I will let you stew in that, because you took business away from me for no better reason than you were a blind pig with an acorn: your camera shoot good video.
So with that said, I think I am going to buy the new Panasonic Lumex GH2. I am doing this because it shoots great video. I am a video shooter, not a still photographer. I will not advertise myself as a still photographer. Don’t judge me.
My next point is how I wish to talk about how rich I am. My wealth, is pretty huge. Massive. I am a rich, wealthy, snobbish movie maker. Greedy in fact. Though I am completely without money, I am measuring all of this by my desire to work in film, the accomplishments I have made over the last two years, and the fact that I am doing what I love, even though I made just enough money last year to keep my “Poverty” classification one more tax season. I say all of this because it seems that there are those in Oregon that wish to get rid of the tax incentives for film because film making is only a game for the rich. Well, if I was rich, I wouldn’t need a tax incentive. My incentive to do film is one that is personal, as this is my passion in life as a creative/science/technical person. I love the aspects of film and it is the only thing that seems to stimulate the parts of my brain that other avenues don’t.
I am rather surprised by the people that talk about how the incentives for film in Oregon (proposed at 10 million dollars by out governor this year) are under attack considering the massive incentives that corporations get every year for the work they do. Now, a measure of such things would be how many are employed, how many benefit; all the same things one would think when it comes to investing in something. If you look at the movies and shows made in Oregon, compared to the incentives that have been given, and the returns on those, I think you will see that no one made a killing, but everyone benefited a lot better than the incentivised programs of Nike or Intel. You will also notice that the money spent on film making in Oregon were dollars spent in Oregon on Oregonians. Not overhead costs for upper level administrators while the manufactured parts were done elsewhere, namely over seas. Those dollars are spent here on people working here.
I am a rich, bloated, greedy film maker not because I get all the tax and lottery dollars and spend it on big cars, fast women, and swells apartments. It’s because I love what I do, and from that I hope I do it well. It is the richest think I have ever had or done in my life. No amount of money ever made up for the fact that I do what I love in life.
I am now ready to cash your checks.