I am an Environmental Health Scientist with the Feds. I am assigned to EPA and do emergency response work, site visits to hazardous waste sites and also do educational videos for my Agency which is now part of CDC in Atlanta. Lots of travel and fun. In addition to that, my wife and I do eco-tours overseas. I had the XL-1 and now the XL-1s with 16x, 14x qnd 3x. Edit with Vages 5. Bob

Hi,
I did 2 years of chef school, but that was more than 10 years ago now, time flies...
I never worked as a chef other than spoiling my family once in awhile.
In 1998 I bought an old Mercedes van and drove down to Austria for a season of snowboarding. 6 weeks into the trip my friend broke his arm and we decided to go home. But I felt that there was more to see in the world. So I saved up some money and a few months later I left for Australia and south East Asia. I got a camera for the trip (mostly so that I could put my parents in front of the TV and push play when I came home 4 months later). When we came home, my ex-girlfriend wanted to get a house etc. But nono. More to see.
The TRV that I had for the first trip was too big I told myself and got a nice little pc-3. That camera came with me to Nepal 3 times, Central & North America a few times. Egypt, Africa and south East Asia (I lived in Thailand for 2 years).
I got an ikelite housing for it and took it on a few (thousand) dives.
In 2000 I met this strange girl from Alaska, in Honduras. It was meant to be a few week fling, so I don’t know why we are married, have a house in Sweden, and have started a company together ?? Traveling, diving and filming were the biggest hobbies (same for eimi, the wife, except that she is a photographer) so we combined the hobbies. Right now I just got an xl2. Saving up for a gates underwater housing and then it’s off again. for my last trip I used a panasonic nv-gs, and i put it in a eqinox housing (i do not recomend this housing!), and epoq 1225 lights (only strong enogh for macro).
Been “home” for a week now. At the present I’m editing up a divesite DVD about Tioman, Malaysia. Check it out http://www.scubatoe.com/tioman/index.htm
Well that’s me. The plan is to stay “floating,” making promos and dive dvd´s.
We were doing only underwater work till 2 years ago when people started asking if we could film on dry land as well. We did, but man it was hard. I had only filmed the oceans. But you’re never too old to learn a new trick…

Thomas thoren
Scubatoe productions
http://www.scubatoe.com

Thomas that's a wonderful story. You seem to be living your dream or getting there.

My name is Mike Long as you can see and I live in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. My Business partner and I have been in business for about 6 months now and we are currently filming our first Horror film called Morrow. You can see the teaser at http://morrow.princemikepictures.com. Right now we are finishing up the shooting for the movie and the editting will take about another 2 months. A trailer and a new website will be put up for morrow soon. We are also in works for 3 new Horror movies and also a TV series. Any crew in the Cape Breton area are welcome to help us out.

I've just completed 9 1/2 years of school. I have undergrad degrees in cinematography and biology and a masters in science & natural history filmmaking.
After taking three photo classes as an undergrad, my prof urged me to take a film course. She said she saw stories and sequences in my stills...and it's been all downhill ever since! :)

I did preliminary projects on a Bolex (sigh), and quickly outgrew the schools equipment room. I couldn't decide between biology (the environment) and art--so I did both and in 1999 racked up a huge bill on a credit card and bought an XL1. I started filming wildlife at a local state park, and haven't quit since. That resulted in an internship at the park where I was a program director for an invasive plant control program (my biology side).

Magically, the master's degree program appeared as I was preparing to graduate from my undergrad university. It was just what I wanted to do: wildlife and science films. *yay* I did three promo films for the National Science Foundation, a second year 15-minute film, an edit for a Montana PBS one-off, and a one-hour thesis film.

The grad program took a grueling 4 years (60 credits) to complete - but was a complete blast. I was a teaching assistant for a Cell Biology class for three semesters. I wrote, raised (insufficient) grant money, shot, and edited all my projects. I shot on HD in Yellowstone for over 80 days, and then returned home (Pennsylvania) to shoot wildlife for the other half of my thesis film.

Now that I'm graduated, I feel terribly overqualified and certainly in the wrong place. By overqualified, I mean - how can I find appropriate work that will pay all those high student loan bills? (I'm not implying that I have nothing to learn, I'm actually very egar to learn as much as I can from all people on the set.)
Currently, I'm in the negotiating phases to do a "video encyclopedia" for that very same local state park that started me down the path. What I really want is to shoot, and at the moment I won't be too particular what I shoot (though there are some things that I can't do ethically...do those things go together? ethics and filmmaking? :) just kidding)

If I had my say, yes, I would shoot wildlife and science films full time. But for now, I am a "administrative assistant" for a local children's learning center. I work six hours a day, so I get up at 4 am and trek out into the woods in my camo toting my new XL2. I regularly film turkey, deer, eastern coyotes, and a never-ending variety of birds. I then go home to de-tick myself (uh, ticks-- they give me the creeps) and head off to work. Noone pays for this shooting, but I figure building up stock footage is a good thing for an aspiring wildlife camerawoman. The time with the camera is good practice, too. Not to mention watching the sun coming up every day - my stress level is way down because of it. The mosquitos test my ability to sit absolutely still despite their terrible onslaught for about an hour after first light.... Ohh, west nile....

So I guess the thing I'm debating now is to move or not to move. If I want to film wildlife, then moving to NY or Boston to get experience on any ol' set seems almost counterproductive. I have a great state park five minutes from my house... I donno. I'm also trying to get my three big projects: Spirit Dog: America's Little Wolf, Chasing Coyotes, and Japan's Lost Wolves out to festivals. Withoutabox.com is helpful, but I'm overwhelmed!
I've also been contacting many production companies to submit my reel and resume. I've narrowed down who does science & natural history films and focused on them. On top of all that, I may just continue taking classes at my local Small Business Development Center, develop a business plan, and start a production company.

I currently live with my husband and in-laws, hence the little freedom I have with time and $$ (no rent, no utilities...). Really nice on the one hand, but then again...think about it.
Cheers to everyone, good luck, and follow your gut and listen to your heart. Above all, you should have a job that makes you HAPPY!

I'm an IT guy as well. Sucks!
Ex-hip hop producer going back into movies.

I bounce about from office work to sales and customer service. I've done nearly everything except industrial work. I guess I'll really take on anything more interesting that what I am currently doing. I recently took on a freelance Quickbooks and general paperwork contract job for a friend. I have a definite preferance for working for people I know. I buy things cheap and sell them. I make money where and when it presents itself.

well i guess ill give my 3 or so cents....

im jared thomas. i live in bridge city texas. im 18 years old. im a p.a. at an ABC affiliate station in beaumont texas. i started a small video production company called rhythmic productions. you can check it out at www.rhythmicproductions.com . im really into shooting short films. i like putting together collages of clips ive gathered and i like shooting alot of time lapse sorda stuff. i wanna make documentaries and would like to shoot a feature film one day on dv. i convinced my parents to go in half on a xl1s about a year ago and thats my weapon of choice for now. i live about an hour or so northeast of houston and i would really like to meet people around here that are into videography cause im sorda lonley...oh and i also shoot alot of live music stuff and i also shoot some super 8 stuff when i can afford it, but i dont have a projector to telecine which sucks. but...yeah. thats me.

Hello All,
This is my first reply to this great board. I am a A/V Technician for Visual Sound of Broomall, PA (Formerly Camera Shop INC. Headquarters). I perform a lot of various tasks in my position, from setup of small sound systems and video projection, to full scale concert arrays and live camera I-MAG ( image magnification). I found this site looking for a solution to a problem with one of our older Sony PD-150 DV cameras.
I used to be a Graphic Artist for some years, while in college, however I was doing alot more than what they were teaching me. Thanks to our wonderful economy it became harder to keep a GA job, and so I returned to my first love of Video Production. I had learned tons of hands on learning in my high school, Upper Darby class of '97, learning all aspects of A/V in our school wide TV news club/ now class. We made our show so good that we were noticed , interviewed, and subsidized by Philadelphia WCAU Channel 10. I made that studio my home for the remaining days of my high school career and wanted it to continue toward a future career. And so even though I am starting off small, I am back into the world I love and perhaps I can help our company grow or I will find a company that I can make my career flourish. Thanks for reading and talk to you later.

I'm Steven Davis and I live in Richmond, VA. I'm busy as crap at the moment with various personal projects and trying to kick my video/webdesign carreer along.

I started out as most of my friends just playing a lot of video games with a computer, from there I learned web design in college and only as of the past 3 to 4 years got into videography. I started using Pinnacle 8 with a palm cam to produce my church's weekly television special. Boy did I learn a lot from that.

I enjoyed the creativity of videography so much, when I was asked to do a friend's wedding, I jumped at the chance. Even though I had to borrow most of the equipment to pull it off. My first wedding was done with three cameras. Yeah, I know, I was nuts. It turned out well, except for the audio which was over shadowed by the freakin highway that was beside the outside courtyard. (Imagine saying your vows to someone's rap music driving down the road. Yikes)

Full time, I'm a social worker for a local county government. I've been a social worker / group counselor since 2000 after I had gradiated from college.

So between all the geeky stuff I do and my full time job, I stay very very busy. Just wish more of it payed better. hehe.

So that's what I do for a living.

You can visit our personal website at www.stevenandsusan.com or our business at www.droptodesign.com

Steven Davis

Well I see that someone needs to step up and start representin' for the land of milk and cheese, so it might as well be me...

I've been a Producer most of my life but I didn't realize it until about a year ago when out of some sort of coincidence I picked up a copy of "From Reel to Deal". The line "I have several projects in various states of development" (paraphrased) could have been on my business cards.

My first films were shot on a PXL-2000 when they were contemporary. Editing was accomplished with a pair of thrift-store Betamax decks and a six-channel RadioShack mixer. This setup got me through several films and several cameras up until the time that I traded my mixer in for a guitar.

My musical career spanned several years and followed in the DIY tradition of self-performing, self-recording and self-promoting. By the end of this era we had built a local scene and cultivated many spin-off projects; enough to keep the scene alive without us, so we left. You can learn more than you ever wanted to know about this period when our documentary "Breakdown" is completed this fall.

After that I decided to move to the city and become a Tech Support guy, then a Network Engineer, then a Programmer, then a Consultant, then a Programmer again. This was about the time that DV came along and made the idea of producing a feature film at home possible, but I ignored it for the most part for the "security" of the technology business. After 8 years with the company, they decided to cash in and liquidate 1/3 of the staff...

...so much for security...

So maybe that's why I picked up "From Reel to Deal", because the only thing that had held me back from becoming a filmmaker before was the false sense of security I had with my current career. After reading this book, I found out that becoming a filmmaker isn't just luck or magic, but systematic hard work just like everything else I had done in my life up to this point.

A year or so later, along with my cohorts in "the society" I've put together several shorts, had a showing or two, organized an annual film festival and produced a documentary film (currently in post, so I can't say I've completely produced it yet). I've been consuming books at a rate 10x as fast as any other time in my life (including when I was studying for the MCSE/MCDBA) and shooting every chance I get. We have an aggresive plan for the next 9 years so I have to keep at it.

Along the way I try to stay in touch with my DIY roots, to remember that technology comes and goes but a great story is timeless. I have nightmares of Robert Rodreguez telling me I'm not ready yet, so I keep sharpening the blades every chance I get.

I have to say that this site has been indispensible and thanks to everyone who's chimed in with advice. I'll try and do the same.

If you want to know more about us you can check out http://2soc.net, or you can check out http://jasontheproducer@blogspot.com to see inside my brain.

Thanks again all.

Well I'm about as new to the DV world as anyone could be. I fell in love with moviemaking about 7 months ago, through screenwriting, and met some people who wanted to shoot my scripts locally with little to no budget. So I dove right in, and I bought an XL2 a three weeks ago. But to be honest, I think I have WAY too much machine on my hands now. I've been reading these posts and I'm slowly realizing how much I have to learn about everything.

I am a college senior, and I've already shot two shorts. I don't work, just live off financial aid currently. But it gives me time to fiddle with dials and settings on this camera. I hope to learn as much as possible about my camcorder's capabilities through this site. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

-Lauren

.....But to be honest, I think I have WAY too much machine on my hands now.

-Lauren

Well Lauren let me be the first to welcome you to DV/Video stuff (stuff: technical way of referring to things.) I'm just wondering if you can have too much of a machine. I always push my equpment for all it's worth. Thus I have to buy computer equiptment on the frequency of getting a hair cut.


p.s. If you feel guilty about the camera, I'll send over my mailing address. hehe.

I am an Enrollment Counselor for the University of Phoenix Online. Anyone wanting to get their BA or MBA online CONTACT me. We are the largest school in the WORLD and are fully accredited. We are not a diploma mill, this is a serious school.


Want to go? marco.wagner@phoenix.edu

Marco,
Do you have any video/film/broadcasting related courses of study?

Well I'm about as new to the DV world as anyone could be. I fell in love with moviemaking about 7 months ago, through screenwriting, and met some people who wanted to shoot my scripts locally with little to no budget.

-Lauren

Lauren,

Next step, cut-up all of your credit cards and turn over control of your bank accounts to someone you can trust! It becomes an obsession.

Welcome,

Mike

I have been on the list for a couple few weeks, its a great site!!

I am a practical and applied arts teacher. I have 30 pay checks to retirement, I amn't coutun really! I teach everything from basic computers to graphics arts, automechanics, fine wood working, photography, welding and some other stuff of no value.
In my last graphics arts class I got the school boaard to spring for adobe elements and we did a videography module for half the term. It was a blast to help them do their "gone in sixty seconds" project. They Had to tell a story that had situation complication and resolution.
I plan to create my own DVD's to a small sportsminded clientel when I retire from formal education.
At my age climbing the techno-ladder his been a huge uphill climb, and i can't even see the top from here.
I live in rural Saskatchewan Canada, our province is bigger than texas and less than a million people. The deer population is greater than the people population. My smallest class has 6 students, the largest 16.


dale guthormsen

Marco,
Do you have any video/film/broadcasting related courses of study?


I WISH! (since my tuition is 100% free!) It may be something the ground campuses will add in the future. They tend to add online programs that are in really high demand. Video/film/broadcasting would be something I'd probably want to take mostly on a ground campus anyway. When I was first going through their programs I had my fingers crossed...

Currently i am working part time as an "editor" for a company based out of San Diego Ca, i havent done much editing partly because i just learned FCP and Avid a few months before i started, but since ive been here all the other editors like the help i provide for them. So i guess im an Assistant Editor if thats even a real job title. Most of the footage we shoot and work with is HD all shot on HD CAM tapes and not sure which cameras we shoot with I think Sony HDW 700a i really like the job alot but since im still in school the hours are limited.

Welcome, Kevin. I do a lot of freelance editing with Final Cut Pro, and I love it. Been using it since 1999, and it's only gotten better!

heath

To update my info posted earlier on this thread: At the end of last year I left the newspaper business to work full-time co-producing a one-hour fishing show.

I was the chief photographer of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin (worked there for 24 years) and am now one of three co-producers of Hawaii Goes Fishing. Besides field camera work I also edit, take care of the website (www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com) and deal with many of the technical issues.

The other producers also shoot and edit. One is also the host of the show. The other is a long-time veteran of television production and understands the economics of the business.

We don't have a central office but work out of our homes. We collaborate via phone and email. Whenever a segment is edited it's posted on an ftp site for review. Saves on a lot of driving and eliminates renting a facility. Edited segments of the show are swapped via firewire drive. The final assembled show is also transferred via a firewire drive. I'll do the color corrections, EQ and mixdown the audio, and master to Betacam for delivery to Time/Warner.

We're a small company but our ratings have been very good. Our show is seen statewide -- population of just over a million people -- and we're hoping to get some exposure elsewhere.

The change of careers is a welcome one. It's a medium I've wanted to work in since high school, and that was a long, long time ago!

I left the fun life of being a retail manager three years ago, went back to college and will have an A.A. in Communications Technology this December. I've been doing weddings and events with some corp work on a part time basis for the past two years, and work three part time jobs hoping to land a job doing what I love here soon. I work at the local community college doing production as a shooter, the same for the city of Greeley "City Meetings are oh so fun!" and at CBS 5 up in Wyoming as the studio camera person usually on the weekends when I'm not doing a wedding. Very busy, I'd just like to be busy in one place it makes life easier on the wife!

I'm a Eurasian who worked in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines before relocating to Paris recently, where now I'm asked by a new Asian television station with satellite links, to look into producing television programmes for Asia and in particular China covering cultural and lifestyle programmes and documentaries, and coordinating work between the two regions and "internationally".

The setting up of a production company here in Paris, even a liaison office or a subsidiary office isn't easy, not when you have to learn French first, to read and write it, and then to understand the media/broadcasting laws, and if you're Asian, it's worse because things work so differently in Asia and I have to constantly explain things to both sides.

For one, no one realises in Asia the importance of getting all the right permits and passes and that EU countries are very particular about this. Not to mention the copyright laws that have to be noted and enforced ... I've been documenting mostly now and haven't gone round quite yet to setting the company up properly as Paris isn't the only link I'm to consider, I have to work links to Germany and Italy as well. Plus, there's all these administrative requirements! Don't you just love filling forms out in German, Italian and French?

Oh, and did I mention I've had no prior experience in the business other than to be a news anchorwoman and programme host?

Okay, I do have one strength - I'm familiar with international marketing and technology. Did head regional marketing on the Asia-Pacific region for Apple computers and Radius Technology at one stage so that should give me a bit of a "fearlessness" somewhat and the ability to "go where angels fear to thread". Probably means I'm also the one who needs having the space between my ears examined for oozing gray matters that refuse to coagulate.

With this work for the station, I feel like a perpetual student especially in the face of loads of homework, mainly legal stuff, on the EU, so kudos to this website and all the fabulous characters posting in! I'm so impressed and really pleased to have found my way here while researching on "film permits" - this is one of the most gallant, fascinating and knowledge-intensive sites I've come across.

Do hope you great and experienced minds and talents won't mind an insignificant somebody like me writing in and asking some timid questions once in a while.

--maxcap

Do hope you great and experienced minds and talents won't mind an insignificant somebody like me writing in and asking some timid questions once in a while.

--maxcap

Wow, sounds pretty impressive to me! Hope you get a lot from this site and I'm sure you will be able to help a lot of us out too!

I don't envy you for the tasks ahead of you, but you sound more than capable of handling it all. Welcome to thia forum.

Mike

Well im just getting more into video and saving for a XL2 while i build my Rig based on Cody Deegans plans, with some small mods.

I work 7-3 at TomsHardware.com as a Web Developer... Its a fun job, and they are all a great bunch of people to be working with. :)

Wow, sounds pretty impressive to me! Hope you get a lot from this site and I'm sure you will be able to help a lot of us out too!

I don't envy you for the tasks ahead of you, but you sound more than capable of handling it all. Welcome to thia forum.

Mike

I'd be glad to help any way I can. I may not know everything under the sun, but what I do know, I would like to think I'd know it very well.

I realise when you do work especially on stuff related to media, you really need to be a good team player and get on with a task with the thought that you have to work with others and that everything you do, much as you can be good at one thing, is really the result of a good team spirit at work in everyone. I can see this happening from reading the posts here, everyone's really helpful.

The tasks I've undertaken has resulted in a lot of interesting experiences, some positive and yes, some negative. One was being directed by an unreliable contact here in Paris to a French "aristocrat" lawyer in the pursuit of setting up an office and getting ripped off by him for quite a large sum after months of waiting and with no office registration in sight, for preparing just a simple liaison office (you would expect with the "culture", the history of the French Revolution and the beheading of aristocrats, they would be above this! :D I'm joking badly of course, I have a lot of other really great friends with aristocratic background, although that means nothing much to them now except a colourful history). Actually, most French businesses are set up by an "accountant" in a matter of two-three weeks!

I have learnt a lot, but now tend to look at the work here very much like any work in Asia (and it can be worse there if you don't have an established and reliable network) with the exception that you have to know what the regulations are and worse, the accounting system. <groan>

Thank you for your kind welcome!
--maxcap

Hello Everyone!

I just came to this site a few days ago looking for help with a camera problems and I have been astounded by the graciousness and helpfullness of everyone here. Thank you!

I have added this site to my favorites and am sure to make it a frequent stop.

What do I do for a living? Well, I do many things....but I guess we should start at the beginning.

Many, many, many, many years ago.....when I was 16...I went to a job fair and met a person from a newspaper in the nearest big city. We had a long talk and I went to their office the next day for a tour. Next thing I knew I was hired as a local correspondent. I enjoyed that for the next two years and only left because I was headed off to college.

In college I was determined to be a wonderful newspaper reporter until I started taking the classes and didn't fare too well in any of them. Then in the second semester of my Freshman year, I took a required broadcasting class. Love, true love, was found.

I have never liked school much. Everything came difficult to me, until broadcasting. I aced every class, I did extra credit, I loved every minute of it.

I worked for the student radio and tv station all I could. And eventually I found some actual jobs. I had a radio station call me after hearing me on the student radio station and asked if I would like a job just from hearing my voice. I did that for a year on weekends and EARY mornings. Then I went on to become a television reporter through an internship for a local CBS affiliate.
That lasted for two years and ended after a weekend of covering murder stories and showing up to an accident where I recognized the fatality.

So where do I go from here? I had done paper, radio, and tv. Cable!

I started another internship at a cable company in their local ad sales department. After 9 months, I graduated college and walked in for my half day of work there and they offered me a full time position. ( They had fired someone that morning)

So in one week I graduated college, got married, and started a full time job.

Now, ten years later, I am still working in cable advertising. I recently moved to a new company and am production manager and produce and sell advertising in Nebraska and Montana. We use the Canon XL1s and edit on Adobe Premier Pro and Photoshop.

The man I married was also in broadcasting and he is working as an engineer at the local abc affiliate.

When we are not at work, we are taking care of our two children, and editing at home, with our very SMALL company KWIK productions. We do picture videos mostly and just recently doing well doing high school highlight reels of sports. They shoot them anyway, we just edit together highlights and make copies.

And because we're not busy enough my husband and I have "date night" once a week and go together to dj weddings.

Whew.....another winded story from me on the great plains...sorry, there's no other video people out here to talk to .......

Lisa

Lisa,

Welcome aboard! Sounds like you've done a lot! And we're always here to help the best we can, so enjoy!

heath

Hi there,

At the moment I'm unemployed, but continuing my aspirations in video and editing.

I've worked various jobs, mostly in the video game industry (beta / standards testing). I have been out of work since April, went to Japan for one month in May (my great love affair, as my friend has once told me) and have been looking for work since.

Recently got a Mac (my first, in July) and am halfway through an FCP 5 book for Level 1 Certification. Although I'm not working, I am still studying and completing work on my next little music video while sending out the resumes and hoping.

Cheers,
James

Hi James,

Along with good writing skills you seem to have a positive attitude. That ought to get you a job soon. :) Here's hoping with you, and welcome to DV Info!

James,

Glad to have you aboard! Good luck with everything! (And I know you'll dig Final Cut Pro!)

heath

My education is that of a high-school dropout :)

I am a professional photographer doing mostly product work. I do landscape but the living is made in product photography :) I also paint and draw and do 3D art on the computer. I have always had a passion for films. Some of my favorite photography is in films.

Back in the mid 70s I directed some summer stock theater in Virginia.

About 8 months ago, I was commisioned to provide a 3D model of a movie camera. I live about a mile away from Panavision and called them up to ask if I could come over and photograph one of their cameras and measure it as well. They graciously accorded me an invitation to do this.

My wife came along to assist me in this and became very interested in the camera. She quizzed the Panavision folks that were assisting about it and ended up taking their classes on the camera. Having done all of that she decided it would be fun to persue the role of cinematographer.

So she took a ton of classes at UCLA extension and has shown a very serious talent for this field of endevor. I warned her that this was a VERY tough business to get into but assured her that I would support her in this endevor.

She is a realist and understands what she is up against and has a great attitude about all of it.

She decided to get a video camera, a Mac with FCP and hijack some of my lighting kit to shoot some short films. She originally bought a Panasonic GS250 and did some very nice work. Mostly montages set to music. But I could see she was frustrated with the GS250 and so we set out to look for an upgrade and settled on the Z1U.

She has decided she wants to try her hand at some narrative shorts and recruited me to write and direct them so I have written three 5 minute shorts that we will start filming next month so that she can build up her reel and round it out a bit more.

The end.

:)

Hello everyone, first post...great site.

I'm a Videographer for the Air Force.

To tell the truth I came in having no idea the job even existed! Not very many people have the luxury of creativity in the military. With unlimited training, free school, and nice equipment, who could ask for more!!!

I do mostly Documentaries, but currently im working on getting into Combat Camera.

-Morrow

Hello everyone, first post...great site.

I'm a Videographer for the Air Force.

-Morrow

Hey can you take me for a jet ride!

I make other people rich besides me. :(

I work in a middle school in an after school program and teach basic film to at risk youth.

its a lot of fun, believe it or not :)

Hi there dvi-users
Last time I`ve logged in this forum was march this year. Since then for me a lot was going on, and my english is as bad as ever;) Last march I wrote my first posts to this forum, because I start my interest for film, cut, dv and all the things around that. in may I quited my job as a graphic designer and in june I was starting my new job on a one hour tv show broadcasting company as a cutter. wow cool that was fast. It`s not really a big thing like in the states (It`s a erotic lifestyle show;), but I`ve never learned more in so little time about the things I want to do the rest of my life. After this barerly 3 months in this job I stand on completly different point of my business career. They took me although I`m a grafic designer (I made a demo clip for the application)... and now I have the chance to became a good cutter. I hope i write a little bit more in this forum in future, because at the moment I work like an animal 9 to 15 hours a day. but it`s cool it was my choice. GREEZ TO MY FRIENDS OF MOVING PICTURES

Good, idea this thread. Really like it and it puts us in touch with other professionals who can do things we can't and eventually may need for our own productions.
Moving on...I started in 92' doing miniature effects, modelmaking, set construction and conceptual art for feature films. Some low budget stuff like Ultraman, The Arrival. Shortly after, I started doing miniatures and set construction for bigger flicks. Titanic, Air Force One, Batman and Robin (All uncredited as this was through a 3rd party effects shop) Then I got into conceptual art almost exclusively and have screen credits for The first Power Rangers movie (yipee!) Alien Resurrection and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. I think some of it is on IMDB? (gotta update) For the last several years I have been working as a designer in animation to try something new but am fully convinced my first love has always been movies, filmmaking and script writing. I'm working on a short now and employing all my skills to get this sucker done. A little too ambitious perhaps but not impossible. Being from the old school of film cameras I am still a relative newbie to DV and am trying to soak in all I can.
And there is a LOT to soak in. But quite honestly there's nothing else I'd rather be doing.

I just realized that for all the times I've poked through this thread to see what people are up to, I've never actually responded myself.

These days I'm exclusively doing video for web sites at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. I have a crew of part-timers for our daily webcast of the Millennium Stage performance, but for all the "feature" videos it's just me. I like that. I like getting to do everything from lighting and shooting to editing to encoding and compressing. I've done several hundred 3 minute mini-docs over the past few years. I don't really get to pick the stories that I'm telling in the way that an independent filmmaker has a story that they're passionate about and then goes out to tell it. On the other hand, I get a steady pay check for making video. I like the arts so I like the stories that I'm telling anyway. I've gotten to meet some really fascinating people. And I think I've been to more performances than anyone else who works in the administrative side of things here. I routinely tell people that I've got the best job in the building.

Smile,
Kris

I'm the Graphics Director at WAFF 48 News in Huntsville, Alabama.

I'm a student at Ryerson University studying Radio and Television Arts.

I love telling people how the degree is more useful outside the film/video field.

I'd like to get into color grading when (if?) I graduate (there's a chance I may skip too many classes). And maybe direct music videos, because the stuff Michel Gondry puts out is really cool.

I've been filming for about 10 years now, the last 3 have been quite interesting now that I have been integrating CGI into movies. Almost nothing beats taking your imagination and putting those worlds into a movie to share with others. Filming a moment in time that will never come again for all to experience, making it and the people in it immortal.

Ever since I was a kid, I would make movies. Well, back then video wasn't available to the average kid, so we used cassette recorders and made audio "movies". My brother had a 16mm camera for class, and I was always the first to offer my services either acting or filming when needed.

When I was 25, after working for someone else in a severely stressful environment (I was an autocad drafter for satellite control systems), I
had to get out. I gave up all I knew to start fresh and do what I loved.
Photography & film. It was rough & scary in the beginning. Always is when you jump in the water for the first time. After learning all I could about equipment, lighting, techniques, etc. I was given a copy of a 3d Modeling program, 3d Studio, and coming from autocad it didn't take long to learn it.

Then things really opened up for me. I bought a copy of lightwave and maya came later, then poser. And now I can combine both my favorite hobbies together! This is a great age to live in, not only is all this stuff now accessible to the common folk like me, but with the internet, we can share our works, our knowledge, and inspire one another!

So now, I am involved with independent projects/films. Trying to make a name for myself here, and building a portfolio not only in film but also photography. I have never been happier since my life change. And I will never go back to doing something other than what I love. The rewards far outweigh anything else. The experiences I have had, would never have been had I not changed my life. I can barely sleep anymore, well sleep in that is. I wake up early everyday and am so excited about starting a new day! Getting into some new project, meeting new people who are like minded and tell a new story.


Sean Hansen

I'm a videographer with Treasure Productions in Singapore.
We currently shoot videos for weddings, events & coporate videos.
We are also system integrators and have experience in various hardwares and softwares for editing purposes.

I first came to this forum looking for news & any reviews on videocameras, and i'd like to say that i've come to the right place! :)

I personally own a Canon XL1S and a (GASP!) Sony HC1000e. I edit videos with adobe premiere pro with Matrox RTX100 extreme pro hardware. All i ask for now ... is a damn good HD successor to the XL2. I can only hope. (and try to afford such a camera!) hahaha

Cheers mates!
Regards
Alvin

Hi all - thanks for the great and informative site.

Im currently filming and producing videos for professional sporting bodies and clubs in the UK, providing both analysis and/or statistical data. Being self employed I have to scout around for work a lot, but I enjoy bringing footage to life with my own twist on things.

As a hobby, Im producing underwater digital video footage from the Red Sea and the much colder, darker UK waters.

I'm a seal hunter.

Hello everyone. I'm new to the site. I live in Manhattan, and shoot with a Sony Z1U. I work for the UN. I bought an HD camcorder primarily to video my child growing up. Otherwise, my main hobby is photography. You can see my photos on my gallery here: http://jamespaulsarte.com

Regards,

James

Run my own production company, and am producing/directing an African adventure/nature series for Animal Planet Canada. Begins in January 2006. I shoot the series on an xl1s and a gl2. Looking forward to shooting in HDV for season 2.

I write.
Of course, that may have been indicated by the title, but I thought it deserved repeating. I've writen seven or eight movies that were produced, have about seventy episodic TV credits, and have story edited about 280 television episodes.
I am now, after the recent savage slump in the indistry in Canada, turned to filmmaking. Guess whose scripts I'm gonna shoot? Well, other people's too, microbudget or no-budget, since I have access to a pretty good pool of actors.
Anyway, that's me, and howdy.

I started volunteering for a local TV station when I was 15. In my first year, they started putting me on play-by-play or main camera for all kinds of sports events - hockey, football, basketball, baseball, curling, cheerleading - as well as other non-sport broadcasts. I eventually began doing freelance shoots for b-roll footage for broadcasts and the news. These shoots were scarce at first but steadily picked up.

I now do freelance camera for an entertainment show called E West and have shot interviews and performance footage of such notables as Def Leppard, Billy Idol and the Tea Party. As well, I do shoots for a program called Huskies Tracks, a weekly show that profiles athletes from the University of Saskatchewan. I also shoot Saskatoon Blades WHL games for news and sports show highlights. I also do the occassional news shoot and whatever else they can find me.

I've been fortunate enough to have worked for CBC for the Saskatchewan Centennial Gala this past May. Other stations that have aired footage I've shot include SCN, Global, CTV, TSN, Sportsnet and The Score.

I also do video production on my own through a small company I call MUMPS (Mark Utley Motion Picture Studios). I don't do a lot of work through it, other than an internet TV show I produce called Under The Bridge. It's a weekly internet show that can be downloaded anytime and it profiles the local music scene through news, interviews and live shows. Some notable "underground" bands I've featured include In Medias Res, Run Chico Run, Rosesdead, Comeback Kid, Sylvie, Wintersleep, Alexisonfire, Underoath, Bane, Moneen, The Reason, Strung Out, Atmosphere, KMFDM and others. Those names may mean nothing to you but they mean far more to me than Billy Idol or any of those washed up celebrities.

Finally, I get occassional calls from different production companies around town to do freelance shoots for concerts, weddings and other video projects.

I barely ever have time to hang out with friends, but it's usually worth it. I'm 18 years old and making as much as my parents when I have a good week. Plus, the experience is invaluable and I absolutely love what I do. I'm finally going to be able to afford my Canon XL2 sometime next week and I'll slowly be "pimpin' dat shiz", as the kids say.


-mark

Mark, I am watching your Episode 7 while I am writing this, if I had half of your ambition when I was your age, I think I would be Ruler of the Universe by now! ;) Well done, keep up the work!

I am 32 living in Denver, CO. I work as a Building Engineer by day and play with all my toys at night. I started tinkering with computers and anything with shiny nobs when I was very young. People my age might remember those electronic experiement kits you used to get when we were young that came with a test board and all sorts of springs and wires and you could build your own radio, or make noises by hooking up the right springs and transisitors, yeah, I was the geek at home playing with that while you were all out kissing girls. ;)
I got into audio production about 10 years ago and have been amazed at the transition from tape to digital. Of course, video was very interesting, but I thought it was a little too daunting at first. I bought my first mini-DV cam a couple of years ago and started making stupid little films of Thanksgiving and my nephews football games. People were going NUTS over my little movies. They started asking me ( of course ) if I could do weddings, or transfer old VHS wedding tapes to DV, re-edit, even got asked to transfer old BETA tapes of Bronco SuperBowls to DVD. ( Who would want to remember those? 55-10 loss to the 49ers, years of counseling helped me forget that one! :( )
I recently made the push to go pro, at least with my equipment, the skill level is clearly negotiable. ;) I am learning that video is a never ending learning experience and your skill level is just that, experience. So I am finally making a little money. Bought a Canon GL2, wireless mics, Smith Victor 600w Quartz Lighting Kit, and still have my audio gear, studio mics and mixers etc. I am rather proud how my little 'home studio' is coming along, I just wish I had more people around to work with, soooooo.......
I have been meaning to post about this anyway, anyone in Denver who has ideas? Projects? Anyone worldwide? Ideas, Projects? Internet? Media?
I guess this is why I was so intrigued about Marks "Under the Bridge" show. It got my gears grinding. I am thinking a National/Global internet variety show shot and produced by several people bought together into a single program. Hmmm..sounds like fun.
Of course like all of you, I look for chances to make money when I can, need to pay for all this crap somehow, but I think I do it more for the thrill.
I have always said, "The day you stop living is the day you start dying"
And playing with shiny buttons, for me, that's living.
So hello to all, and if anyone is interested or has need for me or my cam in the Denver area, my eyes/ears are wide open.
Till then.
Take Care.
P.S. Ugh! Forgot my coffee for the last 20 minutes, just drank that last drink of 'cold swill' when you forget your coffee for 20 mins. Uck!