What do you do for a living?

[Glenn Chan]

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.

[Sean Hansen]

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

[Alvin Ang]

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

[Lee Fraser]

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.

[Stephen Finton]

I'm a seal hunter.

[James Sarte]

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

[Michael Dalton]

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.

[Roy Sallows]

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.

[Mark Utley]

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

[Adam Terry]

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!

[Steven White]

I'm a professional student - that is to say, I'm working on my Ph.D. in engineering physics. The field is non-destructive evaluation for the nuclear industry. I did my M.Sc. in physics (magnetic resonance imaging), and my B.Sc. in engineering physics.

Yes. I do realise I'm a drain on society ;)

My involvement in video is purely from the hobbyist perspective... others of which include martial arts (jiu-jistu and karate 5 nights a week), playing jazz, visual effects, and lately swing dancing (at which my proficiency is minimal).

-Steve

[Peter Varitimos]

Boy, when I see it in black & white..............YUCK

It's a sit down job on the computer all day (as a matter of fact...I'm here now).

I'm 41 have two children, boy 8 & girl 11. Great kids...no lie "The Best" you could ask for. As a matter of fact they are what got me into the fun hobby of making film, movies or whatever you want to call it.

I started just by taking home movies with my rincky dink JVC camera at the school plays and musicals. I tinkered around with the footage and put a few extras into them, and sent them off to the local cable station for all to see their own kids on TV. I was overwhelmed with requests after that, and since, I have done; going away parties, weddings, soccer videos, and so on.

Boy, do I wish this could be my career.

Thanks for listening.

Peter

[Karl J Martin]

I worked in theater and interned in TV production while in high school, then earned a BFA in Art Media at Syracuse University, then drove out to Los Angeles, got a job as a model maker on "The Rocketeer," spent a year or so working as a modelmaker on assorted videos, features and tv, then landed a set design job on a picture at Carolco (remember Carolco?), got my IATSE card, and have been working as a set designer/art director/2d-3d digital animator (Lightwave/Maya)/ illustrator ever since.

Presently I'm on a Bruckheimer show called "E-Ring." Fun times at the Pentagon!

Got a DVX100A and a Flowpod and have been shooting with them at every opportunity, mostly other people's projects while I develop my skills with the equipment. Shooting industrials and pageants and indie projects with the DVX, so I guess I should add 'videography' to the above...

Anyway, some of the stuff I've worked on...

http://imdb.com/name/nm0552608/

[Lorinda Norton]

Hi Karl,

"Some of the stuff" you've worked on reads like a list of my favorite movies and television shows!! That's really impressive. I haven't tuned into "E-Ring" yet, but I'm sure going to now.

Have fun with that camera, and welcome to DV Info!

[Karl J Martin]

Thanks, Lorinda!

This site is great.