What do you do for a living?

[Tom Hardwick]

As a freelance photographer / videographer I'm happy to consider all sorts
of projects. Weddings (both stills or movies) are my staple diet, and just last weekend I photographed a 40th wedding anniversary party.
The client was delighted with the 185 prints I presented him with.

I film school plays, stage productions, school reunions, singers, families,
children. I've had my films shown on TV and at the National Film Theatre,
Southbank, London.

I do photo restoration, production and manipulation in Photoshop.

I write for every issue of 'Film and Video Maker' magazine, and have had
articles published in various other photographic magazines. I answer
hundreds of photographic queries on the www, and every year I'm on the
DVDoctor stand at the Video Forum in London. (DV = Digital Video).

I regularly judge film competitions, and this year was one of the three final adjudicators at the IAC's international film competition.

I do a lot of ciné film transfer to VHS and DVD.

I teach photography, mainly to adults, both stills and movies. This can be
an introduction to moviemaking right through to at-elbow editing training.
I do this at home and have run 2 and 3 day classes at Wansfell College,
Epping.

I give regular talks to video societies. I was in Chesterfield 2 weeks ago
giving a talk on 'The Wedding Videographer - the skills and equipment
needed'.

I love every minute of it. I should'ver left the motor industry a lot sooner.

tom.

[Stephen Claus]

I'm one of those "trodding" guys. I trod along in a machine shop making turbomachinery parts on 5-axis CNC milling machines--doesn't everyone?

I've dabbled in video as a hobby most of my life. Now I'm at the point where people are starting to pay me to do weddings, etc. and I'm starting to think maybe I could potentially make a career out of my hobby. I have a lot to learn, however, and that's why I'm here (dvinfo).

Although I'd prefer to make music videos and indie films, I don't mind weddings...for now.

[John Grant]

As this is my first post, hello to one and all and I am glad to be part of the group. I am one of the middle aged alternative rock horde running for cover in the film industry. When you have created art(?) most of your life for a living your choices in the main stream workplace are few and your passions drive your decisions.

Currently I am a film student at the Evergreen State College, the (ultra) liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Part of the curriculum involves working at the local public access station (TCTV!) were I work as a cameraman and producer for a program titled "Panorama Latino Americano." I have had some success as a screenwriter and want more control over my projects, hence DV. It is the perfect medium for illustrating one scene of a script, taping shorts, etc. Also awaiting the arrival of a XL-2 and in the beginning stages of designing a NLE. John

[Martin Wilson]

Hi,

What do I do for a living?, I'm actually a payroll manager for a worldwide freight forwarding organisation, although I'm only responsible for paying the staff in the UK and Ireland.

I got into video quite by accident, I have been supporting my local football club (soccer club for those guys in the US) since I was eleven years old (I'm 51 now) and about 20 years ago I was asked by the chap that filmed the games for the club if I could drive him to one of the away games, I said I would, it then snowballed into helping him carry the gear to actually filming a game because the regular cameraman couldn't make it, and I have been involved ever since as the main cameraman and for the last 10 years compiling and editing the end of season highlight tapes (although some seasons they could be classed as lowlights)

Unfortunately any remuneration from this project was never enough to give up the day job but that doesn't matter, I get to see the club I've supported for most of my life, I love the video editing I have to do and appreciate the comments I receive from those fans that buy the videos and also get to film in some of the best grounds in the UK even though my small team currently languish in the bottom league of the UK National Football League, (mind you we are currently second so there is some hope).

I hope I haven't bored any of you professionals out there who do far more serious jobs than I do and can I also take this opportunity to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Best regards,

Martin

[Alec Lence]

I started getting into film when I was sixteen with my dad's 16mm camcorder. Before that I was mostly into the writing aspect, but when I turned seventeen my partner in crime and I decided to jump into editing and our movies really took off. We designed, shot, edited and distributed our school senior video and were completely addicted.

I work odd jobs to support my film interest and I am attending University of Nevada - Las Vegas for a film degree, then I plan on transferring to L.A. for grad school, USC or Long Beach are my two hopefuls.

In the meantime I'm continuing to write a number of screenplays and making short films for festivals with my brother in arms. Hopefully we will break in soon, as our friendly insider list is continuing to grow...

[Lorinda Norton]

These posts are wonderful! Martin, I'm no professional, but I find your "story" and all the others here charming and quite interesting.

Listen, you guys.....for those of you with the time, head on over to the DVChallenge forum and get involved with making short movies here!!! We just completed DVC4 so it'll be another couple months or so before the next one--plenty of time for you to think about it and jump in. We have a blast, and it's the best learning experience. "Cheaper than film school" too, as the motto says. :)

Come on! It's great fun!!!

[Hugh DiMauro]

As Diana Ross said:

"I'm livin' in shame."

My name is proudly displayed on the DV Challenge "Wall of Shame" ever since I agreed to try the second challenge and couldn't follow through.

I need to clear my name of shame!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Shervin Mandgaryan]

I'm still in my second last year of High School but worked for the previous two years to buy my first camera, the Panasonic GS-120. I soon was hooked on taking videos of nature and people in the city that I eventually got enough cash and bought a Canon XL-2 recently.

I plan on going to York University or University of Toronto to study cinematography and hopefully be a director and a filmmaker.

As for now I am planning a documentary about my last year of highschool, batch it up and premiere the final version at my graduation to my classmates of '07.

Cheers.

[John Holland]

I'm a 21 year old CBS intern (CBS headquarters in NY). That get's me a nice little scholarship ($10,000), a $5,000 stipend during the summer and a lot of experience and contact (I've met all the VP's of CBS). Hopefully this summer I'll go to the CBS in LA and get some hands on experience with TV shows and so forth, and eventually impress enough to land a job after I graduate. I also own a production company called Green Bench Productions. We do small commercials for organizations on my campus that earn us a nice little income as well as shooting music videos. On the side of that, I do short comedy sketches and I work on a TV show that I'm writing, directing and producing at the moment. Other than that, I'm a second semester junior broadcast production student at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC.

[Shavar Ross]

Hi, what's up everyone! I'm new and excited to be here and am looking forward to reading more posts. I'm currently a full time director/writer and editor. I shot one short in 2003 with a Sony VX2000 which helped me to get a small distribution deal with Simmons/Lathan Media Group. I shot my second short, a 35-minute period piece ,that helped garner me a distribution deal for my first feature.

I used to be an actor but choose to focus more behind the scenes now. I'm currently looking for an HD camera to purchase (after owning and selling a DV100) to possibly shoot my feature in so I'm hoping this particular forum can help me make my decision!

[John DuMontelle]

A nice community of people here who share an interest, and respect, for each other.

I like that.

I bought my first DVX 100a a couple of months ago. Very hard for me to do since I'm considered a Sonyphobe by many. In my case, buying something with a Panasonic label on it was similar to going through a twelve step plan.

That's why I've been lurking here and a couple of other similar places to learn from those with experience.

I'm a freelance television photog based in Managua, Nicaragua.

I've been doing the freelance thing since 1996. Before that, I had eighteen years of experience working as a staff television news photog at serveral stations in the United States.

My DVX 100a has gone from toy to partner with my "regular" Sony 400 BetacamSP. Having the Panasonic camera adds to what I can offer clients and, to my surprise, has even brought me some extra business apart from my traditional network news clients.

I appreciate everyone here who graciously allows me and others to look over each others shoulders, so we can all learn more.

thanks

[Nick Weeks]

For a living, I'm a Network Technician/Administrator/Engineer... whatever you want to call it for a Microsoft-based network, consisting of a main office housing approximately 700 PC and IBM 3270 terminal users, and supplying network access, internet access, and email access to about 118 remote offices. We house about 19 servers on a Windows Server 2003 based domain (Active Directory). We have client PCs ranging from XP Pro to Windows NT 4 (yes, NT 4 is still running the majority of this company!).

Anyway, I got bored with the whole computer world. Sure there are exciting new technologies coming out and whatever, but I lost interest..... Fast.

I've recently decided to start my own business in freelance video work, in addition to my full-time job listed above. It's starting out very slowly as all business do, but I'm making some decent income to help support my normal day-to-day expenses, as well as putting some money into some decent equipment for use in my "side-job."

I've found that in video shooting/post production, I can be creative to whatever extent I want, and even better, I can make someone a video memory to last them a lifetime, my greatest satisfaction. It's so nice to hand someone a piece of your work and see the smile on their face. I can't do that as easily in the computer world... I'm currently shooting for school's band productions, choir productions, theatrical productions, etc, and I'm still trying to get a wedding or two. I'm even thinking about shooting some corporate events (meetings, seminars, etc) and maybe some high-school/college graduations.

Ever since I was a kid I've enjoyed video and video editing, as this is my father's job. I used to go in and play with his old U-Matic recorders linked to his studio cameras (can't remember the models). I used to think it was so cool I could do dissolves, voice-over, and character generation. Well, computers sparked my interest in high school, and I continued with that for many years, but I think my "forte" is in shooting video and more-so, the post-production editing.

Now I'm 23, just bought a house about 2 years ago, and I'm thinking of converting an extra bedroom into a home studio to help support my slow-growing video production business. I own a Sony VX-2100, a TASCAM DA-P1 portable DAT, and edit on a Windows PC running Premiere Pro 1.5. If needed, I normally rent extra camera equipment to use in my shoots. I've also been playing with the Vegas 6 Demo, which has me very satisfied. I'm still wanting to work with Apple's Final Cut Pro too... and Premiere Pro 2.

[Christopher Leclair]

I'm a property manager, investor, day job working. Whatever pays. Trying to break into video because all my primary expenses are taken care of! It's time to make life fun and interesting!

[David Dickerson]

I'm 26, and am a starting-out filmmaker, with pretty much no budget and lots of dreams, but who isn't, eh? :). My first dream job was to do sfx with ILM. I read a lot about making movies a few years back, and I remember all the articles I've read that said "if you don't have at least $10,000, don't even try..." or something similar. It was pretty daunting.

I got into filmmaking three years ago, I live in Rose Creek Village ( http://www.rosecreekvillage.com ), and we have an annual cultural arts festival. I wanted to produce a movie about the village's history and show it at that festival.

I decided that I wasn't going to let lack of money or equipment stop me anymore, and basically shot interviews and coverage, gathered photos, and edited together an hour-long documentary in three weeks in my spare time. I had absolutely no experience in doing any of those things prior to that, but I pulled it off. The movie was rough, but it was done!

Now, that's what I do for a living. I'm a filmmaker, graphic designer, and web designer for the Village. We've made several documentaries, and I try and push the envelope of what we know and are doing on every one.

We've been shooting all of our footage on tiny sony DV cams, consumer cams, and I edit in Vegas (still using v4 :P). We've gotten a lot of comments on how professional our work is, so I guess we're doing something right. The best thing is that we actually get projects done.

Now we're going to buying a new camera, most likely a DVX100B, which I'm seriously excited about. I'm ready to break out of the docu genre a bit, and do some dramas and maybe some action shorts.

So I guess the thing that I learned from those experiences was there's a creative way around any obstacle, you just gotta want to find it bad enough.

[Marco van Belle]

Hi all,

I'm a 'video journalist' for the BBC in the UK.

Basically, I'm a broadcast news journalist by trade.

50% of the time I work with a camera man and I'm the guy in the suit and tie standing outside a court house or a hospital doing a 'live report' on whatever scandal.

The OTHER 50% of the time I'm supposed to find stories for BBC news and delivering them myself. I use a PD 150 or a Z1 and act as a lone operator (1 man band basically) filming, interviewing, editing, voice over-ing...the news story. Often I do this 'on the day'. IE - I will get to work at 8am, hear about a fantastic story (man falls off cliff and lives). Then I will go to his house, interview him, film him, return to base, edit on Pinnacle Liquid 5.5, voice over, produce, and finally send a 2 minute news package for broadcast at 6:30pm that same evening on BBC 1.

I spend a lot of my free time being tired....

;-)