Your job?

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Frogy

New member
Hi im in grade 10 and right now i am doing a summative about what i want to become after highschool. Cinematographer is the job i've been thinking of over the last 2-3 years and now im just wondering, with all you filmers out there is it really hard to get this job? how many of you who have the equipment just do it for fun and have a job not related to filming. How many of you have jobs related to filming in studios and broadcasting places etc.

thanks alot ive always wanted to know
 
It is a job which never stops growing, something that takes an entire lifetime to master, and even then is expanding.

Cinematography is not only extremely technical, but also one of, if not the most challenging positions to get into from the outside. Generally those who are interested work their way up through either the camera dept. or the G&E dept. to someday become a DP. Others, begin shooting very early, and study every technical aspect independently, and just shoot film after film, and eventually make enough to do it full time.

I have had experience as an AC, a Key Grip, a Gaffer, etc. and the material I learned through those positions helped me as a cinematographer to better understand my own role, and those of others. When you have been in someone elses shoes, you can relate best to how your relationship with that person and their job should be.

It really is a small group of people who have the high end studio work, most filmmakers shoot on their own, doing short films and low budget features. Why do you think places like DVXuser and DVinfo.net, etc. are around? We all need a place to vent! :beer:
 
Think of it as the stairway to heaven. Every time you master some new aspect of the craft you are introduced to a plethora of other neat things that you hadn't known about before... and then you get to go learn those!

That's partly what makes it such an attractive field I guess... you can rest assured that you'll never have to worry about not having something to learn next.

The point is that cinematography isn't a "job". Its a career and a lifestyle more than anything else.

And it's a lot of fun too!
 
I started as a touring musician, then worked retail in music stores, then became a manufacturers Rep in the music industry, then owned & operated a commercial recording facility (this is really where video started to come into the picture), then worked as a Technology Manager in the publishing industry, then started my own interactive multimedia development company...then I bought all my video gear!

It's a long road, but all heads in the right direction. As a studio owner, I worked with a lot of the local TV stations and video houses doing audio for video. As a technology manager for a major publisher I funded and managed some large shoots, from quick, one camera 'talking head' stuff to full-blown $400,000.00 multi-camera productions. Although it's a LOT of hard work, it's just too fun and interesting.

I wise man once told me do what you love to do and get paid for it... that way it won't seem like work!

Best of luck.
 
Think of cinematography as an exciting life long learning position. But unlike other artistic positions (painter, etc) there is a long ladder to climb while you learn from those above you.

Knowledge and time will get you up the ladder and skill will keep you at the top.

Don't expect instant success, there are very few young professional DP's in the world. It takes time and practice ;)
 
I'm working full time for a regional tv station where I finished my job training as "media designer video/audio". I'm basically best boy for everything technical/creative that comes up. Shooting, editing, lighting, getting the new vision mixer to work, etc...
I really don't want to do this any longer, because it's only about quick and cheap - the faster, the better. Quality? That's a foreign word here...
I'm still not sure how to get out of here - my dream would be freelance steadicam operator, but I haven't yet found a way to pull that off... but I will! :)
 
Being a Cinematographer is very easy. It's only the first 20-30 years thats hard. The rest is just downhill. :D

I do this for a living, full time. If you find that this is your passion then you have to follow it with all your heart."

"Find a job that you love and you'll never work a day in your life."

Depending on what course you would follow you might find yourself owning your own gear. We are a full service production/post company so I own a lot of equipment but at the same time rent a lot as well. I can afford to own 150K-200K of production equipment in house but dont need buy 20K HMI light and keep at ready, I'll just rent that. You can take the same aproach if you decide to pursue this career.

You can start small but think big. Your first job leads to more contacts and bigger projects. And if you find yourself renting the same X brand camera 200 days a year, you might as well buy it yourself and make more money renting it out to your clients.

I would definetly reccomend this business because its so rewarding. But the catch is getting your foot in through the door:

"Experience is something you get right after you could have used it the most."

Read this article, it will come in very handy one day:

"12 Things I Know About Business at 55 That I Wish I'd Known at 25"

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/griffin_nick/wish.php

Hope this helps a little,

Cheers:thumbsup:

PS:FBAS , if you want to be a steadicam operator you should start by finding the saturation of operators in your area. It is difficult to compete with seasoned ops. Good production companies will go for an elite operator then a cheap one. Then you MUST attend a workshop, you must BUY your rig (you cant rent a full size rig) and practice practice practice.

Sachtler has excellent rigs but I prefer steadicam, hands down. With the Euro so strong the prices are much more affordable.
 
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