Am I making a bad career choice?

Deepfocus88 said:
Do whatever you want career-wise, but here's the best bit of advice I've seen on this board:

Always marry above your station.
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No :)
Marry who you love and have fun with...
and do WHAT you love for a career. Success and happiness are measured in more than dollars.

Don't worry Om Nom... I think there's some good advice in this thread (minus who to marry, LOL) and we'll get you editing on the next DVX project ;)
 
adkimery said:
I'd always felt that there was more opportunity for camera guys 'cause everything has to be shot but not everything has to be edited and I think it's more common to have multiple camera guys shooting on the same project than multiple editors cutting on the same project. Of course I'm not sure if by "in the business" you mean the entertainment business as a whole or just the movie business since this is more of a movie-centric forum.


-A
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But more often then not things are edited...then re-edited...then cut into a trailer...then a promo...then edited for tv...then a best of episode...then a special edition...and so on and so on. Also, in lean economic times, companies often repurpose material into other forms. People also tend to use the same cameramen over and over as camera mistakes can be costly, so it's tougher to break into at a high level. If an editor is bad you can just hire another editor to fix things. People are more willing to take chances there because their work is non destructive and easily repaired.
 
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Om Nom Nom said:
Or am I doomed to living with my parents for a very long time if I choose this career path?
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Who's doomin' who? I think you can make tons on money editing if you hook up with some prolific Directors. Just start editing stuff ... learn the craft inside out ... and you'll have to turn the work away.
 
vic777 said:
Who's doomin' who? I think you can make tons on money editing if you hook up with some prolific Directors. Just start editing stuff ... learn the craft inside out ... and you'll have to turn the work away.
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Keep in mind, if you just want to edit features that's a whole different career path. If you intend to work on huge studio productions, then you basically have to get into the union as an assistant and work your way up from there. But there is a whole lot of other work in trailers, episodic tv, reality tv, documentaries, dvd special features and clip based shows.
 
EditPhish said:
No :)
Marry who you love and have fun with...
and do WHAT you love for a career. Success and happiness are measured in more than dollars.

Don't worry Om Nom... I think there's some good advice in this thread (minus who to marry, LOL) and we'll get you editing on the next DVX project ;)
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Are you saying six figure woman can't be fun or lovable?

To the OP, find a gal working in emergency medicine! :thumbsup: That's what I'm talking about.

EDIT: gal OR guy
 
Batutta said:
But more often then not things are edited...then re-edited...then cut into a trailer...then a promo...then edited for tv...then a best of episode...then a special edition...and so on and so on. Also, in lean economic times, companies often repurpose material into other forms.
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"But more often then not" for what kind of project? Live/live-to-tape sports (and I mean everything from the NFL to the local sprint car track)? Talk shows that go live-to-tape? Concerts? Newscasts? Sure, where I work now the editors out number shooters about 4-1 and clip shows like World's Scariest Police Chases 18 don't even need shooters, but not everything is like that.

So just in my experience, which obviously isn't the same as everyone else's experience, getting camera or camera assist type jobs were easier than getting editing or AE jobs when I first started out.

People also tend to use the same cameramen over and over as camera mistakes can be costly, so it's tougher to break into at a high level.
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The same thing is true of editors. Find a director or post supervisor that you click w/and that person will ask you along wherever they go. Everyone likes to stick w/people they are comfortable with which is a big reason why it's so hard to break into, and move around w/in, this industry.


-A
 
adkimery said:
The same thing is true of editors. Find a director or post supervisor that you click w/and that person will ask you along wherever they go. Everyone likes to stick w/people they are comfortable with which is a big reason why it's so hard to break into, and move around w/in, this industry.


-A
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But a bad cameraman can really screw up your shoot and make whatever moment you were capturing unusable. You can't get that back. If an editor sucks, you just start over with the same footage. People are more willing to give a novice a shot under those circumstances. Shoot, in the trailer world, the big studios often give the same trailer to several different houses and pick whichever one they like the best, or amalgamate them.
 
EditPhish said:
No :)
Marry who you love and have fun with...
and do WHAT you love for a career. Success and happiness are measured in more than dollars.

Don't worry Om Nom... I think there's some good advice in this thread (minus who to marry, LOL) and we'll get you editing on the next DVX project ;)
Click to expand...

Just remember, money can't buy you love........




but you can RENT it for a few hours! :happy:
 
*head explodes* :violent5:

As far as camera work is concerned, while I love photography, I'm not all that comfortable with video work. Although it's something I'd like to improve, but I don't know if it's something I'd want to pursue as a career.

As far as who I marry, yes, it'll be someone who I'm in love with, regardless how much money they're making or what their occupation is. Oh, and it will be a man. ;) Probably a wrestler. (hahaha EditPhish!)
 
Batutta said:
But a bad cameraman can really screw up your shoot and make whatever moment you were capturing unusable. You can't get that back. If an editor sucks, you just start over with the same footage.
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That's working under the assumption that you have the time and/or budget for "do overs." If your turn around time is measured in hours the editor most certainly has to get it right the first time. Some circumstances allow for re-shoots and some don't just like some circumstances allow for re-edits and some don't.

People are more willing to give a novice a shot under those circumstances. Shoot, in the trailer world, the big studios often give the same trailer to several different houses and pick whichever one they like the best, or amalgamate them.
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Like I was trying to get at before, not all aspects of the business behave the same which is why I asked if you were talking about the entire entertainment industry ranging from the big Hollywood features to the small, midwest sprint car races or if you had a more specific subset of the industry in mind.


-A
 
I would definitely say keep going with school. It's a great opportunity to get some hands on with equipment and you never know who you're gonna meet through school.
 
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