JADED PROS and the death of fun.

rook

rook

Veteran
I love making movies. I love making MVs. I even love making commercials.

Hell, I love playing with the toys- even like just being around them. I've been working professionally for 5 years as an Actor, Writer and most recently a director.

What never ceases to amaze me is how jaded MOST of the people are that I find myself surrounded by on set.

WTF???? Is it the same in your cities?

Am I just an naive little moron?

Yes, a lot of the time the stuff I end up working on is tragically flawed. Un-cool mass market stuff that no ones heart is really "in". But, I'm not jaded about it. I always try to lift it to a higher level. I always try to make it fun. It lame sometimes but it's not just a paycheck to me. Ialways want to make it great and learn something new.

Why do I feel alone in this?

Is it just a matter of time before I give up and turn into one of these jaded assholes?

I need a pep talk or something....

thanks for listening.

-rook
 
ha, i was just thinking about this today...dont have an answer really...but...it happens everywhere. i for one love being on set. any set, i can hang out on a set for any amount of time and never get sick of it.

but some people just are not into it, and get bored. nothing wrong with that...its just how it is.

i think it can turn into a "job" for alot of people pretty fast. just get in and get out. do good work and hope they call you back.

personaly, people can be however they want...it only becomes a problem when they get bad attitudes and dont do what they are supposed to be doin.
 
If someone is that bored with something, they should just quit. Or die. Either one would work to put us out of their misery.
 
This happens in every profession out there. The person(s) who are in charge of the overall operation are the ones responsible for the apathy on the job site. They are the ones whose great aspirations turn into ugly reality when they have to answer to the money and politics of running a business and feeding their own egos. You can only do your job to your satisfaction; keep your standards high, and your resume updated. If you are as good as you think you are, people will come looking for you.
 
The key is Balance. I was in my mid twenties, a focus puller, working on tones of union shows, and one grumpy son of a *****. I walked away. I now produce docs, and shoot them and others. I felt like I was spending 18 hours a day on stuff I would not watch. The money was great, but you have to do stuff that fullfills you, and you have to keep the rest of your life just as important. Alot of those folks are locked in, have a familly they have to feed, a morgage a bit bigger than they should, a car payment a touch out of their range, and they never see their loved ones. But if you do it right, keep things in perspective, balance things out, it is a great life.
 
I was going to make a joke about rack focus and orgasms, but I don't think it's appropriate here. I get excited everytime the gear comes out... any of it... the more the better, but a little is good.

People burn out people.

I'll do any video-work for cash, but on my own stuff I have 3 simple rules for the people involved:

1) no arrogant pricks that don't have skill or knowledge to justify their arrogance

2) no ****sticks (an FS is a person who manages to screw up anything you put in their hands... whether it be settings, the actual equipment, or a good take)

3) the project has to be worth our time by being any combination of fun, compelling, challenging... so that when it's done we either had a good time, made something people will want to watch, or learned something that will help with other projects.

What burns pros out is being forced to work with people under the first rule... by getting paid to do something that doesn't meet the third rule. If the people paying you want to be part of the production and also fit under the second rule then BAM! Instant Burnout.
 
I've only worked on a small handful of sets (Lo/No's) over the last decade and for the most part I found the crews either 'Too cool for school' or generally just negative people.

Bunch of bitches
 
One of the best ways to ruin a perfectly wonderful hobby is to make it your 9 to 5 job. I should know, I have done this more than once in my life time.

I am on different sets all the time (well several days a month at a minimum) and the more professional, the higher the budget the more it is just another day at work for most of the crew. This doesn't mean that no one has a good time, in fact, on the longer projects (episodic, FFs) the crew seems to have found a pretty decent balance between having a good time and getting the job done and out of there to go home.

I don't find the that film/TV industry is all that different from any other business, people are all different and some love their work (or at least can't conceive of doing anything else) and other's just look at it as something they do to make a living.

For me, I am still a bit of a "set junkie" and really enjoy the process of film making, but I am not making my living in this industry (right now, it just supplements my income). I would rather have a so so day on the set than a great day working at an engineering / manufacturing facility.
 
.

.

I'm not a pro, but I do occassionally get pay jobs, at least enough to break about even on my hobby. But I haven't gotten to that point where I've taken on a project that was pure drudgery or that most of the crew wasn't engaged.

I also love being on the set. Its magic! I love that rush of awe when everything comes together and we make a storytelling moment, even if the project as a whole didn't turn out the way I wanted.

The phenomenon of jaded professionals grumping their way through a production is much like what happens in theater, when you have personalities who have convinced themselves that someone else's good work somehow diminishes their own self worth. I hate those people, and won't work with them. In fact, I will go out of my way to torment 'All About Me' actors and crew.

Rook- keep the wonder going, baby.
 
Thanks guys. I was being a baby...just got home from a long day and needed to vent about it.

I won't let the jaded pricks kill it for me. Just seems like optimism and enthusiasm are not valued on sets. (I actually had a director sit me down and tell me that what we were shooting was stupid and that it's best not to care).

And i agree with knock out films, the indi stuff I do comes with much better attitudes. There's just been a lack of the heart driven indi stuff in my life these days.

Time to stop whining and put together what I want, instead of complaining that someone else hasn't done it for me.

peace.

-rook
 
Pro shoots tend to be more setup/ set-in-stone. This negates the full creative input. That's why indies are so much fun, not that they cant be pro but if your working for a client it's their needs/ wants, not so much your own, can=apathy...
 
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