So it turns out? I SUCK

Thanks for the tip Corpse. I have never seen Oblique before. Very cool.

This is interesting. I asked for resources and all the USERS are really interested in the state of my creative soul. DVXuser is the best group therapy ever. I really do appreciate everyone's insight and ideas. I never thought that the problem might be a lack of inspiration and excitement.
 
Jason I am going to give you my peronal thoughts on this, now I do not expect anyone to agree or disagree with me here, this is just food for thought, take it in and throw it out, remember that this is alex... the high school drop out talking here. :)
ok here it is, I think Jason that you are going through the "what if I run out of creativity"stage
it happens to me every year and I think a lot of motion graphic designers have experienced this in the past, well I am here to tell ya that maybe you are not a jack of all trades, take me for example, when I first started out years back, I experimented with a lot of areas: DP,Sound guy,Editor,motion graphics you name it I probably tried it and I was very very honest with myself and realized that I sucked at everything except motion graphics, not only was I getting better but I actually loved it. I knew I sucked at shooting, I knew I was an even worst sound guy so what did I do, well I put all my eggs in one basket, I dedicated all my time and effort to become the best motion graphics designer I could be. now hold on
there are several levels in the industry ladder, yeah lets call it that, when I hear or see people that call themselves a one man crew I always wonder " how long can you possibly get away with this before you hit a brick wall" now let me explain, ok imagine you are a jack of all trades, you can shoot, you can edit, you can do yor own photography you can lav your actors, everything, one dude. Now you might be able to get away with this at the low corporate level but once you want to really take it to the highest level, there is no way in hell you will pull off a serious production with thousands of money riding on the line by yourself, there is no way, plus why would you want to do that? hire pros, hire a gret sound person, hire a great dp hire a great sound guy, so it all depends at what level you want to work in your future and what your goals are. My goal was to see my work on national television and I did, but I also know that I am only a piece of the pie becuase I did not shoot that or did the sound or the cc, I only did the motion graphics. Jason I told you on the phone last time we talked, that your website is kick ass, you are a great web designer, maybe you are not a great moton graphics designer, why fight it, why not concentrate and put all your effort into becoming a great editor, be honest with yourself and ask yourself what you are really good at and then get better and faster along the way. my point here is that I personally made a choice a long time ago, to put all my time and effort to become a great motion graphics guy, and today I can say that I have more work than I can handle, there a pleanty of steaks in the freezer and my clients are happy. just my thoughts poured on html :)
 
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Jason:

Kudos to you for being self-aware. Very few people, especially people in this business can be so truthful and up front about their own skills and or lack of. There is a huge difference between self awareness and self absorption and you seen to know where that difference is.

I think that the process of inspiration and growth by gain of knowledge is different for everyone. I find that I am inspired by a new program or new gear. This past year was Motion. Since I don't know AE very well, I found that Motion was intriguing because it is so free form, you can use it in an almost unlimited number of ways. I used it for some simple animation of some logos for a corporate video I was editing and was very impressed with how intuitive it was and how I could easily and quickly accomplish what I needed to do. Same thing with a sound mix I was doing last week, I just figured out how to make a Soundtrack Pro droplet using Applescript, it is genius and a great way to speed up workflows. Same with Magic Bullet, I used it on a personal project this year and was blown away by how easy and intuitive it was to grade a 20 minute project with.

These little instances of needing fixes on projects that I was working on caused me to crack open programs by necessity to solve issues. Once the issue was solved though, I was inspired to read some articles (Ripple Training has excellent free write ups all over the web and I have bought several of their training DVDs), experiment a lot and I learned how to use all three programs to do some things that I never thought I was capable of. So I get inspiration from new programs. If you are stuck in a rut with the tools that you use, try some new ones. If you are an AVID guy, try FCP. If you are an FCP guy, try Vegas or Edius. If you are an AE guy, try Motion. This works for me.

As far as shooting, I find just HAVING enough time and resources to be very inspiring, that's why i LOVE shooting tabletop. Have you ever tried it? It is some of the best inspiration you can have as a DP. I just did a tabletop setup of a cocktail party for a Paramount project. Shot it in one day, just me and two helpers who did hand props and helped to dress the set. It is some of the best footage I have ever shot, I must say, I am not usually impressed with my footage that much, I always think that I could have done it better but this setup turned out really good. Tabletop is the best inspiration for DPs because you control the whole world, the sun (key), the little actor/models (the props), your camera movement (I shoot tabletop mostly on my jib but I just put together a littel tabletop dolly setup that is sweet). You can afford to experiment with lighting, composition and movement in a way that is very difficult with a big set, talent and a full crew. But it is a totally immersive way to try out tricks and lighting setups that would be difficult without expensive toys like Technocranes and 12x12s and you can do it in your living room. I find tabletop is VERY creatively inspiring.

The last advice I will leave you with is to put all of the video/film stuff aside and live life a bit. Go to a museum or art gallery. Go to the beach, the desert, a park. Go see performance art. Read a classic novel. Too many of us are so immeresed in the world of video/film/entertainment that we become detached from normal life and how "normal" people experience life. You can be the greatest DP/editor/animator in the world but if you have nothing to draw on for life experience, you will be creatively bereft of good ideas.

Good luck,

Dan
 
jason.adams said:
I was always learning new things from other artists I worked with. Now that I am on my own the greatest challenge has become to grow as an artist and a film maker when I am the only one I work with.
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These are all great posts, and I really can't add much, but I want to point something out, as I find myself in the same situation.

On a personal level, working as a one man band sucks. I find more inspiration either working with my peers, or a mentor that I can learn from. (That's not always the case, usually it's whatever the budget allows.)

Is there anyone you can partner up with on your projects, or do you prefer to keep it a streamlined "one man"operation? I know you're looking for tutorials, but it seems like some real world interaction might be worthwhile as well.
 
i purchased a 6 dvd series called hollywood master camera work and master blocking. great set, i thought after seeing it ,was more for directors and first ad,s . i got alot out of it . it will help you speed up getting through a shot list. any one else seen this?
 
Take a breath ,go for a walk forget about work for a while.
I actually know what you mean,
I've been freelancing for a year now and halfway through I felt like I lost my creativity.
Dont worry it is going to comeback. Take my advice don't fight it.

Every now and then I go to
www.3dtotal.com
www.cgchannel.com
www.3dbuzz.com
www.motionographer.com
xpls.tv
and dailymotion.com.
Wacthing what others have created often gives me totally brand new & different idears .
www.planetquake .com
and
www.planetunreal. com
,cause originally I wanted to become a gamedesigner.
So it helps sparks that old magic that keeps me going.
 
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