Cinematography as a career

[Ben Scott]

I often think about going back to college to teach a simple 30min 'everything you need to know to get your first job in the industry' class.

How to change a lens.
How to clean a lens.
How to be on time.
How to be professional.
How getting the coffee is not beneath you. Or me. Or anyone able to provide coffee and in not interrupt their other work.

Teachers get really caught up in talking about Mise en scene and Robert Bresson. In the olden days I'd have said sometimes you just need to know how to stripe a tape to get an in. These days maybe the equivalent is knowing how to backup rushes safely.

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

That helps set expectations for me. Can I ask what type of work you typically get? Thanks!

I DP mostly commercials, occasionally features, shorts and music videos.

 

[Simon Dunne]

In the olden days I'd have said sometimes you just need to know how to stripe a tape to get an in.

Very wise words. The significance of a control track is lost on a lot of the younger staff these days in this digital world. On a friday, make the coffees a little Irish and become the camera teams friend for life!

 

[Ben Scott]

Exactly. It's not rocket science

 

[Rakesh Malik]

I often think about going back to college to teach a simple 30min 'everything you need to know to get your first job in the industry' class.

How to change a lens.
How to clean a lens.
How to be on time.
How to be professional.
How getting the coffee is not beneath you. Or me. Or anyone able to provide coffee and in not interrupt their other work.

I wish the teachers at my film school had taught that sort of thing. If they did, I might actually have more than two classmates worth recruiting for future work.

I'm in the same situation as you, Mike -- well similar. I've been shooting mostly short films on the side while working a soul-sucking, mind-numbing IT job... I mean, software engineering. Now I'm making a go of it as a freelancer, and starting to get traction. The last couple of months have been a bit of a struggle, but I'm finding that there are a few directors/producers (most of the directors around here do their own producing) who appreciate having a DP on their project who is good to work with and has visual talent, rather than just for the gear that they bring to the table.

Due in large part to getting several shorts and music videos shown plus doing a LOT more networking and participating in some events like a local VR production challenge, I've managed to build up a network that's starting to turn into work... two feature films and possibly a third in the coming year, media campaign for a mayoral candidate, and help putting together some mountaineering documentary projects.

The getting started part is tough, but it IS possible.

 

[Marc Wielage]

Fresh out of school and I don't remember this being taught at all where I went. I just stumbled upon lighting dark scenes via heavy hard back lights myself and night scenes just sort of clicked from then on. No one else at school figured that one out at the time. The biggest issue I saw and still see with lighting in indie and student productions is just the sheer lack of budgeting time to light the scene. I personally love lighting a scene as best as I can for every shot, but too often people have unrealistic expectations of how long the shooting day should last and how much you can actually get done in a day. This often would cause situations where I'm unable to adjust lights in between shots at all when I know just a few more minutes would greatly increase the cinematography as a whole. I hate that though, and I know extra time for lighting is really the secret sauce I need at this point to improve my craft.

Yes, that also happens in post. The whole issue of unrealistic expectations on the parts of neophyte producers and directors is baffling. They need to understand that DPs need a certain minimum amount of setup time to get reasonable results; otherwise, the work is going to suffer.

I'm also really, really annoyed at the lack of education about workflow for post: too often, I get edit lists and source materials dumped in my lap, and the editor has a hodge-podge of disorganized folders and directories spread out over multiple, multiple Terabytes of drives, just all kinds of files scattered willy-nilly. They have no concept, no clue, mix 2K and 4K interchangeably, throw in H.264 with no timecode, do all kinds of really slipshod stuff and expect us to be able to turn out a finished show without delay. Too often, it becomes Chicken Shit -> Chicken Soup. Very hard to do.

Another huge neophyte problem I've dealt with are people who assume that just because they're shooting in 4K/5K/6K, they can infinitely blow stuff up and get lots and lots of coverage out of minimal footage. They seem unaware that the noise builds up and the shots do look worse, cut to cut. It's even worse if the shot is marginally out of focus or has some slightly shaky moves, since those just get magnified in a blow-up. I don't have a problem with a 10-20% blow-up here and there, but god help you when it's a 400% blow-up (which I've literally had). Having the ability to blow-up high-res footage is not a substitute for more coverage. And it also begs the question of depth of field and all the other stuff involved with actually moving the camera and using a different lens, which invariably looks much better.

 

[Marc Wielage]

I often think about going back to college to teach a simple 30min 'everything you need to know to get your first job in the industry' class.

How to change a lens.
How to clean a lens.
How to be on time.
How to be professional.
How getting the coffee is not beneath you. Or me. Or anyone able to provide coffee and in not interrupt their other work. Teachers get really caught up in talking about Mise en scene and Robert Bresson. In the olden days I'd have said sometimes you just need to know how to stripe a tape to get an in. These days maybe the equivalent is knowing how to backup rushes safely.

You know, I've told beginners who are trying to get a foot in the door in the world of post that they need to do five things:

1) come in early every day
2) don't complain
3) keep your eyes & ears open and learn (which means ask questions if you don't understand something)
4) have a good attitude
5) leave late every day.

Do all that, and it will go a long way towards being a good employee. And that counts for thousands of different jobs out there, not just post or production. I would rather work with somebody who was a little green and needed to learn more than to deal with somebody who whined, complained, and showed up late.

Too often, I think teachers forget the problem of psychology in production, and how the DP has to get along with a lot of different departments. They not only have to worry about the shot being photographed at the moment, they have to be aware of the time of day, what the camera is doing, what they're going to shoot next, and the nature of how the photography blends with the storytelling. I've been on sets where DPs raised very good story and character points with the director, some of which actually changed the movie for the better. It's not just about lighting and camera -- it's actually knowing about filmmaking as a whole.

 

[Mark Toia]

People hire you from what they see...
The simplest way of putting it is like this.

If your show reel is amazing... you will get work.

If its crap... you get nothing.

its as simple as that.

And... last but not least.

The greatest salesman with the worst product will still eat.
The person with the greatest product that doesn't tell anyone he or she exists.. will die starving.

The "Build it and they will come" theory is very true.

 

[Ben Scott]

Agree completely with both Marks above ^^.

I've mentioned this on here before but years ago I produced a shoot with the Royal Marines at their Commando training centre, where there was a fresh batch of recruits going into their first physical exercise lessons. Some of the kids were hugely out of shape and some were clearly superfit and some were borderline morbidly obese. I asked about the selection criteria considering such a disparate group of people below us and the Major with us said all they are looking for is the correct mental attitude. Fitness, strength, endurance will come and they don't worry about that. They just need to know they have someone they can work with.

I feel that way a lot about working with less experienced crew. I don't mind if you don't know something. Just need to trust that you'll want to learn it.

EDIT: I am a terrible salesman and seriously need to up my game on that front.

 

[Sabyasachi Patra]

My personal belief is that Filmmaking is a journey - a very personal journey. Ask opinion from someone else will result in a different perspective. It is upto the person to decide whether to embark on this journey. Like any journey, this one will also be a tough hike, at times unpaved roads and at times you need to create your own road. You can only prepare it to a certain extent. After that, you have to be flexible and take it as it comes. If you are not ready to withstand the hardship and still smile, then this is not the profession for you.

Like everything else, one has to have belief on oneself to continue on this chosen path. There will be many who will question you, question your skills, capabilities and experience, if not your sanity. You need to be strong to endure such stuff and push on. It is your talent, ability to learn, perseverance to put those 10,000 hours in finetuning yourself which will ultimately ensure that you reach your goal.

You have to ask yourself as to why you want to be a full time filmmaker. Is it because of money, name, fame? What is it that is driving you? What can you sacrifice for becoming a full time filmmaker? 10-15 years later will you regret that you didn't take the plunge and become a full time professional? If so, then you know what to do.

 

[Ben Scott]

Everything you said there is fine but that is the internal 'why do we do this?' conversation. You absolutely have to love it to do it, even when people around you are telling you to get a 'proper job'. But all of that goes out of the window - or at least it should - when you come onto a set.

There's a time and a place for your opinions and your questions but you're here to do a job and often times with long hours and difficult conditions. At that point, you're not a unique snowflake or artist with delicate sensibilities. You're a member of a team where it is highly likely that for many many years you are the person with the least amount of knowledge and experience, and you're expected to get in the trenches and do what needs to be done with the rest of us without complaint, with enthusiasm and a commitment to learn and soak it all up.

People do not talk about the realities of this job enough. It's hard and can be unfair and unforgiving and as a freelance professional it is often 'feast' or 'famine' which can make it very hard on your personal life. And you will achieve nothing in this business if you can't put aside ego and do the jobs required of you. Forget the '10,000hrs to greatness' approach. Concentrate more on building relationships with the people you want to work with and learn from and making yourself an asset to them and honing the craft.

Be an asset to other people. I can't stress this enough. Be the guy people can trust and rely on.

 

[Daniel Stilling]

These "adverse" conditions have always existed and will always exist, maybe in different manifestations, but it has never been smooth sailing for anyone.
You have to carve your own path, and keep going. That path can be widely different from others. There will be a ton of rejections. You just have to get back up and keep going.
If at some point, it doesn't seem worth it anymore, then this wasn't supposed to be for you. But if you have love for what you do, have staying power, work ethic, talent and can fast adapt, then you can and will be successful.
I have had amazing opportunities and huge disappointments in my career, but it's kind of 2 steps forward and one step back. But you gotta keep walking.

 

[Eric Santiago]

These "adverse" conditions have always existed and will always exist, maybe in different manifestations, but it has never been smooth sailing for anyone...

Yep experienced this all my life.

Construction, music, CG, broadcast, post and film production.

But to be honest the most volatie was broadcast.

Worked in that for a few years and it was toxic environment for beginners.

Felt bad for the newbies.

 

[Paramon Ivanovich]

The greatest salesman with the worst product will still eat.
The person with the greatest product that doesn't tell anyone he or she exists.. will die starving.

i agree 10 000 times, it's a business, if you know how to run it - you can do anything you like and you'll be successful.
Just being in love doesn't mean to be loved;

 

[Aaron michaels]

Do you have enough money for down time and what's your salary for the year? If being a DP doesn't pay more than a 9 to 5 monthly wage. I say keep a job until you get to that status or look
for a DP job listing.