How does your day job influence your filmmaking?
- Thread starter dar
- Start date
I'm a missionary who travels a LOT. In the last 3 months I've been to Southern Sudan, Uganda, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and I'm now in Paris, France for a few days before moving on to Germany for several months. I also frequently travel between Africa, the UK, and the US.
A lot of the filmmaking skills I've developed, therefore, have been of the "adventure documentary" variety. I've learned the patience and coordination skills to have 3 or 4 people all hiking across different parts of a valley with NO cellular network and NO walkie-talkies, and two hours later be ready for a high-altitude shoot from different angles that are hundreds of meters apart at the same time. I've learned how to use gear that is very durable, how to take good care of gear that isn't, and the indie filmmaker's greatest talent (also acquired from years of playing jazz drums in LA): knowing how to lug around Pelican cases full of heavy equipment in really rough areas.
A lot of my wide angle shots tend to be tilted slightly, a la Danny Boyle, partially because I love it whenever he uses this technique in his movies, and also because from a logical point of view, you can make a wide angle even "wider" by tilting the camera, and thus getting more horizontal picture space. I've also found that if you tilt the one leg of your tripod opposite your subject back six or seven inches and then follow your subject as it moves, you can simulate a sort of cool documentarian "fisheye" effect. These are the kinds of things you learn when you have to somehow get amazing shots of... a valley. Or a truck moving. Or a building that your employer really thinks is just fucking amazing and you should really, really try to highlight this building in your video because we just built it last month, I mean look at that thing.
A lot of the filmmaking skills I've developed, therefore, have been of the "adventure documentary" variety. I've learned the patience and coordination skills to have 3 or 4 people all hiking across different parts of a valley with NO cellular network and NO walkie-talkies, and two hours later be ready for a high-altitude shoot from different angles that are hundreds of meters apart at the same time. I've learned how to use gear that is very durable, how to take good care of gear that isn't, and the indie filmmaker's greatest talent (also acquired from years of playing jazz drums in LA): knowing how to lug around Pelican cases full of heavy equipment in really rough areas.
A lot of my wide angle shots tend to be tilted slightly, a la Danny Boyle, partially because I love it whenever he uses this technique in his movies, and also because from a logical point of view, you can make a wide angle even "wider" by tilting the camera, and thus getting more horizontal picture space. I've also found that if you tilt the one leg of your tripod opposite your subject back six or seven inches and then follow your subject as it moves, you can simulate a sort of cool documentarian "fisheye" effect. These are the kinds of things you learn when you have to somehow get amazing shots of... a valley. Or a truck moving. Or a building that your employer really thinks is just fucking amazing and you should really, really try to highlight this building in your video because we just built it last month, I mean look at that thing.
Last edited:
I was, wanted to be, am a director first. But my day job taught me how to be a cinematographer.
I'm a bartender. A good bartender is the King of Multitasking. That skill crosses over very nicely for an ultra-low-budget director who has to wear lots of hats.
A good bartender stays calm under pressure, and NEVER loses their cool. That crosses over well to any job, but especially to a high-pressure one, like directing.
Whether they want to or not, a bartender is forced to socialize with a very diverse group of people. You have to be able to crack jokes with the idiot college drunk kids taking shots, and then the next minute, discuss world politics with white-collar business types, and then share cooking recipes with old ladies. Effective communication is essential to directing, so being a people person goes a long way.
Okay, now that I've inflated my own ego, let me deflate it some. Of course there are exceptions, but as a general rule, bartenders tend to be a wild bunch. You can read into that however you like, but long story short, I may not be the world's best organizer. I'd really benefit by building a relationship with a solid AD who could keep all my ducks in a row.
A good bartender stays calm under pressure, and NEVER loses their cool. That crosses over well to any job, but especially to a high-pressure one, like directing.
Whether they want to or not, a bartender is forced to socialize with a very diverse group of people. You have to be able to crack jokes with the idiot college drunk kids taking shots, and then the next minute, discuss world politics with white-collar business types, and then share cooking recipes with old ladies. Effective communication is essential to directing, so being a people person goes a long way.
Okay, now that I've inflated my own ego, let me deflate it some. Of course there are exceptions, but as a general rule, bartenders tend to be a wild bunch. You can read into that however you like, but long story short, I may not be the world's best organizer. I'd really benefit by building a relationship with a solid AD who could keep all my ducks in a row.
Goobs, many a people have had very successful careers making movies about penis jokes. Boobs and farts go a long ways, too. 
Speaking of farts... my wife is hoping that we can cash in on mine at some point (natural gas) since I'm not making any money with my penis. 
