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How did you get involved in Video?

MIDI_EVIL

MIDI_EVIL

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 23, 2006
1,320
14
UK
Well, I thought i'd ask this question as i'm considering becoming freelance myself, a year after graduating.

I'd love to hear how you guys all started out, why you started out, and the direction you are aiming for...?


I'll start:

I am an artist, originally studied Fine Art, but I wanted to experiment with Video. It became my tool.

As i've experimented with a fair bit of photography, Video seemed to be a natural progression. I feel comfortable using lens based mediums.

Now i'm degree qualified, confident with FCP, and i've had a good amount of experience with 3CCD cameras and HD, i'm considering turning it into a profession.

Although I adore shooting, and being out in the field with the cameras, I feel more comfortable in the edit suite.

I'd love to hear how you guys did it, with maybe some advice for anyone else in the same boat as me?


Thanks in advance,

Rich.
 
Actually, I just got started like a year and a half ago. I have LOTS to learn. But Im loving this. I like to shoot weddings, and things like that to start.Thats actually how I got started. My cousin was looking around and she found that all these guys were asking for tons of moey. Well I suggest she gave that to me and in return help purchase the camera. So she agreed to help me out. So I didnt charge her for the video or anything else just what she gave me to put towards the camera since it was the most expensive thing I need it.And I am serious about this. But am working on a short film. You know, like 35 to 45 minute one. Small story line and funny stuff.


Well I hope you stick around if you are a 3ccc and a guru. I can sure use some help from time to time.


I work with a Sony HDR-FX1, I have a 20inch IMAC, and the program im currently using is Final Cut Express HD 3.5
 
I started my sophomore year in high school. I signed up for Media I and loved it. The next year, I took Media II and a class where we made the weekly school newscast. And senior year, I took the last class offered, in which we made a 2 hour long dvd about our senior year.

Now I'm in college and I just completed my first year studying for a communications degree. Hopefully after I graduate, I'll go to graduate school for film.
 
Let's see...

I started making videos with my friends in 7th grade, didn't start editing until the summer before I would enter high school.

I started out with a crappy 1 mega pixel digital camera, hooked up by USB to a HP computer using the mic that was built in to the monitor to get sound. I used Windows Movie Maker. That was in 2003.

I would always watch the special features on every DVD I'd watch and look at the behind scenes, things like that. I love all kinds of films and that has pushed me to keep editing so I can one day edit a big feature film (one can dream).

I then went back to Apple after my Uncle donated his PowerMac G3 to me. Ever since then, I have been using a Mac. (well I have been using Macs since I was 4 years old, but there was this 3-4 year gap because my dad purchased a PC and it was hell using that machine).

In about 2 weeks I'll be graduating high school and I'll be going to a community college just to get my basic classes out of the way. In the mean time I'll edit and make money so I can then go to school in Chicago and get a bachelor's degree in film editing.
 
Around 1995 or 96 I got a "WinTV" card, which was a PCI tuner card for Windows. It was really crappy but I didn't know it at the time. Once I realized I could hook my awful Hi8 camera up to it, I downloaded some free capture software and made a video of me "linking out" in the style of the computer game Myst. xD

Since then, I made shorts and more special effect stuff, and eventually progressed with skills and better equipment.

Then I got a job when I was 16 at a local news station as a video switcher, and being there exposed me to professional equipment that they actually let me play around with, and that's where I learned an unbelievable amount.

Then I went to college and majored (still am) in Telecommunication, where I didn't learn a thing except for one lighting class that was pretty good.

And then I got an internship with Late Night at Conan O'Brien, once again with the professional equipment and network television. Aaand that's where I am now. :)
 
took an R.O.P. video class and everything sparked. That's when we were using the Casablanca machine.

that was 7 years ago

Now I make films for the offroad industry.

i love my job.
 
well, back in the 8th grade i made a video about harriet tubman. i used this crappy powershot point and shoot with a video mode, and edited in windows movie maker.. it kinda grew from there, ive made a bunch of motocross movies, a coupple of shorts, and a bunch of school projects. im now using final cut express only because i dont have the $$ for pro. as much as i would love to go into post production, i think majoring in architectual design will be a bigger payoff
 
For me it started when I traveled for the summer on a teen tour. The first one was just a slide show and the other 2 i got a miniDV camera and made a nice little video. I then took a class in High school and did some stuff....
I graduated High School and now I attend college up in Boston majoring in COM/TV. I've been editing news stories for our station as well as recently putting together an orientation video for the freshmen orientation. Also this past semester I did an internship with a small TV station in Worchester with sports and did some news stuff and loved it. Next semester I hope to do another internship.
In the furture I think i want to be a producer for TV or create my own show. I would love to be the next Mark Burnett. I enjoy editing but i don't think I could do it for hours a day, 5 days a week.
 
When I was younger, I used to shoot absolutey every moment on family vacations just for the hell of it - I loved being behind the camera (even though I was about 11 and the majority of video was me saying random stuff with the camera focused on my leg lol). Nothing really grew out of it though and at the beginning of this year I watched Titanic and realized my dream to make a truly epic sized movie. I asked for a camera for Christmas and I've been making videos ever since.
 
My nephews began wrestling when they were 4-5 years old. They had great coaching, and over the years, became exceptional. The youngest graduates this year and has a full-ride scholarship to Oregon State. I have been filming wrestling for over ten years. That is where the initial interest began. I started with an analog/VHS camera, then bought a cheap DV. I did the editing using Pinnacle.

Another nephew began video editing in HS. He saved up and bought an eMac with FCE. Soon he was doing cheap (but decent) wedding videos. One day I watched him working on the Mac and was blown away by how much better his system was. Then the wheels of fate took a strange turn.

The CEO of my company called me into his office. He wanted to know how much I knew about visual media. He said this was going to be very important in our future technology needs. We will need it for marketing, training, etc. I told him I had a very basic knowledge of it. He said I would have to learn it sufficiently well, so that I could write RFQ's, interview and select contractors, manage projects, etc. He said he did not expect me to actually do the work, just be able to manage it. Very cool, I thought.

Soon thereafter, I was walking through Fry's and just happened to cut through the Apple display isle. There sitting on the table was the brand-new Powermac Dual 2.0, cover off and connected to a 23" ACD. They even had FCE on the screen. The next day I was meeting with the CFO (my boss), explaining why I needed this for learning video production. But, she had a different take, "You have not spent any of your training allowance. It is part of your compensation plan. Use it as you see fit." Some quick math, and I realized I had over $10K in there. I about leaped out of the chair. By the end of the next day, I had spent it all. I also bought a Panasonic AG-DC30P.

That is what really got me going. That year I was filming all of the major wrestling tournaments, and really focusing on learning the craft. My post production work really improved. Soon, I was selling the DVD's throughout the state wrestling community. They also became known by way of the Internet. So, I get many requests from all over the country, even in Iraq.

I now find myself at the point, where each new thing I learn, I realize how much I do not know. I would like to get some formal training. One problem is, I want to do it all. I am pretty creative. But, I have far more experience doing technical work. Based on my current trajectory, I will never spend enough time doing any one thing to be professionally competent. Maybe that is OK. It may be my destiny to do many things passably well?

I am getting ready to make the move to HD. It will be a sizable investment. But, it too will be from my compensation package. I remember seeing old farts with $1000 golf clubs, and they could not play worthy of a $100 set. I used to scoff at them. Now, I fell like I have become one. :eek:
 
I started in 7th grade making stupid movies of my friends and editing on windows movie maker. That led to me buying Adobe Premier Elements. Now i got a mac and work with FCP. I now do alot of filming and editing for my church youth group. I dont usually get paid other than the occasional "if you film you can go on the activity free" deal. I get good experience and i have fun. I hope to start doing weddings and other paying events soon.
 
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