I originally started editing video as a part of a video class at Middlesex Community College (middletown, CT) in the spring of 1993. This was linear stuff, and I got pretty good at it - using my skills for some other personal projects, and to edit news packages for a local station. I then got into nonlinear (computer based) editing @ UTC in the course of some video classes there, and in the course of starting my own show. I've been pretty much making a living doing it for three years now, and I'm sick of it.
I guess I'm sick of it for a variety of reasons. Chief among them being customer lameness, and the knowledge that this lame customer will expect nothing less than "magic" when they see their project. How do you make a storage place exciting?
Couple it with the fact that my co-workers always look to me to "bring the funny" to the jobs, and sometimes I just have ZERO interest in it. I have trouble putting the same of level of passion and creativity into other people's projects. It's not that I DON'T want to give it my all, but I am often instantly bored at the idea of promoting their business, that all creativity leaves me. It becomes a chore. A necessary one, however, in order to pay my bills. The thought my student loans makes me feel like I HAVE to do this for a living.
Freelance work has turned out to be similar. Weddings are cool. Easier, freer. I like it better, but I'm really feeling like I'm on the wrong side of the business. I'm thinking of making a switch back to writing full-time, an area where I've made consistent part-time cash (sometimes more than others) since 1992.
This is a shame, too, because my workspace at the office contains (finally) all the equipment I've been wanting for a year. Oh well.
Stay tuned for the "On The Other Hand" DVD, which was fun to make, and is almost complete.
In this tepid economy, I AM thankful that I have a job that has work to do, and I'm thankful for a paycheck. I just can't help but feel that I don't fit, and I'd do better work elsewhere - doing something else.
Maybe I should've been a farmer.
Posted by colrus at October 8, 2003 10:36 AM | TrackBackI would have liked to have been a butcher. In a small town. In New England.
Posted by: mesh at October 8, 2003 10:55 AMI always wanted to be a lumberjack...
Posted by: podge at October 8, 2003 11:50 AMI went through the same thing. Guy slike us are designed for greatness, to use our powers for good instead of evil. Unfortunately, we have to make a living.
Look where I am now. The money stinks and the hours are long and grueling, but teaching is a great fit for me. So much so that I no crave the creative outlets that I used to.
Do what motivates you. Read "Why you can't be Anything you want to be" by Arthur Miller (not the same guy who wrote Death of a Salesman).
Posted by: podge at October 8, 2003 11:53 AMAfter reading this post, I was compelled to write, which is what I'm currently doing.
First, if I haven't mentioned this before, I really like this site. It's an interesting way to keep up with the goings on when things are slow in the office, as they are now. I could be doing something productive, but I'm in a bit of a rut at the moment.
Driving back to work a few hours ago from feeding the dog that curiously enough ate before I did, Clark Howard was on the radio talking about the "Work Police" in France. They may be yellow cowards, but French workers got it going on.
The Work Police are government agents who literally drive around checking company parking lots, brief cases, etc. to ensure that people aren't working too hard. Employers may not work their employees more than 35 hours each week. I don’t know, but I think this concept rivals the mid-day siestas you hear about on the TV.
Hearing all of this made me wonder where we Americans stand with other countries in terms of our overall well being. Are we schmucks for working so hard or is this the price we as individuals pay for keeping the US a pimp among hoes? I don’t know. I’m not trying to promote a bunch of patriotic bologna in order to justify our warped priorities nor am I suggesting that the working stiff is just that. I’m really the last one to speak on the subject. Whether I like it or not, I identify myself with my work. I work a lot (although not at the moment), and I like it 95% of the time. For that, I consider myself lucky, but sometimes I feel like it’s the only thing there when it’s not. The whole thing just got me thinking about work and work life in general.
Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I think you should move to Atlanta. They're hiring.
Posted by: PMAN at October 8, 2003 03:14 PMI've worked every day since last Monday. I even worked 13 hours on Sunday. Saturday was short, but I worked long enough to need a lunch break. A lunch break on Saturday is just wrong. Monday and Tuesday were both 10-hour days. Where are the work police? I don't get a day off until Saturday!
In a work week where you've worked from Monday until Sunday, what comes after Sunday?
Posted by: Garrett at October 8, 2003 10:44 PMPat-
i will BE in Atlanta @ the Variety Playhouse to see Built To Spill tomorrow (Thursday night). You should stop by. they rock. show is @ 8:30.
Posted by: bill colrus at October 8, 2003 11:27 PMMan, I would in a second, but I don’t know if I can/should. Lynne was in Charleston Mon and Tues, and she’s leaving for Chicago Friday evening. I probably won’t see her until Mon night. Should probably just hang out tonight. However, I am just a few miles away from the Playhouse, so maybe we could meet up before or after for some nachos, depending on how rushed you are. Email me your cell number or you have mine, right? Just let me know either way. It’s been too long.
Posted by: PMAN at October 9, 2003 12:11 PMAhhh...the joys of dealing with clients..or, as every video editor I know (including me) has referred to them "brain-dead morons".
Consider yourself lucky...there are very specific rules regarding underwriting credits in the wonderful world of public television. Try explaining to a restaurant owner that we can show shots of their food & customers, but not shots of customers eating their food. Also, they can't make any claims about being the best, lowest priced, etc. or make calls to action. It can be...challenging.
And don't get me started on the companies who send letterhead or business cards for logos with instructions to "just scan them in" or marketing people who let them get away with it or...ok, I think I need to lie down for awhile...
Posted by: ThatChris at October 9, 2003 12:33 PM(Least) Favorite Client Lines:
"Just Make It Good"
"We can help you shoot it if you want."
"My brother is funny. Do you want me to see if he'd like to be in it?"
"You can take the date off the screen, right?"
"Is LP speed ok?"
"You can just scan this brochure and blow the pictures up, can't you?"
Do you think we can see something today?
Posted by: PMAN at October 9, 2003 02:41 PM