Happy Place

November has been kind of a rough month, so, today, I did what any sane person would do: I went to Panavision and took cameras apart and put them back together. Then I loaded them with film and unloaded them.  I am officially back in my happy place.

People, please be kind.  All the pushiness and junior high-level meanness makes me nervous.  We are living in a world that is changing really quickly, let's concentrate on being an integral part of it, rather than fighting for scraps of the old world.

That Barton Fink Feeling

Hollywood

Every day, to earn my daily bread

I go to the market where lies are bought

Hopefully

I take my place among the sellers.

Bertolt Brecht

American Poems 1941-1947

Shipping and Receiving

OK, not the most scintillating stuff, but it's good to know which companies actually stand behind their products.  I got my bus powered OTG hard drive back from Other World Computing after a week or so.  It had a defective bridge card, which they replaced, and then sent it back to me.  In the end, getting the drive made whole cost me nothing more than a trip to the UPS store. It also made me happy that they repaired the drive rather than tossing the whole thing and shipping a new package to me, less e-waste.  Very pleased how that played out, however, if I had needed the drive during this time period for work I would have been out of luck.  That is always something to think about when considering whether to buy locally or over the Internet.

What my living is starting to look like......

My Streamlight Scorpion flashlight also went haywire after a recent job.  Happily, I had purchased it from an authorized reseller (meaning it was covered by the lifetime warranty and also meaning it was more expensive).  I shipped it back to them, at my expense, they replaced pretty much most of the flashlight except for the shell and shipped it back to me with new lithium batteries.  Again, they replaced what needed to be fixed/upgraded rather than throwing the whole thing away and sending a whole new package.  In the end, it cost me about $5.00 to ship it to them, which was offset by the cost the new batteries.

The whole idea of buying junk that you throw away after a short time drives me crazy.  I guess this post really isn't about warranties, rather it's about thinking of how much waste you generate in your professional life and trying to minimize it.  I upgrade my computers rather than buying new and generally wait to buy something until I absolutely need it.  It makes good business and environmental sense.

Yikes, I Know it Happens but Still..........

I bought two new bus-powered hard drives to transfer P2 files in the field for a new camera that I bought for documentary and corporate work. Today I did my first green screen and work flow test. One of the drives died almost immediately after transferring the data!   It couldn't be any clearer, always immediately back your data onto two hard drives and verify that it's good before reformatting those cards. The drives were On The Go (OTG) drives from Other World Computing.  I just spoke with customer service and they are emailing me a return shipping label and will replace the drive upon receiving the fried one. It was a one-minute conversation.

I will keep you posted as to whether their customer service follows through on honoring their warranty quickly. I am hopeful, I have had good luck with OWC and am a long-term customer.  OK, as I am typing this the shipping label has already arrived.  Good sign.

Motion Media in Magazines?

The idea of "living magazines" is one example of how media is changing, of how forward-thinking media makers will be able to find new opportunities as old ones evaporate. It also is an example of the "smaller" opportunities (as opposed to the dream of creating motion pictures, big budget T.V. or commercials) that will be available to media makers in the future. I suspect the future will be full of these smaller "disposable" media experiences throughout the day with the more engaging content being interactive.

I do have big concerns about e-waste for this type of media, especially magazines. What are the ramifications of creating largely single-use high tech media experiences?

The downside of this convergence between still photography and motion photography is that both traditional motion picture producers and still photographers are now competing for the same opportunities. In the end, the old rules will still apply: those with a good eye and who can shoot quickly and economically will thrive.

Helicopter Boyz and Your Future

The old ways of doing things are passing more quickly than many people realize. Or as Ted Hope succinctly puts it:

Cinema, in its current concept and execution, is both derived from and depending on a world that we’ve passed by.
• It is no longer is the most complete & representative art form for the world that we inhabit.
• It no longer mirrors how we currently live in the world.
• Cinema is now a rarefied pleasure requiring us to conform to a location-centric, abbreviated, passive experience that is nothing like the world we engage with day to day.

Mobile, light, nimble, ....those are the future media makers. It's actually really exciting, technology is moving so fast that it is already leapfrogging those who want to create old style media by using new technology (that would be the deluge of stuff out there that tries to pass itself off as innovative web-content or some indie film that really is just a low budget imitation of Hollywood film).  More people seem to like to do things now, or at least they want interactivity.  That's a good thing, right?  Does anyone really think that the old passive entertainment model was that great, aside from T.V. network executives?  Social media is just one example of people shaping media to their own world.

The new DSLR's are awesome, especially for people like me who like the discipline of distilling a story down to one frame; the addition of HD video/depth of field is like a gift. But there are lots of little miracles out there that will help change the way we tell stories, so I am equally excited about the S1000PJ's of the world as well (what was used in the Helicopter Boyz performance). What will write the future is how you, the creatives, put it all together. Don't mourn the passing of the old, keep your mind open to the answers that appearing daily and have fun playing with them.

Honest Truths: does the world need a documentary code of ethics?

There is an interesting discussion here about the idea of a possible "code of ethics" pertaining to documentary filmmakers. Access to this topic requires D-Word membership.

http://www.d-word.com/topics/show/166?pos=1

It is based on the release of the report "Honest Truths: Documentary Filmmakers on Ethical Challenges in their Work" which is available here:

http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/publications/honest_truths_documentary_filmmakers_on_ethical_challenges_in_their_work/

I have to admit that I am a little perplexed by the idea of a code covering all documentary filmmakers. The variety of work, and storytelling techniques used, in the genre is so diverse, I'm not sure that it is possible (or desirable) to come up with an all-encompassing code. Is this type of code, no matter how well-intentioned, doing documentary filmmakers a disservice by painting them as "journalists" alone? Does someone who uses a more impressionistic technique for expressing a truth really need to live by the BBC code of ethics (how well are traditional news organizations living up to their own code of ethics)?

Many documentary filmmakers do strive to fit into the category of journalist, but there are others (including some very important voices) who do not. Would this type of code actual end up hurting the genre by driving away diverse voices who now self-identify as documentary filmmakers? Thinking about it, Robert Flaherty and Werner Herzog would probably be in violation, if not in letter then at least in spirit of the code. Could such a code be used in lawsuits against filmmakers who do not use a journalistic model for their filmmaking? Is it fair to expect filmmakers, who are in the minority, to live by, and be judged by a code that was created by a "consensus" of the majority?



Is an "ecstatic truth" more real than an "accountant's truth? " Interesting stuff, there are some who would argue that much journalism, with its codes of ethics, actually present less truth under the cover of presenting many details. Honestly, it freaks me out a little when people claim to know/ present the "Truth" as opposed to truths.