Mike Cohen
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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use the project manager function to make a new project folder for each project, thus eliminating all the unused footage, which from a wedding can be a lot. The bride is unlikely to say “can you put back in a shot of my dad passing out.” Then as Mike said save these to a hard drive.
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Today I reviewed some resumes and video links from a few job applicants. The resumes, as usual, embellish actual experiences. For example “11 years of filming and editing using all major editing platforms” combined with YouTube clips worthy of a C grade in high school video class.
Sure, my college work was hit or miss, but I only put stuff on my reel with good audio, soild camera work and professional-looking graphics. It seems the YouTube effect is lowering the standards for young people (not all young people, as there have been some good samples also).
Based upon some earlier posts here, I have a few criteria for videos that go directly in the trash:
Copyrighted music. There was even a clip of a supposed paid job using easily recognizable pop music.
Any student “film” shot like the Blair Witch Project. Perhaps this is a misnomer, because despite starting the shaky camera movement, they did have good audio.
And of course, a resume or cover letter with typos or poor grammar gets the ax.
Mike
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I have written one letter of recommendation in the past, very generic in nature.
I receive one or two calls a year from employers or employment verification services, asking about a former employee. Even people I have laid off use me as a reference. Must be my bubbly personality 😉Seriously, you have to be careful what you say about a former employee. Here is a typical call:
Them “I’m calling to ask about Bob Smith. Did he work at your company from 2002 to 2007?”
Me “That sounds right.”
Them “Great. What were his duties?”
Me “Let’s see. He was hired to wash the decks ans clean barnacles off the hull. Then we promoted him to boatswain and eventually galley chief. His bread pudding is to die for.”
Them “Ok. What was the reason for leaving?”
Me “It was a layoff. Lack of work.”
Them “Was he punctual?”
Me “We worked on a boat at sea. He was usually on board.”
Them “Would you hire him again?”
Me “We no longer are in the merchant marine business. Our ship sank. I don’t think we have any positions for which he would be qualified in our new business of high tension wire maintenance.”
Them “I see. Ok, thanks for your time.”
Me “No problem.”
I’m a nice person. Unless someone steals from me, I’m going to give a favorable response, but I will not give too many details one way or the other. A person’s merit should be the deciding factor.
And I agree, a resume or cover letter with a typo or blatant grammatical error goes into the trash.
Mike
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I have seen this on occasion with Encore DVD projects, not to mention the odd PC that has trouble playing the discs. Are you using CS3? This seemed to fix most of the issues we had with 1.5 and 2.0.
Mike Cohen
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Well, I guess you don’t need the OR Protocol training 🙂
E-mail me directly at mcohen at cine-med dot net and I’ll send you some information written just for surgeons.
Mike
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While one cannot expect an editor to catch every error, to what degree should people be expected to avoid basic errors, such as flash frames, titles outside the safe area, over or under exposed video or by the same token, broken web links or a DVD with navigation errors?
Years ago when I confronted an employee about checking his own work, his response was “you’re going to check my work anyway, so why should I bother.” This was an extreme case and he is now a former employee!
Mike
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you may also want to get vaccinated against Hepatitis and maintain documentation in your employee file. We do.
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Max,
Is this in relation to a potential gig?
The most important things for shooting in any medical situation are:
1. Make sure you are getting the right shot. The surgeon needs to see a monitor of what you are shooting. We have hired freelance shooters for surgery who send us some very nice Discovery-channel-style b-roll, but nothing useful for a teaching video.
2. Know something about what you are shooting. Usually the name of the procedure is enough to get a Google search going. Part of documenting surgery, or anything for that matter, is anticipating what happens next.A famous story I like to tell at parties was early in my career. The surgeon had finished dissecting out a mass and then quickly removed the mass, asking me “did you get that?” I was zoomed in on a tight shot, so I said “not really, what was that?” He put the mass back into the patient, asked me to zoom out, then re-removed it. That was my “Junior Mint” moment.
3. OR Nurses, the people who control your access to the operating room, like camera crews to be somewhat familiar with OR protocols and patient privacy rules. This is especially true with pediatric patients and babies. You should take these two courses, both for your own information, and because you may be asked to do so by hospitals. Even if they don’t ask, it is good to know and shows some concern on your part for rules and regs.
https://www.healthstream.com/Products/STS/RepDirect/orProtocol.htm
https://www.healthstream.com/Products/STS/RepDirect/exBloodPath.htm
Where are you located?
Mike
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Always test the video files via a media player, to see if they are ok or also choppy.
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We’ve been around as a company since I was in grade school, but in my experience, I will say the following:
When I was made a manager of about 10 people, I hired an admin assistant. At first this worked well, for sending correspondence, keeping in contact with clients and doing some project management. But this person did not work well under pressure, and as projects piled up, she fell apart.
An admin’s duties should be carefully spelled out before hiring.
We have had a few sales guys over the years, usually with the same result. They take about a year to make contacts, then have a productive year or two then fizzle out. A vested interest in selling and servicing customers is important. This goes beyond commission, which can on occasion result in bookings that are not in the company’s interests. Being a owner/co-owner makes the interest of the company more obvious. Commission-based sales runs the risk of putting commissions for the sales person ahead of the company’s bottom line. Again, this needs to be clearly spelled out. Most companies give a sales person a quota with an understanding that failure to make numbers = no job.
Mike