Scott Sheriff
Forum Replies Created
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[Oliver Peters] “I think these tool analogies get a bit wacky. Editing is both craft and art. The closest analogy would be musicians and their signature instruments.”
Craft, yes. Art, no. I know many of my brothers out there see the first violinist playing some heart wrenching solo, and think that somehow they are in the same category of talent and skill, a type of elite artist. Unfortunately it just isn’t true. Anyone can learn to edit. Anyone. I know a color blind editor, and there are editors whose eyesight is so bad they are legally blind. Back in the CMX linear days myself and another editor taught a friends wife who had no previous media production experience how to online edit in about two months, in our spare time after hours at work. Without any other training whatsoever she was able to land an editors job in our top 20 market. One of my interns learned the system in one semester and went right to work as an editor at a competing station without even graduating. But not everyone can learn to play, lets say, the violin, let alone play well enough to do it for a living. Even with a lot of natural skill and a good ear, to play at the concert level takes years of learning and practice. Most professional musicians start playing as young children, playing continuously into adulthood before they are even considered good enough to play at a concert level. Many of the big name editors didn’t even know what editing was until the got to college. At that same point of career development a concert level musician has been playing for over a decade. But still what those folks at that level do isn’t really art, since art is subjective. A skill which has no standards. There are standards for playing a musical instrument. The term virtuoso means an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability. So that means there is a standard to be judged by. Artist is such a vague label, anyone can call themselves an artist. You don’t even have to sell anything to be considered an artist. The day you want to become an artist, you simply start calling yourself one. Try waking up some morning and declare yourself a virtuoso, and attempt to earn a living as such. Good luck with that. Lots of art doesn’t even require any skill, or even require being human. There are several zoo elephants that paint, with the most famous being the now deceased Ruby. There are things like tramp art, and war trench art. Both are a type of folk art made with found objects, by untrained artists.
Then there is a skilled tradesman like a high end finish carpenter. The kind of guy that can take a dead tree, and turn it into a thirty thousand dollar conference table. You simply can’t just wake up one morning and decide to to become that either. But because its a learned trade, just like editing, anyone can learn to do it, but it takes time and patience to develop the skill. Unlike the musician, it really doesn’t require any inborn ability, other than a desire to do it. There are standards to be judged by, like how well the joints fit, that type of thing. Just like we have standards for how well things fit together. As an editor, you can’t simply ignore technical standards in pursuit of ‘your art’. You are much more like the tradesman who must use his skill to balance the technical requirements against the desired outcome, and choose the appropriate tools to accomplish that task. Which is different than an artist who is free to suddenly change tools, materials or whatever and whenever, on a whim. And no matter what comes out, it is still art.
Tradesmen, like the carpenter or the editor don’t have that amount of freedom and must work within the constraints of the job. I know how some hate analogies, but if the artist, had to work like the editor. He would be free to choose the brand of brush, but would still have to use a brush, and would still have to use paint. Where the artist is free to paint with his fingers, and paint in his own blood if the mood strikes him to do so.
So while editing can be used to create art, it is not an art. And the editor is not an artist. He, or she is a craftsman.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Herb Sevush] “Scott I think you are way out of line here. Franz is a great asset and highly respected contributor to this forum.”
Way out of line? LOL I grew up in the 80’s. Remember the MTV slogan, “Too much, is never enough”. I guess if I’m only way out of line, I must be falling asleep on the job!
I’m not accusing anybody, of anything. I’m just saying that my rule of thumb is to not get rick-rolled following blind links posted by people I don’t recognize. I’m sure I’m not the only one. You may recognize Franz, but I don’t have a clue who he is, nothin’ personal.
For the most part, the majority of the legitimate, but blind links on the Cows turn out to be real time wasters because the poster just didn’t want to spend the extra 30 seconds, but expects everyone else reading the post to do so. And I have seen plenty of posts that are nothing more than an attempt to drive traffic to a site. Have you not seen this a lot on the Cows?
For example if Franz could have either quoted an interesting paragraph from the article, followed by the link. Alternatively, how about this; “Here’s an interesting, but off topic article on ___” followed by the link.[Herb Sevush] “His post was, I believe, a little tongue in cheek.”
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I guess that vibe was a little too subtle for me to pick up on.
How it came across to me is, “There is too much analogy, that is inacurate on the board for my taste, and here is a 1500 word article you need to read that reinforces my point.” Just sayin’…I prefer when people reinforce their arguments with their own words.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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I’ve seen people use a small piece of plywood and a hi hat to go from a Mitchell mount tripod, to a bowl fluid head. But I don’t think that type of kludge will work going from a bowl, to another smaller bowl.
Might be cheaper just to rent a matching set of sticks if its a short gig.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Steve Mullins] “Im on the market for a new camera – Sony NX5 or EX1r and have thought, rather than just sell my old Z1 camera – which perhaps could be useful for the occasional ‘we want a tape at the end of the shoot’ scenarios, I could rent it out instead / rather than waiting for the odd tape based job… I also have a couple small consumer cams too I could rent out.
How feasible would this be? Where would i start? What legalities should I have, assurances and agreements? How would i post the 4kg+ camera etc.. Do you need a large selection of cams? Is it even possible by a sole / freelancer to do this?”
Mark makes a good point about liability and having back-up gear, etc. Rent a guy a camera, and then he starts a fire on location with his lights, and you’ll probably get named as a plaintiff in a lawsuit.
And getting the money is another issue. Even known companies will stiff you. Sometimes it’s because the person doing the renting went over the budget, or didn’t have the authority, etc. You have to get the money up front.
I only rent my gear out to people I know well, mostly as a courtesy and not to make money. Everyone else, I have to come with as an operator. With the exception of high end broadcast, or remote production gear used on trucks, most of todays gear is not built like a tank, the way classic analog broadcast gear was, and most of today’s renters don’t know how to treat gear properly. A disastrous combination.
Food for thought.
I have a friend that owns a major film and video rental/sales and service company. The last year or so he has laid off all the staff, and has been selling off the inventory.
Why?
Down economy? No.
Quality of the customer. After 30 plus years of dealing with professionals that treat rental gear better than their own, he is faced with an ever increasing supply of noobs that treat everything like a disposable lighter. Or only rent when they don’t want to put their gear in a risky set-up. And this is not just a USA thing. We have people from all over the world coming here to shoot in Vail, Aspen, Telluride and Moab. They beat the gear to death too. Interestingly enough it’s mostly confined to those unsupervised single camera type gigs. You never see this behavior on big multi-camera sport broadcasts. On those gigs, even the noobs pulling cable and doing utility treat the gear well. Either it’s because of the watchful eye of the truck EIC, or there is just more respect for the big expensive broadcast gear.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Franz Bieberkopf] “Without naming names, I’ve noticed the increasingly pervasive use of analogies as tools of argument here.
I did a quick search and this was the best link I could find outlining the many pitfalls of analogy and why it has the reputation for being “the weakest form of argument”.
https://arstechnica.com/business/problem-solving/2010/11/part-3-analogies-in...
(Gratuitous Apple / car analogy included for illustration purposes.)
Offending parties, please brush up on your argument skills”
Talk about brushing up on your argument skills. This is so weak.
I don’t even know why you would post this, other than to be a snob, or you are trolling us.
I don’t have any problem with analogies, or metaphors. I don’t mind reading them, and I find them useful at times. The Cows is mostly inhabited by folks that think in pictures, not words, which is completely different than forums where writers hang out like the Celtx or Final Draft. And they are useful on a forum where there are many reading what is written in a second language, and may not be familiar with bits of local slang.
And sometimes when using them, it can give you a new perspective on what you are talking about.However, I do have a problem with people that don’t get to the point, or make me chase around following links.
First, unless you are someone well know on the boards, I’m not going to your link for security reasons.
Second, if you don’t have the time to post what you have to say, then I guess I don’t have the time to go read it. My time is at least as valuable as yours.
Both of the above points apply equally to videos, pics, text, etc. Either paste it, embedded it, or upload the relevant content to the Cows. And I mean relevant. I don’t want to watch five minutes of your favorite band video just to see some overused FX you’re curious about, nor do I want to read pages of text just to find the one paragraph you’re referencing.Offending parties please brush up on your posting etiquette.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Shane Ross] “This is one thing I just don’t get. Doesn’t matter what tool was used to make the film. They don’t say “man, that Craftsman Wrench was behind the Ford F150 winning the JD Power and Associates award for 2012…””
They might, if there was a ‘brand’ associated with the tools. Ford doesn’t mention what brand of tool is used at the plant, mostly because they are mostly custom made industrial tools.
But the choice of tool brand is very much a focus of the automotive world, once you get past the manufacture to consumer portion of the market.
If you look at the market above the consumer level, tool branding is often association with event sponsorship, contingency money, team sponsorship, winners purses, and performance in every motorsport discipline.
On a non-sporting portion of the market, it is almost universal that shop mechanics provide they’re own hand tools. And while they are each persons personal choice, shops don’t allow people working for them to use no-name consumer grade tools that you would buy at the local hardware store, or third world cheap knock-off tools from the swap meet. And yes, they ask you what brand of tools you own on the job interview. Because it makes a difference.
If your mechanic has to use cheap, inferior tools, what does that say about their skill level? To me it says the quality of their work can’t earn them enough money to use proper tools. Or maybe it says they aren’t serious enough about the job to pony up for the minimum required equipment. Or maybe is says they have no pride in their workmanship, or just don’t care.
But for sake of argument, lets say a person has decent skills, but for some unknown reason just chooses to use crap tools. Do you want that guy working on your car to use some cheap third world knock-off tools that round off all the bolt heads?
Or worse, do you want the guy torquing the lug nuts on your wheels to use a calibrated, quality name brand torque wrench, or some off-brand piece of junk he bought for 5 bucks at the dollar store?
Lets take that a step farther.
How about the guy working on the plane your flying in? Do you want some guy that just started doing it for a living, and can only afford the cheapest tools available?
When Alan Sheppard was asked what he was thinking about during his first space flight he said, “it’s a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one’s safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract.”
Aren’t you more comfortable paying the guy the guy with the experience to know what quality is, and how to deliver quality work with proper tools?
Which person do you aspire to be? The cheap guy, or the quality guy?
I’ve said it a hundred times, but editing is basically a trade like being an electrician, plumber, finish carpenter, etc. And when it comes to tradesmen, their choice of tools can tell you a lot about their skill, and quality of work.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Carsten Orlt] “I always thought the award is for best editing and NOT for best software?
Must have got that wrong all those years….”
Are you trying to say that this years best editor didn’t use what they considered to be the best tool for the job?
Or are you saying this years best editor doesn’t know what the best tool for the job is?Either way, talk about grasping for straws…
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Sam Lesante Jr.] “I am shooting an MMA fight in a month. I may need to bring some lights with me. “
[Sam Lesante Jr.] “Something similar to this
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/769804-REG/Dedolight_TP_LONI_BI30HO_F...”What type of venue? Is this an actual match open to the public, or is this a set up just for filming? How big of an area? What color is the floor, background? What other house lights are going to be on? How much f-stop do you want, or how many ft candles do you need? What kind of shadows do you want? Do you want a lot of fall-off, or do you want to see the crowd?
Hard to say what is best, or what will even work without some specifics. But my initial reaction is that those LED light seem pretty small. I didn’t see any specs on what they put out but at 24 watts consumption, it can’t be much.
Is this some type of HS gym type small venue without lights? I’ve worked on a lot of sports including boxing in medium and large arenas and there’s always sufficient arena lighting in place, not counting the tunnel and locker.
Maybe some big chinas, or pancakes might be better. Some 2k’s (or bigger) hanging from the ceiling would probably be better too. Bigger lights, higher up and farther back, at a better angle would probably be better than the LED panels on top of the action.
On the stands, C-stands are going to be better if you want to raise them up 10′. Hanging from the ceiling would be even better.[Sam Lesante Jr.] “Does anyone know of a good rental place that I can get (3) LED lights and 10 ft high stands?”
Where? There may be a rental, or grip outfit near your venue, instead of renting at your end and transporting.
[Sam Lesante Jr.] “They would need to be right up against the cage and probably have to be led so they don’t heat up the fighters.”
Seems like an odd requirement, never did any sports gigs where how hot the lights are going to be was an issue, or even brought up.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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I’ll follow that up my previous post by saying that getting better results shooting a dry-erase board (white board) has been previously discussed, either in Field Production, or Lighting and Design. You might try a search.
There are a lot of factors involved and it is not a camera specific thing. In fact it’s not all about the lighting either. As I said, lots of contributing factors, pretty well covered in one of the other forums.I am curious about this, or what you mean when you say moving?
[Susan Lassiter-Lyons] “Yesterday, we filmed a video and the whiteboard actually looks like it’s moving…”Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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Didn’t see the video. You really need to post a relevant clip from the video in a clean, easy to access site like yt, vimeo, etc, and not where there are membership fee’s and sales pop-ups.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?