Video as a Profession
It was because of that experience I decided to get into video work as a profession. My software career was pretty much done at that time: the standalone computer systems I was an considered an expert with were rapidly disappearing with the advent of much more powerful desktop systems.
That led to a couple of memorable gigs and assignments.
New Thought Awards Ceremonies and Concerts
The first was in conjunction with a lady that I worked with at the cable access station, Sandra Lynch. She had a show named “Calling All Angels” and she was asked to come to Phoenix to tape a concert and awards presentation. She asked me to assist, and to help provide the camera equipment. The organizers flew us out to Phoenix for the weekend, where we both taped the concert one night of several of the nominees, then the awards ceremony the following night. During the days, Sandra interviewed many of the nominees for episodes of her show.
The shoots weren’t exactly difficult but they were certainly learning experiences for the both of us. Lighting was always an issue: the events in the evening were theatrically lit and constantly changing, which played hell with the white balance, and the interviews during the day were in our hotel room which had limited lighting. Sound was not so much a problem, since we took the sound from the sound boards during the evening and made do with lapel microphones and dual inputs during the day. At least I didn’t have to train Sandra how to run a camera, she was already trained herself at the same place as I was.
That first year must have been a success, because the same people brought us back the following year. Same situation, same problems, same issues, same results. There wasn’t a third year, mainly because the awards organizers changed affiliations and venues so they couldn’t bring any one in to tape it.
2005 Nebula Awards Ceremony
The second was producing a DVD of the 2005 Nebula Awards Ceremony of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. As a member of SFWA myself, I was able to convince the committee to allow me to video the ceremony and produce a DVD from it. There were two things in my favor here: first, the ceremony (in fact, the entire weekend event) was to be held in Chicago, not all that far from me, and secondly, the event was to feature two of the biggest names in the industry, Neil Gaiman and Anne McCaffrey. It was an opportunity that I could not pass up.
It turned out to be the biggest and most complicated shoot I ever imagined or did. Material from four steady cameras plus two hand-held cameras was edited down to almost two hours of footage, plus several minutes of additional video material and all of the DVD menuing graphics. It was a great learning experience.
Midwest Training Institute of Hypnosis
The last was my association with Dr. Gisella Zukausky and the Midwest Training Institute of Hypnosis. She was a local hypnotherapist who worked long and hard to create a school to teach hypnosis and hypnotherapy in the state of Indiana. (There is a long story about why this was so difficult that I won’t go into right at this time.) She finally was able to present a number of different classes and I taped them all and produced a series of DVDs from them. I also recorded and mastered a number of her hypnosis CDs that she markets, some taking her existing recordings and some we recorded in her office for the new CDs. In addition, I also created the DVD and CD packaging and the DVD menuing graphics.
The End of an Era
Unfortunately, several years of trying to make a living at this, I ultimately discovered that I didn’t have to total package of skills and enthusiasm needed to be a sole operator. I could handle the behind the scenes stuff very well, but I lacked what it took on the (self) promotion side to make a business prosper. Ultimately, I closed down the business and sold off much of the equipment.
But that didn’t mean I left video work entirely.
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