Now the Door Opens

Early last week, I finished editing an educational video for the Frisco Independent School District that details the process of an interview. This project was a lot of fun. I got to experiment with some new techniques and effects that I had been messing around with, and I am pretty pleased with the result and how it turned out. That said, some of the shots turned out a little too blue, but that is entirely at the fault of the colorist...which was just me. I cannot seem to execute color grading very well, even with a color-accurate monitor. But it is okay, we learn from mistakes, and we grow.

I do not think I was ever particularly one who loved puzzles, but piecing together a video and problem solving is very appealing and exciting to me. When it came time to add in a series of clips for the "dos and don'ts" of interviewing through Zoom, I had a hard time making the video flow from section to section. Thus, I used a glitch effect and went full-on old-school cassette player for the whole segment. The glitch effect provided a great transition, and it was surprisingly easy to execute.

Unfortunately, after I finished this video, I did not find enough time for the rest of the week to work on a green screen effect or storyboard like I had hoped. Instead, I took to my list of 30 or so professionals in the field of video production, which included cinematographers, directors, colorists, editors, DPs (directors of photography), creative directors, and so on, emailing around ⅔ of my list throughout the day on Friday. When I created this contact list, I combed through my favorite music videos in search of producers, editors, directors, cinematographers, etc. and through enough Googling, I found websites, portfolios, Instagram pages, and other professionals in the industry.

Not all of my contacts came from music videos, but a lot of them did. I ended up contacting a lot of cinematographers, some of which I idolized in a way because they worked on a music video that had either changed my life, was a great source of inspiration for me, or both.

Before I move on, I should explain what exactly my email looked like, so this next part makes a bit more sense. We are taught, in the ISM (Independent Study Mentorship) program, to draft a polite and respectful email to send out to professionals in our field of interest. Now, I understand that this level of formality is required if I wanted to be a lawyer; however, that is not my field of interest.

I certainly did not think about the fact that the creative industry, in general, is very laid back. Thus, I sent out very formal emails in a serif font, which makes it appear even stiffer, and I received email replies without punctuation and capitalization, and many people used emojis. Needless to say, I learned my lesson. Luckily, the people who responded to my request to have a conversation were incredibly kind and enthusiastic to speak with me and allowed me to learn to be less stiff in general.

Over the past three days, I had my first three interviews with three different cinematographers. I cannot possibly describe my reaction when I scheduled my first interview; there was so much excitement but an equal amount of utter panic. All of a sudden, I had felt wildly unprepared for the interview, and I had to bring myself back down to Earth and remember that these people are just as human as I am. Luckily, I gained my senses and prepared myself for a series of interviews that would occur consecutively from Saturday to Monday, one per day. Each interview went much smoother than I could have ever hoped for, and the amount of information I gained is invaluable.

I am so grateful to be a part of a program like ISM, where I can gain the confidence to reach out to professionals and talk to them about their job and our shared interests in it. It has been an eye-opening experience like no other, and I feel like my life has changed in a matter of three days.

I am looking forward to conversing with many more professionals in the coming weeks. Despite the current situation with the pandemic, the recurring advice I have been hearing of getting onto film sets to learn has led me to have high hopes of getting a mentor and, someday, hopefully, be on a film set with them. Learning about how everything works on set and taking it all in must be an incredible experience. That would be a dream come true.

Until then, I will be contacting more professionals, scheduling interviews, and taking the advice of the three successful cinematographers I have had the pleasure of conversing with. I will spend this week studying how light changes a person’s face and natural light and how to replicate and modify it. Additionally, I will be taking as many photographs and videos as possible to familiarize myself with what makes a shot look “good” or not.