Quintessential Studios' Weblog

Entertainment in the world is probably the biggest money making proposition there is. (At least for what’s legal, ethical or moral! [Although there are elements of evil in any industry!])

Some of the world’s wealthiest people are entertainers. People can rise to fame in an instant. Talent doesn’t necessarily define what you can earn, either. We’ve all heard music and thought “I know better sounding musicians than that!” and wondered how did they get a record deal. We’ve seen some pretty bad movies at the theaters too, movies that cost millions of dollars to make. We’ve seen no-budget entertainers make the most beautiful pieces of art and thought, “They need to be discovered!” Some of us have even told the artists that.

That’s part of the glamour or intrigue to this whole industry, there are Cinderella stories out there! You can become a millionaire overnight. After all, “You could do THAT!”

Some, a whole lot, actually, feel they can do better or, at least, well enough and try to make a living at entertainment. So many, in fact, that whole industries spring up, feeding on that desire people have to “make it!”

Some easy examples to witness are actors and musicians. A Google search for “acting schools” gave me 4,790,000 results. “Music schools” gave me 84,900,000 results! Whereas “mechanic schools” only returned 589,000 results.

I’m an aspiring film editor and filmmaker but I’ve had other artistic interests before. One of them was music. I’ve “done it all” (on a small scale) in the music business. I’ve played bass in a band, was a lead singer in a band, managed bands, been a college radio DJ, booked bands and even ran a blues magazine.

One of the best educations I got during that time was from a home study course on the business of music. The name escapes me (that was a whole “‘nother” lifetime ago. But, I’ll grab it out of the garage later and fill in the name).

There the instructor (again, I’ll fill this in later) explained that in the music business, you needed to concentrate on one thing: being a musician! Of course there was the “business” side of things but that you didn’t need to build a studio in your bedroom, garage or what have you, like all the music stores were trying to tell you that you did. He went on to explain that there was a whole industry built around selling you on the idea that you just needed that one more extra piece to the puzzle and you could then “make it!” When the fact was, you just needed to learn how to be the best musician you could be and there were other people who were trained in recording, etc. that could do the other jobs.

I hope you’re having an “ah-ha” moment right about now. If you aren’t, I haven’t conveyed the idea well enough or perhaps you’ve been sold that idea too hard as well.

See, it isn’t just in the music industry. I mentioned actors before and acting schools. I also said that an artist should perfect his craft. You might be saying, “well then acting schools are a needed thing”. They very well could be. Then again, maybe not. I’m all for taking classes. After all, I’m a 42 year-old community college student! I think people should continue to educate themselves in some form or another, throughout their lives. What I’m trying to explain here today is that “the path need not be long! (nor expensive!)”

I guess in any endeavor one undertakes, there are expenses. There are millions of ways to tackle any goal in life. There are nearly 6.7 billion people on Earth all with their own tact on survival, eh? Money or no money, we’re all heading to the same end. We just each have our own flare about it, good or bad.

Let me get back to the movies and filmmaking, in particular, since that is my chosen path at this time in my life. Do I need to own a full movie studio and know how to run every part of it to make a movie? No. Do I need to even own a camera, a computer, a light kit and boom mic? No. These are what seem the basic tools of the craft. But, do I need to own them? No. Do I need to learn how to use them? No. Not even that! Does knowing how to use them help me with my craft? Yes! Would owning a studio enable me to create more within my craft? Yes! But, they are not necessary. And that is my point.

You are being bombarded with MARKETING constantly. “If you want ‘A’ you need ‘B’!”, “In order to make your movie, you need to buy camera ‘Z’!” “To be the best filmmaker out there, you need to learn how to edit on a MAC!” (Nothing against Macs, I own four!) Marketing has been defined as “creating want”. If you want something, more than probably, it’s been marketed to you!

I am a firm believer that anything can be done on any budget. (I was going to say within certain means but I re-thought that and stand by what I said.) Now, you may need others to join you who have the equipment or money or what have you, but it can be done. Filmmaking, they say, is a collaborative effort. It can or cannot be but, mostly, I’d say it is. It’s also a dynamic effort. Things change constantly, when making a film, just like life. It’s almost a living, breathing entity on its own! (Cue the Frankenstein clip, “It’s alive!”)

You are being sold gazillions of dollars of stuff (as the late, great George Carlin would say), all the time. You don’t need all that stuff!

Take a look at what’s being sold to you everyday as you pursue your filmmaking career. I took a class with producer Jim Lindsay, who had some great mantras. The main one was “Want vs. Need”. In other words, do I need this or do I just want it? Asking yourself this question every time you’re making a financial decision will save you a LOT of money down the line!

“That being said” (*Curb Your Enthusiasm reference), I’m entering a phase of my filmmaking career where I am heading a filmmaking enthusiasts group. One of the “benefits” of such a group is showing off the latest and the greatest products to help you “become a better filmmaker”. That’s all nice and fancy but I’ll be the first to point out that YOU probably don’t need that [name item here].

To learn more about the new group go here:
http://www.meetup.com/Independent-Filmmakers-of-the-Inland-Empire-Meetup-Group

A reference book that shares the concept that you don’t need to own anything to start (highly recommended!):
The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide

Well, it’s almost been a whole year since I started this whole FCP and video editing journey.

I started my first FCP class Feb 18, 2008.  And started Final Cut Pro (the software program) for the first time on March 10th.

It was at that class that I learned about the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group and I attended my first meeting March 26th.  I’ve gone to every one since and because I love seminars and presentations and lectures, I’ve added many other events to my itinerary over the past year as well.

I’ve long been a fan of seminar-style learning, heck isn’t that what it was like in Kindergarten?  Someone who knows something much better than I, up there telling me how it all works.  Raise your hand, ask a question and get an answer or better yet, raise your hand, give an answer and feel all warm because you’re being praised for such a good job of understanding!

I’ve always been kind of a “brain” and “teacher’s pet” in the eyes of my schoolmates.  But one thing I was bad at was homework.  I procrastinated like nobody’s business!  Report due next month?  Why I’d wait until the morning of and copy stuff out of the encyclopedia, being very careful to “use my own words” for fear of being charged with plagiarism!  Despite all of that I made it through school fairly well and only partied my GPA down to a B+ my senior year of high school, when I figured I was just going to have fun.

I’ve given up partying and have improved my study ability in the years hence.  And now at an advanced age of forty-one, am filed with purpose and drive.

The motif of people who do well at what they do seems to be, “I’ve always wanted to do _____!  Ever since I was a wee lad/lass, I’ve been doing this in one form or another!”  I’ve done lots of things from childhood and I have to admit those things I’m pretty damn good at.  But there’s another type that I hope I am.  One that has always wanted to do something and then when he is finally able to put all of his resources together, he goes and does it and he excels a it.

Well, that’s my plan for editing and maybe a bit of film making.  I fully intend to win an Oscar for editing, even if it takes me to eighty years old.  Hopefully not that long but I’ll keep doing it until I do and beyond, (Insert your favorite deity or force here) willing.  I haven’t always done editing nor film making but I’ve always had a desire. (I even took a year off of high school to try to pursue cinematography.  Long story and I didn’t even get close to doing it but the desire has been there for a long time.)

Now, my love for seminars even transcends to tape and CD lectures.  I buy business related “infomercial” products too.  One of the best I ever bought was a business and marketing kit by E. Joseph Cossman.  Just amazing stuff.  When I go to lectures, I try to record, either by video or audio the event too.  Usually via a pocket recorder, these days it’s been with my Palm TREO 700p.  It can record video for hours.  What a great feature.  Heck, I have all my FCP classes and all of my LAFCPUG meetings on video.

I guess I would lump conferences and conventions in to my “lectureous” desires too.  I especially love to get swag at conventions.  I’ve been to three eBay Lives!  You don’t want to see my embarrassing collection of eBay trading cards!  The funny thing is that the free swag at the events always ended up paying for the trip to the conventions with more left over!

In addition to the LAFCPUG meetings this last year, I have attended the Apple Final Cut Server World Tour in L.A., where my wife won an 8G iPod nano; DV Expo; FCPUG Supermeet; Birns & Sawyer lighting seminar; Digital Cinema Society green/blue screen event and the HD Expo.

In addition to my FCP Editing class, I took Intro to Pro HD with Discovery and History Channel Producer/Director Jim Lindsay.  An amazing life experience where I learned a lot not only about shooting professional HD but also a lot about the business as a whole.  In this class, Shane Ross taught a couple days, we went to EFILM and to Plaster City Post.

This year, I also was able to be on set for Prison Break and meet with the director, DP, editors and an assistant editor of the show.

Truly, LAFCPUG has been “bery bery” good to me!  Not only do they have great presentations and great people to meet but also they have a raffle that, if you actually go ahead and buy some extra tickets for you will very likely win something.  Like I said, I have attended the last ten LAFCPUG meetings (they didn’t have a December meeting).  And I have won something from the raffle eight times and of the two times I didn’t, once was because I got there late and couldn’t get any tickets but even then I got some free pass to an expo!

This new year, I have been doing a lot of webinars and eseminars and podcast watching/listening and streaming video watching.  There is unlimited data in this vein.  And I plan on going to a lot of events.  I have to take a four month hiatus from LAFCPUG because of a class commitment, but it’s killing me….  I guess I’ll have to order those meetings off of iTunes!

If you are into FCP and are in the L.A. area, definitely check out the LAFCPUG meetings.  Here’s a link for more info: http://www.lafcpug.org/user_schedule.html

Next Blog: Norman Hollyn and why you need to buy and READ his book, The Lean Forward Moment.  BTW, he’s going to be presenting at LAFCPUG in Feb, so go see that for sure!!!!