fuzzynormal

Yeah, this was my job for a while in the middle of my career. It was to make videos a bit different than what he does, but the field work flow was similar. My jobs were maybe a bit faster and sloppier than what he has to work with, but, yeah, similar. It's a hell of a thing to learn. The assignments were fun, but always a bigger challenge than you might imagine. People, or tourist (especially tourists) going about their lives tend to look unattractive while also being ostentatious. And humans are hard-wired to look at people being weird and suss them out, we can't help it -- so a shooter, depending on what one needs to do, has to mitigate that or leverage that in various ways. And, has to anticipate moments that allow a useful capturing of a composition. So, yeah, try being on assignment and being tasked with getting decent shots of the Trevi Fountain or the Spanish Steps in the mid-day sun, because 2-3 in the afternoon is the only time the producer gave you ... Anyway I can't be a tourist anymore. When I visit places I'm always looking at situations with my videographer's bias and can't seem to be in the moment.

The six figure paycheck (I would hope for his sake) they gave him to do it.

Yeah. That's why marketing is so important to the companies trying to sell 'em.

I'ma going to guess he's too good for that to happen unless he wants it to.

The secret sauce is skill. As someone that used to make my living doing travel videography decades ago, this Brandon guy has really honed the judgement it takes to get the shots. There's so much going on out there in the environment and he's able to omit it, control it, and/or shape it into something impressive. It's really quite a thing to do. He could make any camera in manufactured in the last 15 years look similar to this. In fact, he has. This guy is a cinematographer that really knows how to chase the light, compose a shot, and also create advantageous serendipity. Which might sound like a paradox, but it really isn't. But, yes, images like this sell cameras. Okay, buy the camera if you'd like and start the path to making an edit like this. You can't buy his boots-on-the-ground experience though. He's casual about it all during his "how-to" segment, but it really is the biggest factor here.

That's a key point. Or "Kye" point, if you will. My handheld shooting drifts and sways a bit, as I like that sort of kinetic visual energy. Not all IBIS handle this camera movement AND stabilization elegantly. Rapid shifts of the image that are unwanted can happen. Fuji is a disappointment in this regard and it makes shooting my style of video with my X-T5 pretty much useless. Meanwhile I can "dance" pretty good with LUMIX and Olympus.

No doubt. I have a 5DMII that I think still delivers in this regard as well. What I have is good enough for me, so I've decide, "Eh, I'll stay where I'm at." (for now) 😉

Yeah. Fair. And I'm actually to the point where I'm like, "Do I even want the extra DR"? The modern look of digital imaging seems almost too pristine to me anymore. So I guess my reticence is actually morphing into a stylistic choice; which is a place I never thought I'd be when using consumer gear, honestly. After all, we usually think "more is more" right? Maybe it's just me being a stick in the mud because of my age. However, when I watch old movies I'm always left thinking, "Well, I have more imaging power than they had. What am I really chasing with this modern camera in my bag?"

Well, I've other gear for specific jobs. For instance I have a Fuji X-T5 that came along for a special birds-in-flight thing -- that fit a special lens, but it just sits on the shelf since that gig finished. The way the IBIS works in that camera bugs the hell out of me. Anyone want to buy a used X-T5? How about a fuji 150-600mm? Got a 2x extender as well.

The GH5 has been my workhorse for almost a decade now. For whatever reason, the need to move on from it has never been necessary, so I've stuck with it. For instance, AF is not an issue. Manual focus is how lenses get used by me. Slow-mo is a thing to do less of, not more of, imo. A full 10 years on, what does a different camera offer; like really offer? An extra stop of exposure? An extra bit of DR? Looking at a GH7 the thought is, "MMM, pretty nice." But then what? A big difference in ... what ... gets captured? Maybe the market has matured TOO much for me?

Well, I appreciate the mental exercises you're putting yourself through. The questions are interesting. Still, at the end of the day everyone's process is a bit different. Since arts and crafts are subjective, quantifying how those two things merge is only useful up to a point, imo. And, of course, that point is usually wildly different for all of us doing this stuff. I'd ask, do you really wanna chase what that means? It might always be ephemeral as context changes; slipping out of reach. And shouldn't such meaning remain in the realm of intuition anyway? Then again, maybe not. At least not for everybody. Perhaps being in a space without firm answers isn't interesting to you? Maybe striving for technical contentment at the limits of understanding is the thing you enjoy. That's cool too. Engineering can be artful in it's own way as well. Either way, keep poking around.

Good write up! I've run the gauntlet as well. My conclusion is that what you wrote above is the thing that'll get me through, so I accept it. And why not?

There's a colleague in my town that is trying to make "animation" films with 100% generative A.I. What would Francis conclude about someone working without 'hands' and 'head'? Or at best, no hands and half their head. Like Gerald, this colleague is hoping he's able to maintain a financially rewarding YouTube channel. It could be that he is jumping on the slop-train. But, on the other hand, at least he's making a novel effort production-wise to try and pay his bills. Whereas, my naive thinking is that there's still a chance my documentaries will be, somehow, someway, financially rewarding. And, even though that's unlikely, making docs is at least creatively fulfilling.

Nor I, but I do wonder if there's even a slim chance that enough people would search out alternatives as things keep getting worse.

Yeah, it does make me wish that an "old-fashioned-internet" niche' might be vitalized, retro-like. Can personal video online ever get boutique, avoid the corporate sadness of '"scale", and yet be worthwhile to those scurrying away to quieter internet corners? Seems like if one reflects on what happened at Vimeo, there would be a "no" to that, but perhaps the publc-corp culture of that entity made their downfall inevitable. A different mindset and private ownership might have kept it simple enough to thrive? Could some sort of modest market like that emerge from the current shit somehow? Is there a group of investors that are enthusiasts for a certain thing, like video hosting, that keep their service humming for austerity not avarice? Beats me. I'm pretty naive. If I had to guess all this is probably starting and failing in numerous places.