fuzzynormal

There's so many different levels and needs in motion picture production, no doubt. Now, it's a debate whether I'd be considered a professional or not, but I am scrapping by making a living at it. Somehow. Still, I'm stubborn about shooting my films with manual focus. The inherent flaws and mistakes the practice of manual focusing creates? I value the humanity in it. I actually like the look of a real camera person focus hunting. It's a love-hate relationship for sure, but, yeah, I just refuse to stop using it.

Yeah, lucky. Local seller. Pick up only. I was looking to buy any old LUMIX and this one popped up. Dang thing is pristine too.

Regarding Andrew's original post, unfortunately for many of the camera companies, not just Panasonic, I'm a consumer that feels pretty comfortable being behind the curve in exchange for bargains. Meaning, I only buy older used cameras. Just bought another GH5 for $350, for instance, to help my wife do YT content creation. Not only is that cheap, but it's still better than anything else I could buy brand new for under $400. Are there enough people like me? Combine like-minded-folks and typically obtuse Japanese attitudes about the global market and the magic 8-ball sez "Outlook Not So Good"

Seems like a good strategy. You're established in a market that seems like it should hold for that long. Mmmmm, perhaps, but only in very special cases. Personally, I've yet to make that sort of model work. A bit of a unicorn, that, I think. Or, maybe not. I suppose one could chase the zeitgeist and try to surf what waves are cresting and work the biz side of things. Right now that's probably going to be the 'content-creator' market, which seems like more of a grind than a considered creative film making endeavor. Doing a content channel can still be a productive pursuit, however. Nothing inherently wrong with it. The other thing that goes along with AI is the whole internet 2.0 and the enshittification of it. Andrew here could probably tell a few stories about how that shook out.

I'm looking into semi-retirement. Weirdly, not because of the jobs I'm getting or not getting in the next 12 months, (that's already set) but because my niche of freelance corporate gigs is definitely on the way out. It's the devaluing of video production in general. With video now, everyone does it. Quite literally. Anyone with a new'ish phone camera is on the other side of a gate. A gate that's been blocking people for over a century of motion picture creating. Phone IQ is really good. AI can help generate a ton of stuff with low effort/high reward. Canva is a thing. Online tutorials explain production concepts. Creative info flows like a torrent. Hobbyists are better than careerist, etc. etc. None of that looks like it'll affect me in 2026. I have 3 clients with semi-large gigs that'll get me through. Maybe they come around again in 2027? Perhaps. What value can I offer them? A certain confidence in problem solving they require? Sure. For now. However, for one of the clients specifically, I could easily do via AI in an afternoon compared to what it's gonna take me a week to do live in a studio. So, yeah, I'm not gonna reveal that my client that yet, but still, that reality is here. At this point, as a documentarian filmmaker on my CV, that's the thing I feel I can do without AI stealing it away, but, man, not exactly a bunch of people out there have EVER made lucrative careers outta being a documentarian filmmaker. I mean, I'm decent at this sort of stuff, but I'm not, like, an elite creative, you know? No ones ever gonna watch a doc I've made (yet) and walk away thinking, "Wow, I need to make sure to see what that guy is going to do next." Hell, even the elite creatives in the documentary world barely make a living at it. Looking back I kind of feel like I should've gone all-in on sports-video production when I had the chance 30 years ago. Live event broadcasting will stick around for awhile. Other than that, I'm an older married guy without kids that has acquired some in-demand-physical-assets throughout my younger days. Because of that ownership, the wife and I do, luckily, have some things to help us through the final few decades of life. Then again, 3 more decades of late-stage capitalism? Gotta wonder about that too.

So fuck it

f2.8 on M43 is kinda a sweet spot though, don't ya think? Or are you trying to Spielberg it?

That is all. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Context matters in film production. You have more context. What you possess through experience is an asset. --Might be a minor asset that doesn't really matter much, but it's certainly not a liability.

10 years down the road when computational photography in your phone allows an obviously superior IQ than that of a FF cam, who's gonna be clamoring for the old gear enough for corporations to make $$? Once that market truly dries, is this the kind of project that'll be left for the enthusiasts? Will niche' little private companies fill the void? Will there even be a void?

Over the past decade I've been a part of thirteen independent micro or no-budget budget films. Five of which I'd actually feel comfortable enough to show to strangers and say, "I've done this." It's weird because I've never been too precious about IQ. My personal-tech-craft-sloppiness-indifference does show in the final product, but only if you're looking real hard (at least I think so). I kind of want to be better, but I also don't really feel a strong pull to eek out that extra little juice, you know? I'm more interested in trying to shape a story by putting a bunch of note cards on the wall in the writer's room. Anyway, I've held tight to my LUMIX cams since the 20-teens. Also have an Oly cam. Haven't bothered to upgrade much. I know I'm missing out on the latest and greatest, but when I look at stuff a decade old vs. the film I just finished, and I think they both look a-okay, I guess I'm just not the type of filmmaker that's eager to change gear. Anyway, if anyone wants to see those five films I mentioned, let me know. I've posted them here before, but can share anew.

I have an outdoor shoot coming up and have been meaning to roll over my ND stuff. Might give it a go. https://shorturl.at/RWJJi https://shorturl.at/TE7qr

In general, when shooting video you don't really want SS, fstop, and ISO changing. Best if they stay where they're at. The ideal way to control exposure, as others have said, is to work with ND filters. I absolutely hate the look of fast shutter speed video. In fact, if I'm shooting, say, 30p, I'll even slow the shutter to 30 as well. It's just a look I like. 180 rule? No thanks, not for me. OTOH, if that high speed shutter judder doesn't bother you, then you can always allow that to be the variable that changes your exposure. It's the default variable for phones shooting vid so it's kind of a 'thing' now anyway.

Man, I lost my GX7 years ago --and when I look at that 1080 footage I still find myself coveting it.

The best practice for trying to hone a craft is to find something youre impressed with, deconstruct it, and then rebuild it yourself. Learn to walk before you fly. Editing is relatively easy but it's tedium too. Discover if it's what you want to do by doing it. If you make something decent and compelling you'll know by the end of the process if it's something you want to go through again.