Then There Was Light…

Images that tell stories. Its one of our oldest forms of communication. Rolling forwards from the cave paintings at Lascaux to the clicking, flickering images of Edison’s movie projector (is there anything Edison didn’t invent?) and into the new world of high definition video the image has long been favoured for telling stories, illustrating events and ideas and stirring emotions.

I am a freelance videographer. My business is capturing light as it bounces off of the world, encoding it, turning it into little electrical pulses and manipulating it for the entertainment, education and hopefully enlightenment of the masses.

The videographer is the whore of the modern image & sound factory that is mass media. Wannabe directors and DOPs we bow and serve and suck at whatever teat will sustain us on our journey towards the great campfire. Its undignified, sometimes absurd, but its a means to a noble end. Many will try, but few will succeed.

What will follow is an account of the hero’s journey as he struggles against overpowering odds and forces of banality, politics, backwardness, greed and plain old stupidity. The goal? Directing feature films for a living.

Your protagonist’s feet are already treading down the path towards light, glory and fame. There have already been a few harrowing adventures and it is with these that we will begin. It is my hope that film affectionados, aspiring filmmakers and future fans will take some knowledge and inspiration from these ramblings as I navigate the minefield of wedding videos, short films, vlogging and film school. Learn, laugh, lambaste if you must. Alliterate if at all possible. Most importantly, enjoy.

The journey begins. Twenty nine point nine seven frames per second. (If you’re good I’ll explain why it isn’t just a nice round number like thirty.)