Viewfinder: How do You Feel about Making Video?

Entrepreneurial? You may be interested in advancing your current career by integrating proficient video production skills into your occupation. Still others have grand visions of producing "films" which millions of people will see.

Curious - A few decades ago, you had to live in New York or Hollywood to gain access to the proper equipment and training. Today you can stroll into a local retail store, purchase $1,000 in electronics gear and walk out with more powerful equipment than the average TV station used in the 1970s.

Intimidated - When you get home and start using the gear, it can indeed be intimidating. In fact most of us who are intimidated discover this before purchasing anything because we have too many choices.

Encouraged - As we gain feedback from our audience, we feel good about ourselves. The results are rewarding because our videos are easily shared and we receive praise from family and friends impressed with our work and how we put it all together.

Confused - At some point, we experience confusion about where to start a project, which gear to get or how to make a desired special effect. We may also wake up one day realizing that we don't have a clear answer to our own question, "Why am I making video?"

Disappointed - We will definitely make mistakes as we go along, and some of them will be really big, very costly, profoundly embarrassing, extremely painful mistakes. This is part of the learning process. There's no article that you'll ever read that will teach you as much as your own disappointment.

Proud - As we hit our stride in our craft, we can and should feel some pride but it is far too easy to have excessive pride. The motion picture and TV industries are gripped with this disease. If we become too caught up in ourselves, our 15 minutes of fame can flash before our eyes more quickly.