Need Career Advice! Please help! Amateur hoping to find work he loves

1. ghostlyshark
   Member

   

   Hi. I am sort of a newbie when it comes to film making. I've always had a passion for it, but never a means to accomplish anything. Now that I finally have some money, I actually own a good digital camcorder. I love filming with every excuse I get. I have done a short film for work and will film a wedding next month! I spend hours on Sony Vegas Pro whenever I have an editing task, experimenting and trying to create the best result. It is a lot of fun, and I realize now that I would really like to make this a career, but... is this possible?

   My current job feels like a dead end. Even if I were to get promoted, I do not enjoy corporate world, standard business casual attire, and 15 minute coffee breaks. They will pay for school, but it has to be related to work... not going to cut it for me. So I am willing to attend, and pay, for school, courses, seminars, whatever I need to break into a career I love. But that still leaves me wondering where I should go and what exactly I should do. So please, if you have a suggestion for me, please let me know! Perhaps you've been there yourself. I've got my game face on and am ready to take action. I just need a little direction!

   Thanks,

   gs

   Posted 3 years ago #

2. robGRAUERT
   Member

   

    "It is a lot of fun, and I realize now that I would really like to make this a career, but... is this possible?"

   Of course it's possible. If it weren't, who would be making all the TV shows and movies. But you don't have to work in broadcast or hollywood to find work. You can do corporate videos, wedding/event videos/ industrial videos. There's a whole bunch of stuff. 

   As far as where to go...you sound like you like shooting and editing. I can't tell you which school to go to. That's up to you to do the research. There's so many good schools out there, and it's more about what you make of it than it being a "good school"

   Unfortunately, you sound like you're not the age of a typical college student. But fortunately, people can might take you more seriously and view you as a professional. I suggest doing free work for non profits in your area. I know, I know...we all need to make money. But I can tell you that handing over school projects to an employer isn't as great as going out and finding your own work and handing them that.

   Also, working for different non profits, or any organization, expands your experience. For example, you can possibly make a video for the science program of a university. You can do one for their medical program. You can do stuff for the animal rescue league. You can make corporate videos for non profit orgs. After you do a bunch of videos, you can create a demo reel and sample work that looks like something that could be on The Discovery Channel, TLC, and you have corporate video under your belt. It's about getting the experience so that people know what you're doing. Anyone can dick their way though school. At my school you can suck and still get an A just cause you did the project. Going out and getting real experience and working with real people in real life situations will lead to the legit job, and that's when you start getting paid.

   Rob Grauert, Jr
   http://www.robgrauert.com
   http://command-r.tumblr.com

   Posted 3 years ago #

3. robGRAUERT
   Member

   

    Ya know. You might be able to skip school and just do the non profit work now, that is, if you're good enough.

   Posted 3 years ago #

4. ghostlyshark
   Member

   

   Thanks, Good advice!, But, I'm actually out of college. This is more of a "hindsight is 20/20" situation. I've got my foot in the door for a big corporation, don't like it. Like I said, I've done video for them. They require all branches to post videos so we get to know each other better... I'm sure you get the point. I created our video, which took hours of fixing and mixing different file types, audio levels, cropping, etc. I even fixed another branch's video. They tried mixing wrong codecs, sizes, file types, sampling rates... a nightmare when it came to editing everything together. And this was after two weeks of no success from the department who is supposed to handle these things! AND, I did it all from work, no luxury of a real video editor, just a couple hours tinkering with files until I got it right. But, I actually enjoyed doing that. So I have recognition from work for doing this, but I see your point- this is not really the right kind of recognition. I am hoping my filming of the wedding goes well and I learn from that. You've got me thinking though, what kind of organization around here could I film for?

   Posted 3 years ago #

5. robGRAUERT
   Member

   

    "You've got me thinking though, what kind of organization around here could I film for?"

   haha...I dunno. what city are you from? 

   Posted 3 years ago #

6. ghostlyshark
   Member

   

   south of hartford

   Posted 3 years ago #

7. robGRAUERT
   Member

   

    hartford, CT?

   Posted 3 years ago #

8. robGRAUERT
   Member

   

    http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/orgs.jsp?r=msa&l=06792%2C+

    

   I just typed in google "non profit organization Hartford, CT" and this was the first link provided by google. Take your pick :)

   I would be eager to shoot at a for a college/university's science program, but then again, that's because i love The Discovery Channel and History Channel.  

   Posted 3 years ago #

9. ghostlyshark
   Member

   

    Thanks!

   Posted 3 years ago #

10. davidrichter
    Member

    

     Don't forget internships.  Every studio I have worked with over the years has some sort of program for it.  Sometimes you can even get college credit and I have yet to see a better way for a newbie to meet people, make contacts and really see how things get done.   

    David
    Richter Studios
    http://www.richterstudios.com
    Corporate Video Production | Interactive CD-DVD | Presentation Services

    Posted 3 years ago #

11. chrisColorado
    Member

    

    Along the lines of internships, it really helps to show up one day and work for free so they can see you working. it also shows your tenacity that you want the job so bad you're willing to work for free at least one day. Better for you than a job interview.

    I've done it a couple times, the only way you won't get the job is if you actually can't do the work.

    You should definitely call and ask them/tell them beforehand. This will also help your status.

    Posted 3 years ago #

12. Jewelove
    Member

    

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