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It Looks Like Crap!

Writer's picture: Paul RodriguezPaul Rodriguez

Those were the infamous words of my RTF class professor in college. You see many times as an aspiring photographer or videographer we have the enthusiasm to go after the dream of being the next Hollywood film director. Then we start to make small movie clips of our home, yard, friends, and animals. Then we write a script and get some friends to roll play as actors. Then we edit movies and show it to our relatives, friends, and social media. It's good to start somewhere and yes it's good to go after your dreams but if we're not careful we can stay stuck in a fantasy world, with your fantasy fans, living a fantasy dream. Let me explain. You make a movie and you show it to your "fiends and relatives" and 99% of the time they say, wow that was great, or you're going to be the next Steven Spielberg, or that looks professional! Sure feels good to be praised like that and thinking you're all that and a bag of chips! Then you show your little movie to a real professional that's been in the film industry for years and they say it looks like crap! We'll there goes your ego right out the window. What happened you ask? What happened is that you let your work be critique by a professional that knows, camera shots, production design, image quality, story, lighting, audio design and all the stuff that one has experience in. Family and friends are great encouragers but most don't know quality. It's great to get that encouragement but if you ever want to take your work to the next level then let it be critiqued by a professional. You'll learn real quick how much you don't know. This is the point where you can receive those critiques gracefully and thankfully so that you can learn to be a better artist or you can say, "you don't know what you're talking about" and continue living a fantasy world. Being open and receptive from an experienced person not only helps you learn your mistakes but will help you be better at what you do. It's important if you want to get ahead in life to have thick skin and use your brain not your emotions. I say all this because recently I've been learning and hanging around other pros in the industry and I've come to realize I don't know much and here I am running a business in that field. Seriously, I'm like the more equipment I try, the more I am learning something new, almost to the point of asking myself, do I even know how to operate this thing? Sounds funny but sometimes in any area of your life whether business or personal we've got to be real with ourselves and get the professional help needed to get better. Yes I know my work and I've done pretty reasonable work in the past but it's all apart of the journey to see where you've been, where you're at, and where you're going. I'm sure in a few years I'm going to look back at my work and be like, that's enough, no more! Anyway, enjoy the journey you're on, keep learning, keep getting professional help, learn from mistakes, ask and learn from others that's been there, and continue chasing your dreams!

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