Is it necessary?

Allen Achterberg · October 24, 2004

Well, I dont really want to go to Filmschool and spend a lot of money in doing so, I'd rather take what experience I have and continue to 1st AC where I can...is this recommended? I am 17, still in highschool but am taking a few courses at my junior college alongside my full schedule at my highschool. I'm not really learning too much, When I graduate I'd like to get a job at a Camerahouse and I think that would help me in becoming soo familiar with all the cameras. I still have time to decide whether I should go or not, But quite of few people have told me to not go, and i feel I would do just fine without the school. what do you think?

Alvin Pingol · October 24, 2004

You don't have to go to film school. If you want to continue studying this field, then go to film school if you think you'll get something out of it.

In terms of getting work, I've heard it doesn't really matter if you, say, have a BFA in Cinematography, or not. It's all in the reel.

Allen Achterberg · October 24, 2004

You don't have to go to film school. If you want to continue studying this field, then go to film school if you think you'll get something out of it.

In terms of getting work, I've heard it doesn't really matter if you, say, have a BFA in Cinematography, or not. It's all in the reel.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats what everyone keeps telling me, well I guess I'll just start working on my reel. thanks

Phil Rhodes · October 24, 2004

Hi,

Frankly I don't even think it's in the reel, so long as you're marginally competent - seems to be more about greasing your way up the ranks, and apparently film school can help there.

Phil

David Mullen ASC · October 24, 2004

You have to make connections -- for some people, working their way up the ladder on film sets will do it, for others, film school can help. I never wanted to be a camera assistant or electrician, so working on student films as a DP was a way of learning how to DP and making connections with people who later got into the industry.

Phil Rhodes · October 24, 2004

Hi,

I think the problem is if you walk around going "I don't want to be a camera assistant," you just come off as insufferably arrogant. It's different once you're already a DP with released features, but you can't actually SAY that, you know :)

Phil

David Mullen ASC · October 25, 2004

It's not like I ever got ASKED to be a camera assistant anyway, so I didn't really have to say this to anyone.

Like any other job, you have to purse that kind of work and you have to learn to be good at it, neither of which I did. I just knew that I'd make a lousy camera assistant, partly because I didn't have my heart in it, and partly because I didn't want to lift & carry cameras for anyone other than myself (and I avoid doing it for myself these days...)

I also was afraid that pursuing any work as a camera assistant or electrician would take time away from being a DP, especially if I actually succeded in making money at it because then I would get used to the income. Of course, I had the advantage of a wife with a full-time job with health care, and I kept a very low overhead for years and years.

I don't think anyone ever faulted me for being clear as to what I wanted to do. For years, even after several features, I called myself a beginner DP, and then a low-budget DP. It wasn't that I was trying to exalt myself by saying "I don't want to be a camera assistant, I want to be a DP" -- that doesn't mean I don't have respect for camera assistants. In fact, I have ENOUGH respect to know that the job is beyond my abilities. In college, I decided I didn't want to become a doctor -- that doesn't mean I hold the profession to be lowly and beneath me. If I told someone "I want to be a DP, not a doctor" should they respond "Oh, being a doctor not good enough for you, eh?"

Allen Achterberg · October 25, 2004

Good point Mr. Mullen, I infact enjoy being a first. I love both jobs actually. The closer i can get to the camera the more fullfilling it is for me. Being an 1st is great because at the end of the day I feel a made a difference in the Cam dept. Pulling focus, knowing that i hit my marks, then seeing everything come out sharp on the dailies is such a thrill for me. As I am starting to DP more and more I am loving it more and more. For fun I run around with my light meter and visualize how things would come out on certain circumstance. And when I'm shooting, Just being next to the camera, telling my gaffer to tweak a light here and there, telling the AC the move and watch him grab the marks, then executing the shot and watching this process through the viewfinder, frame by frame this movie coming to life, it is absolutely the most fullfilling experience in the world for me. ...damn, I need a woman, maybe 2 haha

Ben Schwartz · October 29, 2004

Of course, I had the advantage of a wife with a full-time job with health care, and I kept a very low overhead for years and years.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mr. Mullen, do you think you would have been able to pursue DPing full-time without your wife's support? I apologize in advance if that sounds too prying. It's just that I've heard other DP's say something similar, that they made it through the "tough years" with the help of their spouse.

David Mullen ASC · October 29, 2004

I would have still pursued it, but who knows what sort of odd jobs I would have been tempted to fall back on. Who can say? After being with the same person for twenty years, it's like asking how your life would have been different had you been born with different parents. Maybe I would have ended up teaching film production somewhere...

J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR · October 29, 2004

I'm single and I still pursue it. I have fallen back on many odd jobs to get by and for now it looks like I'll keep doing that. I think I've gone maybe a year stretch doing nothing but film jobs, then of course the work dried up and I had to pay bills. It's a boom and bust life but there is gold at the end of the rainbow. God I hope there is gold at the end of the rainbow.

I mentioned it before, but I once talked to Ken Burns about how he got by in his early days. He said it was all about commitment and making the necessary compromises to get by. All kinds of creative work is just a hard ass field to work in and probably 99% of the people who get into it quit. I know one guy who is an amazing photographer, he really is good but he works as a QC person in a chemical factory because he gave up.