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Feeling Stuck


Zach Cooper

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Hey All! 

I've found myself recently to be in a bit of a slump, which has been strange because I've been busy & working through the winter which has historically never been the case for me. But it feels like it's not enough and I feel a bit discouraged lately about my progress and where I sit in my career currently. I was wondering for those who have felt like this in the past or currently going through it what are some things you've done to quiet down that voice in your head?

Thanks in advance everyone.

 

-Zach 

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Jeeesus...you're working? You can afford a place to live in NYC? You should be happy as a proverbial clam. But you need to go into more detail as to your complaint.

You just have to keep chugging. Life can change on a dime...or not. Maybe where you are at will be the best or near best for you. Don't know. Would you be happy with your life if this is as good as it gets?

With any of the arts you have to work blind, so to speak. In other words, you have to just do the work with little or no expectations of success. Expectations are preplanned resentments. And I'm not talking about having expectations of doing good work, I'm talking about expectations of visions of grandeur and such. If you have talent and are good at what you do, the success in that department should not be that much of a question. You can see it in people that work relaxed and know what they are doing or those that struggle and the outcome is a crapshoot.

If that is not your problem, then eat right, lay off the dope, get some heart pumping exercise and plenty of sleep. 

... best of luck figuring it out Zach.

<><><><>

photo-by-daniel-d.-teoli-jr.-peephole-l.

Hollywood Blvd. 1973

D.D.Teoli Jr.

Edited by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Freelancers feel like this most of the time Zach, especially if they aren't working. Daniel's point about expectations is well taken. Also this Covid blight has bummed everyone out.

February is a bitch of a month anywhere, but especially in NYC.  In our chosen industry, there are  a lot of things out of our control. Just admit it, and shift focus to something else like exercise or volunteering somewhere. Hang in there pal!

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On 2/22/2022 at 7:34 AM, Zach Cooper said:

I was wondering for those who have felt like this in the past or currently going through it what are some things you've done to quiet down that voice in your head?

Churchill had a saying: keep buggering on. There's nothing that can substitute for willpower at certain times. A couple of times in my life I thought about giving up photography for good. Those sentiments passed, and I'm glad I kept a level head.

On 2/25/2022 at 1:40 AM, Daniel D. Teoli Jr. said:

 

Hollywood Blvd. 1973

 

Powerful stuff.

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Hang in there.  The advice on sleep is so true.   Getting good sleep during shoots is tough but essential. It helps your mood, your energy throughout the day.   Alcohol and sugar before bed ruins this.    This Ted Talk has a pretty good solution. Worked for me.

 

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I'm afraid it's simply part and parcel of the grind.

I've heard academy award winning DPs speak about the uncertainty of start dates and projects falling through (suddenly emptying months of work, that they haven't looked for alternate bookings for), and their stories (even in their positions) have sounded REMARKABLY familiar at times.

So take some comfort in the fact that it's like this for everyone at times, and perhaps listen to this very insightful bit of advice from Mr. Tom Hanks:
 

 

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ya, not working. How is anyone dealing with "covid mandates"? How does one make a movie when everyone is supposed to stand 6ft apart and wear masks and be injected with various experimental drugs? How does one deal with someone saying they caught the covey on your set when it cannot be proven where one caught it and even the disease cannot be proven as FDA says it's never been isolated? Are there any entertainment lawyers here?

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7 hours ago, Hacksaw McCoy said:

ya, not working. How is anyone dealing with "covid mandates"? How does one make a movie when everyone is supposed to stand 6ft apart and wear masks and be injected with various experimental drugs? How does one deal with someone saying they caught the covey on your set when it cannot be proven where one caught it and even the disease cannot be proven as FDA says it's never been isolated? Are there any entertainment lawyers here?

I lost 3 months of work in 2020, since then, nothing has been too crazy.  In the last year, people have learned how to deal with it, how to quickly test before every day's shooting to make sure there isn't someone there with an outbreak. Some studio's like Viacom, have said everyone on their campuses must have the vaccine. But who cares. Do you really, honestly think the vaccine is a forced experimental treatment that's going to END YOUR LIFE? Come on man. You huff in diesel exhausts all day long thanks to lax laws on pollution, that's far more deadly than a vaccine. 

Anyway, here in LA it's all good. 

Edited by Tyler Purcell
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7 hours ago, Hacksaw McCoy said:

ya, not working. How is anyone dealing with "covid mandates"? How does one make a movie when everyone is supposed to stand 6ft apart and wear masks and be injected with various experimental drugs? How does one deal with someone saying they caught the covey on your set when it cannot be proven where one caught it and even the disease cannot be proven as FDA says it's never been isolated? Are there any entertainment lawyers here?

Don't worry about it. Have you been inside a supermarket? Nobody keeps 6' apart except by accident. Get a mask exemption if you can. As for getting jabbed, that's a tough one. I have no intention of getting it. However, if you do need it, Novavax is out now. Lots of people were waiting for it, particularly medical workers, but some had no choice but to take the clot shot instead.

5 minutes ago, Tyler Purcell said:

You huff in diesel exhausts all day long thanks to lax laws on pollution, that's far more deadly than a vaccine. 
 

Don't be too sure about that. And mRNA isn't a vaccine.

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I think that you should try thinking of that time (of not working) as an opportunity to upgrade your arts by experiencing, observing and absorbing life. Even the periods when you are feeling down. I personally try to think like that when time comes. I myself have had a 5 month brake recently, after almost 3 years of constant work, and it was a real challenge ? 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

On 3/10/2022 at 9:02 PM, Dom Jaeger said:

Groan.

Isn't there facebook or something for this crap.

 

You would think so Dom. I've tried FB a number of times over the last 12 years, using different names. Same result. They ban me in short order. 

 

Facebook%20ban%20D.D.Teoli%20Jr.%20A.C..

 

Same thing on numerous online discussion forums...

 

PetaPixel%20ban%20D.D.Teoli%20Jr..jpg

 

LinkedIn%20ban%20notice%20D.D.Teoli%20Jr

Flickr, DP Review, Tumblr and tons more. All that censorship was a driving force for my working on placements with museums and special collections libraries with my work. Online is not reliable at all. Even the Internet Archive...

The Internet Archive turned out to be not very archival – Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection (wordpress.com)

But...

There is nothing wrong with the OP Dom. It applies to the subject. If you don't like it, why waste time on answering it?

When I see a post I don't like...I move on to the next one. And this is a discussion forum, so we discuss. And even if it does not help you out Dom...it may help someone else. Writing uses a different part of the brain than talking. Writing can crystalize our thinking on a subject Dom.

<><><><>

Selection from Anatomy of an 8mm Cine' Kodachrome project - D.D. Teoli Jr.

Anatomy%20of%20an%208mm%20Cine'%20Kodach

Edited by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
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I might be wrong here but I don't think Dom was responding to the OP, but rather the outright misinformation posted in the thread.  I mean we got someone here questioning whether covid even exists...

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