| Magazine > 2008 > July - August > Juice Insider |
IT'S THE TALENT, NOT THE TOOLS
by Viv T. Beason, Jr.
I realized something the other day. The professional video industry is now mature. I believe that those who participate in video production do so because they have an honest to goodness passion or skill for the craft. I should explain. The idea of communicating through moving pictures and sound isn't new; it has been with us for decades. However, it wasn't until the 1980's that it was used to speak to audiences of less than a few million viewers. Until then, movies and broadcast television were it.
Then video came along and, even though it was very expensive, corporate and training (and even some wedding) videos were now possible. This spawned a new industry with a number of large post and production studios. Utilizing the most sophisticated equipment available, image quality and production values were every bit broadcast quality. Many of us cut our teeth in studios like this. However, being the captain of one's own ship was still cost prohibitive, and thus several years away. By the late 80's/early 90's things had changed once again. Anyone able to scrounge up a little north of a hundred grand could outfit a small studio with a state of the art 3/4" setup including an A/B-roll controller, a TBC and a few 3-tube cameras. This was the era where it wasn't necessarily the talent of the shooter or the creativity of the editor that landed him the gig. Often it was solely the fact that he or she possessed the equipment to accomplish the job, or knew how to use it, period. So by default they were given the coveted title "video producer."
We've seen this same scenario play out before. The desktop publishing market went through the same growing pains. We saw a rise in the numbers claiming to be graphic designers when laser printers and personal computers became affordable. Many had visions of fame and dollar signs as they converted a downstairs rec room into a space to create newsletters and bulletins. Once the equipment reached the point where almost any consumer could own the gear, things changed yet again. We started to see better work. Why? Because at some point it became not about whether or not you have the means to produce, but whether or not you possess the talent and desire to produce and create.
That's exactly where we are today in the video industry. We're seeing short films, music videos, corporate, training and wedding videos that rival primetime broadcast television, and all accomplished for a few thousand bucks. And when I say a few thousand bucks, I'm not referring to the budget for each project of the named projects, but the total for both the acquisition and editing gear. Today the hardware is an afterthought. Many of us take that for granted. Virtually everyone can afford a broadcast quality video camera. Today, if you're producing video it's because you sincerely want to produce video. I choose to believe that's a good thing.
Viv T. Beason, Jr. is the president of Digital Juice and the co-publisher of Digital Juice magazine.
