[Mr DM]

I feel a little ridiculous following on Rogers comment, but just want to address something that caught my attention from the original post:

“Before making a name for yourself…”

I have been working in the industry as a commercial and music video director for 15+ years, and some of those were grafting through soul-destroying projects with clients from the pits of creative hell, with budgets so small that could make Werner Herzog weep. Sleep-deprived, and with a nervous system shot, sometimes it can feel like you just need to tick a box and go home. BUT…the best DOPs I worked with were the ones who (at the time) had no name for themselves but were right there with me in the thick of it, and they would have an amazing ability to a) know when to speak up, b) would have a simple solution ready to make the shot better…either one of those things, or both, almost always resulted in a better shot, and often inspiring (an exhausted) director to do better. Some of those DOPs have become career-long collaborators, others have gone on to achieve a lot more than I have.

It may take time to learn those timing skills, and it may take time to get the experience needed to build an arsenal of solutions for those kinds of situations but the point I’m trying to make was that in all those cases none, and I mean zero, of those DOPs, commanded my respect because they had a big name, rather they commanded my attention because they got their timing right, picked the right battle, and almost always had a simple solution to a problem I couldn’t articulate.

Hope this helps.

[Mr DM]

Hello Abraham,

Thank you for the response. Whew! What a relief. I even checked Spotify, other peoples devices…all gone. Yeah, they showed up again about 12 hours later.

Appreciate the update! Back to the listening…

[Author]

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