Do what you love and love what you do
The saying goes, (as if you haven’t already guessed from the title) do what you love and love what you do. It’s a nice slogan and looks good on a poster, T-Shirt or mug.
But it’s only recently that I’ve had pause to think about what that actually means, and it struck me that that is precisely how I am now living my life.
Leaving full time employment to pursue my own video production company has opened my eyes to so much and has led me back to things I was once very passionate about.
Among them is American Football. I remember clearly getting excited about the sport when it was introduced to the UK on Channel 4 in the late Eighties (despite the now obviously horrendous graphics).
I chose to follow (as they were then) the LA Raiders, chiefly because as a life-long Man City fan, they’d dominated in the late 60s/early 70s, but had slipped into mid-table mediocrity. Too many parallels to mention.
It so happens that both teams now look like they’re coming good again, but that’s by the by.
I was so taken by the game that I convinced myself that I could play and tried out for the Manchester Heroes youth team, but that didn’t work out due to a combination of things; ability (or lack thereof), and mum objecting to picking me and my brother up every Sunday morning caked in mud. Our family car was a Yugo for crying out loud – a bit of mud may have actually increased its value!
The Yugo - the mere thought is making me feel funny
Since leaving the University of Nottingham and striking out on my own, I was almost immediately drawn back to the game that so captured my imagination when I was a kid. I now work with the Nottingham Caesars, documenting their season and firing up my passion for the game once again after so many years. And I think that makes me a lucky guy! (with better graphics).
It’s of course not the only area I cover. As I write this, I’m downloading 20 videos-worth of footage from a week-long shoot for the University of Nottingham’s PG Prospectus team. It’s not American Football, but looking at the raw footage spilling from the tapes, I can already see a change in the way I’m shooting. There’s creativity in there and the space to stamp my creative mark on them.
Do what you love and love what you do?
Yes I do. Yes, I most definitely do.
6 steps to choosing a videographer
If you’re reading this, the chances are good you’re considering having a video done for yourself, your business or organisation. Nice one! But with so many people out there, how do you make the right choice?
It’s not as difficult as you may think, but there are some things you should bear in mind.
Hit the right note – the music video
Once upon a time you could promote your band’s music with a small investment from reluctant loved ones and the help of a gifted (and massively well connected) producer.
The 80s and MTV changed that and suddenly to succeed you needed a music video.
Whether it was Bauhaus brooding about a dead Hollywood vampiric actor, or Simon Le Bon dangling precariously off the edge of a very fast moving yacht, banging on about some woman called Rio, everyone recognised the importance of a good music video.
DIY video?
Look around your school, your office, your filing cabinets. Chances are you have a few videotapes knocking about.
Many small businesses gather footage in one way or another. Whether it's an intern project, video from a school fete or other event, it's gathering dust on a shelf somewhere.
It's easy enough to capture a moment on video, but then what do you do with it?
