To Facebook or not to...?

Facebook has it's fans and it's detractors. I am both. My personal Facebook page is not my favorite place to hang out because I actually prefer face to face interactions  and activities - gasp!

The same goes for my business life. It's part of why I love doing video - I get to meet great people and go to interesting places.Yes, good old fashioned reality that isn't a TV show - going places, doing things, experiencing life in 3D (no glasses necessary.)

However, in business, as in life,  Facebook has it's place and can be a great way to connect to other people, businesses, and organizations. Here is  our Facebook page still in infancy (feel free to connect!)

Now, by organizations I mean places like non-profits, those amazing entities whose only mission is to do good things - for motives other than making a profit - WOW! I confess that these are some of my personal favorite clients and collaborators and I find non-stop motivation and excitement when creating a video project with a committed and generous bunch of folks like that. Below is an example. 

Working for the Maine Philanthropy Center,  I was asked to take an amazing written piece and bring it to life. It was written and performed by Mark Swann, Executive Director of Preble Street in Portland, Maine. What does his organization do? They "create solutions for homelessness, hunger, and poverty." Now that is work worth crowing about - on Facebook or anywhere else for that matter.

What I do for a living may not be as impressive as all that, and I do try to run my business for-profit. However, I am quite proud of this one and get enormous satisfaction in knowing that in some small way I have contributed to such a lofty mission. Here is the video we created together. I hope in some way it helps people and I also hope it finds a way to connect me to other dedicated folks, working to create good in the world. And yes - I also posted it on Facebook!

What is your favorite #LED #video #light?
— Carol Lane (@videops) April 9, 2013

A Matter of Perspective

As I was currently shopping around for some new lighting gear, I was reminded that it takes a lot of research and work to decide what equipment to buy and what to pass on. Video production is a complicated beast. Is it best to be on the cutting edge? The bleeding edge? These are all questions one has to ask repeatedly in the production business. Each new tool requires hours of research and thought and then one has to learn to use it correctly and to best advantage. Repeat after me: reading manuals is fun!

I always try to keep it simple, though. All the equipment complexities still come down to one essential thing, does it look good? Production is certainly a complicated business. However, to keep things in perspective, a common saying you'll hear on sets everywhere is "it's not brain surgery." True, rarely does a life depend on camera placement or good audio, and during a technical crisis this saying is a grounding reminder that helps to calm people down and keep it simple.

However, I have always wondered what the brain surgeon says during a tricky procedure when the unexpected happens and things get dicey; perhaps she'll pause and turn to her colleagues and say "let's not make a big production of this."