Comments on: Becoming A Specialist VS. Jack (hack) Of All Trades!

By: Jeremy Widen

Jeremy Widen — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:38:00 +0000

Coming fresh out of film school, I was trained to be the jack-of-all-trades do it all production professional. But, the more I’ve worked in the industry, I’ve been able to widdle down the list to a few related positions. Yes, because of my training, I can work in other positions. But, now I don’t HAVE to work in the unrelated ones. I’m not to the point where I can say that I am only a DP or only a Director, but I’ve learned that it’s a process. The more experience you have, the better your overall skills will be, and the easier it will be to define yourself as a specialist.

By: ッDiosay

ッDiosay — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Understanding the various disciplines across the production pipeline actually allows me to do my job better as a producer. This knowledge helps me make money, save money and more importantly, communicate what I want to my peers.

I suppose I’m not really a Jack-of-all-trades, but I do like it. Everyone’s job is so interesting.

By: DJ Skeez

DJ Skeez — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:26:00 +0000

I wrote about this a few times when I was a blog dog and it’s certainly tough. In order to earn a crust you naturally diversify and I think it’s good to get experience across a wide number of disciplines as it gives you a good sense of the production pipeline. I used to have a CV with a list as long as your arm of all the things I could do, but I also had the showreels to back up my claims to be pro. The biggest issue was actually time. The specialists have time to gorge on blogs in their fields, experiment with software, or techniques and get time on the ground. By being a multi-eventer you are in danger of never actually fulfilling your potential in the one place you’d really excel. For me, my specialist chosen area is, and always has been, directing. An understanding of all the departments is more useful than in other areas when you’re a director but it’s not a prerequisite. For me, now, with all the technical marvels at our disposal, a knowledge of how they work and what can be accomplished during or after a shoot does a number of things: a) it saves me money as I know exactly what is unnecessary b) it frees me up to shoot on my own terms and remain independent when I want to be.

So I live this odd life where I spend three quarters of my time doing everything myself, staying in shape, practising, experimenting, learning, and the other quarter I just get paid for directing and I let focussed pros do everything they’re good at. The best thing is I can talk to them about what they do and they’ll know I know what I’m talking about. Which means better work all round.

By: Digitalcinematographer

Digitalcinematographer — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Excellent post. $3500. Makes me chuckle at the guy offering a full Red Epic package (and I mean full, everything needed for a shoot) for $750 a day! Even funnier was the guy on Craigslist offering 2 DSLRS, lenses, tripods, follow focus, a jib, a crane (?), a glidecam AND his services as…wait for it… a DP!…for $200 a day!!!

Becoming a jack of all trades has become the norm for staff jobs. I’ve applied for no less than 15 salaried positions across Boston in the last 3 months. Every one of them was for a “Producer/Editor” demanding a candidate who can write, produce, direct, shoot, edit, and do post graphics. Still not a bad gig for salary + benefits, just so long as the expectations are that if a jack of all trades/one man band does it…it will look that way.