Re: Lighting for a Sitcom

While I appreciate the outstanding Gomer Pyle impression in your post, I'm still not quite convinced that the wholesale devaluing of skills sweeping our industry isn't at least somewhat linked to the wholesale devaluing of how we allow language to be used to describe the people in it.

But I guess I'll get with the modern process and change my ways.

A Camera OP is anyone with a camera.
The guy who volunteers to bring the 50" 12 guage extension cord and a pair of Halogen shop lights to the set is now officially the Gaffer.
And from this point on, a DP is anyone who's in charge of lighting a video - which, I suppose means that if the Principal at the local grade school asks me to fiddle with the stage lights prior to this year's performance of Chicken Little - BINGO they are now and forever a DP!

BTW, I'm in NO WAY casting any aspersions on the OP.
He's precisely correct that unless you keep asking and keep learning you're dead in the water in this business.

I suppose I'm just tired of showing up on sets lately and learning that the people who are supposed to know how to do things have absolutely NO CLUE how to do them - beyond what they read that very afternoon in a newsgroup like this.

And it's not just in video. I'm seeing the SAME thing in all sorts of industries as business happily guts their staff of anyone who's been around long enought to acquire some actual knowledge, in favor of the CHEAPEST workers they can keep around.

I suppose we'll have to deal even MORE with this in the future, since those very organizations seem to enjoy passing out fancier and fancier titles, in lieu of actually paying people more money.

Sigh.

"Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions."-Justice O'Conner