hi, this is mirko writing. i am from germany and currently studying product design as well as graphic design. besides that i am an artist concentrating on media installations and performance art. i'm glad i found this community and the hacks, so i can shoot video and use it in different ways on a tight budget. i really appreciate the amount of knowledge i found on this forum!

Hi All,

I was drawn to this site after looking into a dslr camera that I could use for video. I’ve never really participated in any online community of any kind until I found this site. I like the overall vibe of this community and it’s member’s willingness to share knowledge and sometimes wisdom.

I’m 49 now and have [nearly] made a living in film/video since I was 20. Now my financial equilibrium is off, so I’m looking for a second career to support my new hobby – filmmaking. Having a gh2 to play with has been a lot of fun, and I’ve learned more in the last year or so than I did in a decade prior.

I started out shooting kodachrome 8mm film, mostly jacking around with my pals, dreaming of making a great surf, ski film. I showed some of my [goofy] work to a big chap named Barney Miller and he offered me a few jobs, using his arri 16mm camera, which I promptly destroyed. He forgave me and let me work for a few more years, where I traveled around shooting things for his films. His films were four-walled –promoted and exhibited just like big concerts are. It was a lot of fun.

From that, I learned how to specialize in filming baby bottoms and blue dye water for diaper commercials. That allowed me to merge right into the Madison Ave. big time, shooting tampon ads, onto car spots and running footage. I was allowed to film all kinds of passenger cars and SUVs [looking great] while the vehicles self destructed. I’d shoot from the air, ground and at bumper level from little metal boxes with Bell & Howell Eyemo cameras in them. That’s all fun and the cigars and whiskey are great.

Commercials kept me eating for quite a while whilst I was sub-flavor of the month. Advertising a great way to experiment with cinematographic tools and techniques. Where else would you be able to try and place a camera between the two layers of premium bath tissue?! “Right! We’ll use two big down comforters and a snorkel lens!!”

I’ve directed second unit Items for movies too, mostly Aerials and stunt work. I got fired though for revealing the zipper on the monster’s costume. I remain on the unions, because the family counseling benefits are excellent!

Having a career and a family is so hard! I don’t seem to have the chutzpa to go out and network and schmooze, and even less energy for social networking; so I spend most of my time just managing my metabolism, being available for my family and goofing off with my Gh2.

Thanks.

I've been hanging out here for about a year and a half. I am 51. Located in Perth, Australia.
I graduated in 1990 from Curtin University. It was the last year which the Uni had separate film and television streams. I was trained on 16mm.

My student drama made it into the Australian National Film Archive (I really need to get a telecine done). After Uni, Australia had this wonderful tax incentive called 10BA (150% tax deduction for film investment) so I was able to work for 4 years in a variety of crew roles, features, mini-series and TVC. I settled in lighting, as a best boy.

When 10BA was canned, I bought a VHS edit suite and switched to post (offline) ... mostly corporates.

I also taught 16mm film editing at the Uni, and then NLE at the film and television institute.
In 1996 I scored a job and free training from AVID when they set up shop in Australia and worked for 2 years as an AVID Certified Service Representative (That was the cushiest job I ever had - A monopoly in Western Australia - retainer and under contract not to charge less than $250 and hour).

AVID then left Australia and fired us all, handing the distribution back to Amber Technology. I got a pay out in the form of an edit suite (MCExpress).

In 1999 I became a single parent (son was 13 months old), so I packed it in and took up web development ... Yes, I was doing php/apache/mysql in 1999. Did quite well, expanded it into a boutique hosting business. Don't really want to say to much .. totally had enough of it.

I decided to start up again about two years ago. My son is 13 now.

My bread and butter at the moment is recording Power Point Lectures for mining organisations, and I've managed to knock out about a dozen music videos, and a couple of live concerts with an almost finished multi-camera setup (cameras are hired)

My studio 68 sq/m should be finished in 1 week, and I have first booking to shoot four hip-hop clips in the last week of this month.

Only thing left would be to babble about my equipment.

Kevin

Hey everyone! I'm from NYC, currently in college and working as dp on short films and music videos, as well as ac on longer narrative pieces. Excited to join this forum!

@ppcroft

Yep, I'll think about it.

Hi I'm Chris and I run a media production company called malibumedia and can be found at malibumedia.com.au. I have three cameras and a Vanilla hacked GH2 which works really well except for complex scenes like running water. I shoot and cut promos, corporates, TVC's and webmedia here in Australia, just outside Sydney. I've been shooting and editing for longer than I'd like to admit, but have only had malibumedia going for 8 years. I'm looking to buy a PAL GH3 but they must be making them one at a time over here and they are nearly impossible to get. Looking forward to getting up to date with all the latest tips and tricks on your site. Cheers

Hello. My name is Justin Paul Ritter. I'm a Producer/Director with a variety of professional movie and tv credits, including the upcoming release 'The Amazing Adventures of The Living Corpse' from Anchor Bay Films.

I started out with a camera in my hand nearly 30 years ago, and - ironically - got further and further away from it as I moved on and up in my career. Making 'CORPSE' was an odd awakening for me, because on one hand it took me completely away from the tactile world of lights and cameras, but on the other hand it put the virtual lights and cameras squarely in my hands again for the first time in a long time.

With the movie just recently wrapped up, I decided to get back into actual photography and videography again. After tons of research here and on various other sites, I decided to invest in a set-up which includes a GH2, GH3, various lenses, matte box, filters, tripods, dollies, lights, microphones, etc. It's funny how once you start gathering the tools, you realize just how much you want and need - though I could live with just the GH3 and my three favorite lenses if push came to shove.

I'm currently working for one of the biggest and best BMX websites in the world taking product shots and hitting up the nearby tracks on major event days to capture as much action as I can. I've always loved BMX and Skateboarding, and really want to continue exploring this genre. There's definitely something fun about shooting for the sake of shooting without worrying about market shares, mpaa ratings, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Don't get me wrong - I'm dying to make another movie, and most likely I'll be doing my own DP work the next time around right from the start. But I'm also not rushing toward it. Somehow, owning a good camera and lenses again after a very long hiatus has changed my priorities to a large degree.

I'm not sure how much I'll contribute here, as I mostly enjoy reading on the forums as opposed to posting - but if anyone wants or needs anything that they think I can offer, feel free to get in touch.

Hello, My name is Brendan Cusker and I'm a videographer and audio engineer from Orlando, Florida. My full time gig consists of mostly shooting and editing web content for large real estate brands, while my freelance work is mostly music base - music videos and live performance stuff. I have been shooting on HDSLR's (mostly Canons) since the Nikon D90 and have just recently picked up a second-hand GH2 which I'm super stoked about.

Hi my name's Joe and I'm a hobbyist videographer from Queensland Australia.I got into filmmaking and videography after I saw making short films on a budget was possible after DSLR's started to democratise low budget filmmaking. I have for approximately 3 years been experimenting with filming,DP,colouring and editing techniques to improve my skills.I started with the Canon 550D(T2i) and have moved on to the Panasonic GH3.

hi,

My name is Matt, i m from France (sorry for my bad english). I ve got a GF1 and GH1. I'm totally noob with DSLR, I follow this forum to learn about filmmaking and photography, thanks everyone for sharing all this knowledge.

Hi, my name is Gene and I live in Los Angeles and have been working in TV for the past 12 years, mostly in Motion Graphics and VFX based spots. I've been shooting a lot for the past 4 years (music videos, docs, art films a few broadcast promos) and have finally started getting some actual DP work. I have an FS700 which is my main camera and I actually found personal-view.com while research follow focuses. You can check out my portfolio / URL at: www.builtbyUgene.com

Hello. My name is Mario and I'm from Texas. I'm a corporate videographer for a food service company. I just purchased one of the last new GH2s to fulfill the creative void of, well.. corporate videography! :-) I enjoy making music, and playing drums, bass and guitar. I consider myself a super newb with shooting as I'm more familiar with editing, but I'm a quick learner and hope to learn a lot from personal-view. I'm also a huge Simpsons/Matt Groening nut.