"They teach you everything," he said, his face red from exertion. "Camera angles, lighting, editing, the whole nine yards. You finish the class and you can get work shooting different events. They pay good money for people who know what they're doing."
"That sounds pretty cool. Give me another ten reps."
"Uh... This is the thanks I get, huh? I start you on your road to millions and you torture me."
"Nine more."
The class was great.
The instructor was some old hippie dude. The lights dimmed and he showed us videos that he'd shot.
They were incredible. Works of art. I only thought you could get those kinds of images from painting. The kind that grabs you by the soul and pulls you in. Rich in form and texture. Beautiful.
The lights came up.
"Now," the instructor said. "To make the money to do those, you have to do these."
The lights dimmed once more.
Images flashed by. An infant, in a ludicrously over-sized party hat, cried behind his birthday cake. A bride and groom kissing. Men putting together a vintage automobile, the parts lined up in what looked like a garage. A news cast and talk show that looked cable access. On and on.
I could take pictures of fussy babies and boring weddings.
The lights came back up.
"What you're going to do in this class is shoot videos. I want you to tape anything and everything. Don't limit yourself to what I just showed you. Think of the whole world as your canvas. Your canvas has a story that only you can tell and I want to see and hear those stories.
Your first assignment is two things: First, get a camera, go around town and take some still photos. When you come back to class next week, we'll look at everyone's photos and talk about angles and composition and how lighting helps set mood. The second part of the assignment is to shoot a three minute video on what you think beauty is. This'll give you some hands-on with the video equipment and we'll see how it compares with everything we learned from studying the stills. See everyone next week."
I left the class and walked over to a pay phone to make a call.
As I dialed the number, I knew what I'd shoot for the second part.
The phone rang.
"Hello?" said the voice on the other end.
"Hi, Mike. It's Greg. What are you doing tomorrow?"
