I would equate the world of video/film editing more with transmission repair, there are a lot of similarities, but even in that world, there are old guys who will treat everybody well.
I actually HAVE the reputation as one of those kind souls who will do just that.
As a cinematographer, you're not always necessarily working for a company. As a VIDEOGRAPHER you just might be more often than not.
So for the most part, cinematographers practice a craft.
If they do their job well and have a good reputation, they are afforded some modicum of respect because they're creating the kind of art people will pay to see, and in rare instances, people are especially attracted to a film precisely BECAUSE "Director A" directed it, "Writer B" wrote it and "Director of Photography C" photographed (shot) it.
I do realize that the majority of people mostly recognize a director's name but I bet if I mention
Roger Deakins, Michael Ballhaus, Haskell Wexler, László Kovács, Vilmos Zsigmond, Robert Richardson, Michael Slovis, David Mullen, Tak Fujimoto and Gordon Willis, at least some of you are nodding your heads. You know their work.
If you're a videographer it is often a much different world if you're employed in a company or corporate setting.
The youngsters will work for relatively nothing, or close to it, and the folks who have been around and done a great job know their worth. Then it becomes a question of how closely the company subscribes to the Peter Principle and just how many Band-Aids they have handy to paper over the mistakes of youth.
Eventually if the youngsters demonstrate world class talent, they are often going to seek their path as a cinematographer, at least on a part time basis outside of their regular job. It's not always as glamorous as those stellar names I mentioned above but it can be rewarding.
And that is what balances things out. The company knows that they can count on the more experienced folks if it's clear that those folks feel they have found a comfortable niche, and they won't have to invest in constant training of new arrivals.
The first time someone referred to me as a "recovering analog dinosaur" I wasn't sure how to react, until they assured me it was out of respect. "I'm glad you're working for us, a lot of these young guys don't even understand how
GENLOCK works."
I'm no Roger Deakins, I assure you. Of course, 99.9999% of us aren't. We wish.
But I have a Cable Ace, four Tellys and an Emmy nom under my belt, so I know I'm
pretty good...or was until my eyes started going bad on me. I've been very lucky and very blessed, but I am aware that the business is re-gearing itself more toward expendable personnel at least at the levels below the world of Roger Deakins.
Simply put, now that digital high definiton DSLR cameras have effectively democratized cinematography gear, you no longer have to have hundreds of hours of personal time working with a 250 to 400 thousand dollar Panaflex 35mm motion picture camera anymore, and you can rent your choice of very fine prime lenses if you need to, but a 4500 dollar investment will get you a set of good primes that can do an impressive job in most cases.
And you're not having to pay thousands of dollars for motion picture film anymore.
