The Vision Maker Podcast
The Vision Maker Podcast
Turning Passion into Profession: James Morano's Film Industry Adventure
Ever wonder how a skateboarding enthusiast turned into a full-time content creator? Well, James Morano, a gifted cinematographer, shares his enthralling journey from experimenting with camcorders to producing music videos and branded content with DSLRs. James takes us through his early days of crafting amateur skits, filming videos for bands, and his shift from a secure IT position to the unpredictable world of content creation. He uncovers the hurdles he faced and how he cleverly used these experiences to ignite his creativity and build his portfolio.
In the world of filmmaking, clinging on to originality is key, especially when dabbling with nostalgic trends. We dive, with James, into the challenging waters of Hollywood's trend of looking to the past for inspiration while satisfying an established, discerning audience. Remember the Sonic movie and the public outcry that led to changes? Yes, we tackle that too! Our discussion also focuses on the affordability of modern cameras, the crucial role of lenses and filters, and the distinctive edge vintage lenses can bring to films.
We wrap this insightful conversation by highlighting the importance of understanding and guiding a client's vision and fostering strong relationships that pave the way for greater opportunities. James insists on the significance of creative problem-solving, networking, and maintaining a positive attitude in the filmmaking industry. So, if you're a budding filmmaker or simply enjoy the magic of films, join us and be inspired by James's journey, his love for his craft, and his gems of advice.
IG: @Visionmakerpodcast
Youtube: @Visionmakerproductions
Well, welcome to the Vision Maker podcast. I'm happy to welcome you guys here today, as we speak with filmmakers and other industry professionals. I am here today with James Morano, a cinematographer with music videos and branded content. Well, contacts. Context, too, works, I guess.
Speaker 2:I do need contacts though.
Speaker 1:Could you?
Speaker 3:introduce yourself some more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I've been shooting videos since I was 13. I started with skateboarding. We got into trying to do jackass stuff because we were jackasses Still are. The jackass stuff didn't work because we weren't that good at it. So we started to do skits and stuff like that and trying to do early YouTube ideas and yeah, I mean the camera was always with me Started with camcorders, got into DSLRs and then from there basically turned it into what I do now, which is music videos, branded content, real estate, all sorts of stuff, weddings, films yeah, yeah, and you've built up quite a portfolio working with now with companies like AT&T and with different people Like I even saw that you recently did like a Megan Thee Stallion bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was actually an AT&T piece of content, nice.
Speaker 1:Nice. So that's all connected and there's a whole wild story about that. And I would love to get into it in a bit and a bunch of great music videos and working alongside with a previous guest of ours, tom Flynn, too. Yeah, and the same caliber. And yeah, I actually got connected with you through a mutual friend. You did a music video for her, yes, and so, yeah, I mean I was just impressed seeing your portfolio and even seeing that music video initially, oh, thank you.
Speaker 1:So, as you say, you got started when you were young, always with the camera. That's funny because that reminds me speaking of the jackass style of content. Because I started like my background was in audio. But funny enough, when I was in high school and we had like the flip phones and like the camcorder type stuff, we started doing something called Bad Influences which was basically our own like early YouTube jackass style stuff with me and my bandmates and, because you know, also a bunch of idiots Of course.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but we didn't even go as far as we only posted like probably an eighth of whatever we actually did. Yeah, I'm just trying to keep ourselves with the boom of YouTube, right, yeah?
Speaker 2:Feeling inspired. It's funny we're looking back on it now. So nowadays it's so easy to make content and get it out there, but like back then, we were just like not, we had nowhere to post it. Yeah, there wasn't until, like, youtube came around. But YouTube was very rudimentary and the stuff we were using was, you know, we didn't have lighting and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:I barely knew any of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I love lighting and as much as I use it now, but there is something about being given nothing and making something out of it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And trying your hand at doing something with nothing, without having the, without having the burden of thinking technologically.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I kind of love the. It's the raw creativity, especially in those early days.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because that's all that's.
Speaker 1:It's just raw creativity. Yeah, there's no like technical limitations in your mind yet, yeah, of what you're trying to do.
Speaker 2:And it's funny now when it comes to making content. We live in a very nostalgic time where people are looking to the past. They're looking at like, well, how could we shoot 6k and beat the shit out of it? You know what I mean? How can we shoot really high quality content and then add a whole bunch of grain and make it look VHS and whatever? Yeah, you know just to give it that aesthetic, or how could we just shoot VHS. You know, which is something that I've done?
Speaker 1:How do we get our hands on a super eight?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Super eight. Yeah, you know, and I also noticed that, even even contextually, a lot of Hollywood is trying to go back to referencing stuff from the 90s and stuff in the 80s.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:A lot of again very nostalgic.
Speaker 2:I'm very excited for the next Jurassic Park. Oh yeah, because there'll probably be like five of them. That's one thing I hate about the movie world.
Speaker 3:Everything's turning into best of curious.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, that's one thing I hate about the movie world is like big Hollywood kind of sucks now because you know there's just no creativity. They don't want to take risks on on scripts that are. You know, maybe the general population wouldn't like or or understand.
Speaker 1:I feel like there's been like a few that are popping up here and there. Yeah, the media and like the marketing world is only attaching to the nostalgic.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the.
Speaker 1:Disney. I think it comes to like a big part of you almost have a guaranteed audience. When you go to something that has an established audience, yeah, and it's like, but it's like a little bit of a cop out because you're just trying to like feed on this thing, and if you don't like and it's always notoriously the most difficult move to make, because the slightest misuse or miss, you know misdemeanor of, just like portraying it again- Of course destroys all your fan base because they all hate you for it.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:It's so critical to us. So it's like it's fine.
Speaker 2:Oh, you must be talking about the Sonic movie, where they made him look like some ridiculous yeah. And his legs were like I don't know what they were like they were not.
Speaker 1:They had to change his whole design because of the uproar.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, somebody who actually cared about Sonic came in and were like, okay, you have to change the legs, you have to change this. You know what I mean it was like. And then you look at the side by side and you're like, oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this guy looks like Sonic, that's.
Speaker 2:Sonic.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:But it's so funny like small, minuscule changes throw off how you view the character. I didn't even see that movie so I don't care.
Speaker 1:I mean, I saw it yeah 100%. Can you tell me a little more about, like, when was your transition into the professional world? I know you kind of grew up with a camera, but when is it like it came from being a hobby, something you like to do, to like? Okay, I think this is going to be my thing. This is how. I make money in my living.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so well. When I started, it was a little bit of skateboarding, a little bit of just having a VHS camera around me or a high-eat camera, rather. And eventually, as I got older, I transitioned from like camcorders which we were using to film some skits and do like stupid little horror things with, like you know, with nothing. And then I started to get into like DSLRs, when DSLRs started to first take video also. And when I got a DSLR I started to take pictures, because I mainly got it for video. But I'm like okay, it's a photo camera, so I'm going to start taking pictures. That was something I never really did and we were still, you know, doing these stupid skits and any idea that we could think of. But I was approaching it in a way where I was also trying to learn well, how do you shoot, how do you film two people talking? You know what I mean, what's traditionally done, and I'm going to do that. So I kind of used these funny things that we were doing to get better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then I had a buddy that wanted to shoot some content for his band. So we did one like little lyric video. I'm like, okay, I think I could do that. Then they wanted another video. Then somebody else wanted a video. Then I had a brand approach me and I started to do brand work and at the time I was working IT full time and I was probably like at that time I was probably at the level that I would probably still be at now. You know, I got pretty high up in that and I had to kind of make a decision because ultimately I was Would you mind me asking what position were you?
Speaker 2:Oh well.
Speaker 1:In IT, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was working for a school district. I was working for Lawrence school district.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:So I was one of three guys.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it was a pretty decent job and it paid pretty well, yeah, but I was doing this video and photo stuff and that became a full time job in itself. So I was working this full time job at the school district doing IT, and then going home and trying to do what I had to do with the content that I was making. And then eventually I kept getting all these offers and to do things that I would have to travel for and stuff like that, and then I just was like kind of like beating myself up and then I just was like, okay, I'm just going to do content.
Speaker 2:It was a very nerve wracking change and I'm like my mind was telling me that as soon as I put my two weeks in and I'm officially done, I'm just going to be living in a box.
Speaker 1:But that's not what happens. Because you're about to sacrifice that security of the paycheck that you know is there every week to our crazy lifestyle. Oh, like we're going from project to project and the balancing that out and fluctuates.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that was. I was like, yeah, it's ironically enough, when I did quit to travel, opportunities opened up and I was like, and they were like, oh, do you think you could do them? And I'm like I can. With all confidence I can.
Speaker 1:Nothing but time yeah.
Speaker 2:And then after that, I've been doing it for almost five years now.
Speaker 1:That's amazing I mean I've heard this before that like sometimes we're tested in our results. First we get like something we want to do, then we're playing with the idea and then we get tested in it. So it's like we have to follow through because it's like if you're Not available then you can't take the opportunities and like these opportunities are coming because you can imagine those two travel kicks came up, but you have to try to figure out if you can get time off for them and this and that yeah, be so bummed yeah, exactly, and it's like I even heard it.
Speaker 1:When it comes to dating, it's like if you're choose to stay in a toxic relationship but you can have the perfect girl, like in the day you meet, her is like this week, but if you for some reason prolonged this toxic relationship past that day, then you and that you could just missed out. You know, but if it's a, if it's not gonna be working out and of course there's a lot of nuances to that and broad spec, you know when, when you're not with the right person, you should end it, because it doesn't make sense, because that opens you up. Now, if you do meet the right person, you're actually available.
Speaker 1:Yes you know, and the same thing with work and with a lot of things. You know, when we hold ourselves to these Toxic types of relationships or just things are keeping from what we want. You know yeah, exactly, yeah so I thought kudos to you, because a lot of people would Keep themselves trapped in that, you know.
Speaker 2:I know and I was very is.
Speaker 1:It is a good sphere. It's a good money making sphere is secure.
Speaker 2:And, but also like it has ties into the content world yeah because part of my it career was I did data like animal. Well, I did like data management for cable vision for a little bit as a contractor nice so Now, like I tend to take like a nerdy approach into film making, Definitely works backing up and just having you know having my computer things organized you got your.
Speaker 1:You got your filing system in place and your naming system in place yeah yeah, yeah, me and my partner. There was talk about that all the time.
Speaker 2:You gotta keep things as organized as possible and things had need to be labeled and like little things that scares me is just like the unknown of like, like not cloud backing up and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:I don't get too nerdy but yeah, that's a big.
Speaker 2:Thing to think about backups on backups, as always, yeah, yeah, both cloud and physical and, of course, the nerdy nests for me also translates into cameras and the gear that we use.
Speaker 1:I mean, at the end of the day, you know what's funny it's like and we could talk about what we'll expand on. This was funny enough, like yeah, we're called cinematographers and videographers and all these different names, and. But like I'm coming, I came from world where I was known as an audio engineer, you know, and when I came to this world I found so many parallels. I'm like this is literally the same thing, but dealing with the visual and said of the audible. But I'm like why? But in one sphere I'm an engineer and another sphere I'm not like.
Speaker 1:I feel like in this case we're also engineers because we are One thing where you know we are manipulating light. You know we have to have a fundamental basis knowledge of how light shapes, colors and, and you know effects, an entire scene. Same thing with. You know the different levels of art, of course, composition, different things like that. But then there's so much technical aspects Because of the tools we have.
Speaker 1:We're like wiring things. We have to make sure all the minute settings in the camera, each thing does something different. We're calculating, based on our scene, what the ISO, shutter speed, aperture, all that has to balance out a certain way depending on our goals and, of course, all the extra equipment on top that like, oh, maybe we need a rig. So we're trying to figure out how do we get a stabilizer, a gimbal and the camera to work with this specific monitor and get it all powered. And then you know, and all this to make sure that we get our creative shot. And do we need to manipulate things with just a five by one, or do we need to get a shot Five by one, or do we need to bring in some six hundred these, or do we want to diffuse or do we want to grid on it like yeah?
Speaker 2:And then we're also still trying to create like a story. Yeah, it's like great. Yeah, everything kind well, especially if I mean on a, on a bigger, on a bigger set. You know, there would be like this guy here's the goal that we anticipate, getting this guy's going to do the lighting, this guy's going to do that yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't come from that world, you know. I come from a very raw world of like, grab the fucking camera and go, you know, yeah, and I kind of like that because it helps me think off, you know, help helps me think on my feet. But coming from like the IT world, in a very technical world, you know, I apply that to filmmaking in that, like I'm very particular with what I want to do, with what lens I want to put on or what you know, what Setting I want to dial into the camera.
Speaker 1:Is there a particular tool that you think it's invaluable or that maybe people don't use enough, that it should be?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean false colors, definitely a good one, because that basically just Paints a picture of how the lights going to look on somebody. So, like you would say, okay, this is where my level is. Do I need to increase? Do I need to go down? You know that, like using a tool like false color it, it puts you right in the range of when you need to be and, you know, by doing something like that you could really make any camera look good. You know me and my Me and my buddy Anthony have been shooting films on the iPhone and I got involved with him. He was like 40% done with his first film and it was all iPhone and I came in. I was supposed to be just doing drone but I ended up shooting.
Speaker 2:And then just be sticking by his side for the rest of the film and obviously, in editing and and that films been out, it's got 12 awards, amazing. Now we're on to the second one and we're sticking with the tradition of just using an iPhone. And you know we use an app called filmic pro on the iPhone and that and false color right in there.
Speaker 2:And now we're going with this next one we're going with a darker look. So more stuff shot at night. So now I'm really testing the low light, yeah, and that's a big thing, like the iPhone sensor is so small, it needs a lot of light, so we're pushing those we're pushing the lights, but it's cool to see.
Speaker 2:And Well, I also built like a mount now where you can, where you can put vintage lenses on the iPhone, which is cool. So we're doing a lot of the mid shots with like old Canon lenses. Oh, so you just like a custom little mountain.
Speaker 1:You, you figured out. I'll show you a picture.
Speaker 2:Oh, man, that's insane. So you were just in.
Speaker 1:Austin. We were shooting because one of the actors was there and we had to get a bunch of scenes.
Speaker 2:You're supposed to do it in close range. We had to get a bunch of scenes. You're supposed to do it in California but we ended up having to Circle back and do it in Austin. But over there we shot a lot of dialogue. We shot like our first dialogue scenes for this sequel movie and looks cool.
Speaker 1:Awesome, yeah. So just to paint a picture, basically an iPhone, well, I guess, with some form of case, and then this old vintage lens just attached to yeah, with an adapter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, wow, that's amazing. Yeah, what do you think about that? Like with the modern day, you know now that Cameras at the even the consumer level are getting so getting up there, you know, like almost cinema grade cameras are way more affordable, I would say, nowadays, with even like red at the more top, tier, below tier, professional, and then you got black magic there now, way more affordable than that, yeah, with their sensors, I.
Speaker 2:But then with the iPhone and people doing amazing content, yeah, I mean, I think it's I think it's good because it allows everybody to tell a story with and not have to have a whole bunch of shit or think that they need a whole bunch of shit. Yeah, I mean, it definitely changed the industry, you know, and when things become more affordable and you don't need as big a team to do it, you know, it obviously shifts the industry in a in a new direction, which has ups and downs. For me, it doesn't have any downs because I don't come from the film world. You know, I've never really worked on.
Speaker 2:I think I had like two experiences working as a first AC yeah, and I hated it. You know, I got you yeah because? Because it's almost like.
Speaker 1:We're kind of like stay taking a step back.
Speaker 2:You're coming from being like the director and DP, yeah, and now getting like, okay, you're putting to the specialized role, but it's like and I kind of yeah, exactly, and I kind of like the last time I was doing a first AC job, I just kind of sat there and like looked around. I'm like who actually has Heart in what we're doing here? There's so many people running around with their head up their ass and I'm like who is like Saying this looks awesome, this is great. Like who's actually like I don't know? It just seemed like there was a disconnect.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And nobody was really like passionate about it. Yeah, and actually that film that I worked on apparently never even got made, so it was like a 30 grand blow. That's crazy to hear which was ridiculous because I'm like, if that, I'm like I could have did that with like three guys, we could have did that thing. And the actors, you know.
Speaker 3:I mean.
Speaker 1:I guess that's the nature of like, once you get to that big level, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And there, because it becomes less about you creating something and more about what, like, the producers, will sign off on and off yeah. Because for them it's just a tax write off.
Speaker 2:It's like, oh, that didn't work Just next it, yeah, which seems a wild to me, but I do appreciate that. You know. I appreciate that somebody like Black Magic makes these cameras that are so affordable for everybody.
Speaker 3:You know I always recommend them.
Speaker 2:Obviously, the file size is a bit scary, but I mean, if you think about it, you can get a Black Magic for like nothing and have everything you need. Yeah, to be a filmmaker, do you have to get a Black Magic? No, you could use an iPhone.
Speaker 1:You're the Canon Sony yeah.
Speaker 2:You're the Canon, sony, fujifilm, whatever you need.
Speaker 1:And even like and you mentioned this beforehand. We were talking earlier how like, but still, at the end of the day it's the file sizes are smaller than the reds and the bigger ones. And now an interesting development, speaking of the changing industry, is like even Nikon now has a way of recording uncompressed raw similar to red, because red used to have that like almost a monopoly over the industry with their copyright on their format. But Nikon has officially found a way in to keep their format, which is probably going to now reintroduce all the other camera companies to find their own way if they can replicate the Nikon did yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, as one company does it everybody ends up doing it because it's now it's like a race.
Speaker 2:I think what we're going to see in the coming years is like a slowdown. Yeah, Like just in technology. I mean, there is already like a race to have an AK camera and AK doesn't look cinematic, at least to me, yeah. You know I mean, if it's planet Earth, okay, I'd want to. I don't even smoke weed, but I'd want to get high and just watch planet Earth in AK. Yeah. So for most film now, it's about not being too sharp. I don't like a sharp look.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Which is why, like when it comes to like lenses and stuff like that, I like to experiment with filters. I like to buy vintage lenses, lenses from the 70s. I like to dabble in shooting anamorphic, where things look really wild and really nutty.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I spent a little bit of time during the pandemic building like DIY anamorphic lenses. So what that means, you're familiar with anamorphic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, but how does one build a DIY?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, basically, so anamorphic, really quick, is basically a way to shoot widescreen on a square aspect ratio film, and it was. They were looking for ways in the past to make a widescreen image Cinemasque I forgot which one Cinorama was like, where they put three cameras, one that was like a that sat in the middle and then two on the sides, and they would stitch them together and make a wide image. That didn't work, that looked terrible. I mean, back then they would probably surprised everybody and then they were like, okay, it's terrible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and anamorphic is a way to get a wide image onto a square four, three well, not technically square, but a four three piece of film. So what they would do is they would shoot with an anamorphic lens on the front of the camera and then, after they stitch the movie together and then it's time for projecting, they would put another lens on the front of the projector that when the image is shot, yes, back out it would now project in a wider fashion. Yeah, yeah. So what you can do is you can find these old projector anamorphic lenses and you can get vintage lenses like Zeiss primes and some of the Canon FDs which I have, and you can basically take that projector lens and just stick it on the front and now you have an anamorphic lens with some character and with some you know, some, some interesting. Get an interesting look from it, nice.
Speaker 1:Have you? What have you used that to shoot?
Speaker 2:I've used. I've actually used it on at least three music videos and I and two promos.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's just some personal stuff that I've shot.
Speaker 1:Of course, of course.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's pretty good, and you've, of course, I'm sure you've gotten some real interesting results yeah.
Speaker 2:Definitely a lot of flaring. Not totally sharp, you almost get like. Well, it depends on what projector lens you're using on this they all have like a different characteristic Some flare more, some are really sharp. I have three of them and I have two, two, one, two projector lenses that are very sharp and they're nice.
Speaker 2:And I actually had to clean the coating off the lens to get them to flare. And then there's another one that almost gives you like a Blade Runner. Look where, like the edges have like a aberration, like a chromatic aberration to them, they're not totally sharp, yeah.
Speaker 3:It's kind of cool.
Speaker 2:I like stuff like that. I like going back and watching older films and seeing what was considered like an aberration then.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think a lot of people, you know a lot of people do that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, try to go back and see.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Try to like pull in some. I always add grain to anything that I do. I think that's.
Speaker 1:It's part of your look.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like when things look a little grainy.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's nice. I mean like it's definitely like an aesthetic and it sounds like that. You definitely have your own style and you put a lot of like. You know that creative aspect too. You know, even though you say you're a technical person too, it's like. I sense a lot of passion to create a video in there too, and not afraid to push certain boundaries.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And, but it also sounds like you have your own style. That's like, this is like, this is the look.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:If you work with me, this is probably what you're going to get.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And is there any particular client or project that you would say is very, was very exciting, notable, or like just a real good?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean you mentioned that I did the make the salient one, which was that was definitely notable. It was definitely a wacky.
Speaker 3:Tell us about it. Ride, love to hear about it.
Speaker 2:So it was just supposed to be like an AT&T thing of her just in front of a blue backdrop just talking to the camera.
Speaker 1:Which I do now remember had a very vintage look to it.
Speaker 2:Yes, so there's a story behind that. So, basically, so it was supposed to be her in front of this blue backdrop talking to the camera and we were supposed to get 20 minutes to shoot this Two days before this was all at college football. Oh no, I'm sorry, this was all at March Madness in Houston, texas, this past February and, oh no, this past March rather. So we were supposed to have 20 minutes with her and she was going to do this in front of a black backdrop. It was going to be very boring and they didn't like that idea which I was like. Her team didn't like that idea, which I was like. Okay, thank God.
Speaker 2:So the other idea that that me and one of the creatives had tossed around is to have her with this phone and she would be picking up and talking to the audience.
Speaker 1:It was like a rotary phone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it would be, and it would be like a little bit more of like a story, if you will. You know she's not, it's not just her on a backdrop, right, and she's also doing the concert. So that was a way to mix in the concert footage. But basically we're supposed to have 20 minutes. Then they were like, okay, we don't want to do this, we have to do something else. So we had to draw something else up. That's what we drew up. They took forever and they were like, okay, she'll do it, but you'll only have 10 minutes, right. Then we get a text message like couple hours before she's not going to be able to do it. And then they were like, oh no, she can do it 10 minutes. It was like such a roller coaster ride until the point where we're in this room where I'm like I don't even know if we're going to get good audio in this room because it's right next to the stage.
Speaker 2:Oh, man but she wouldn't walk 150 feet. Okay. So I'm like in this room like I hope we can fucking do this, because it doesn't seem like she's interested in any of this. So she gets into the room we had to get a mic on her. So I had her team get the mic on her. She was, and so she gets the mic on and literally, like I hit record and when I hit record again to stop the camera, it was four minutes and she was out of that room.
Speaker 2:We had to shoot that thing in four minutes. She gave us one take of the whole thing and then I was like I need a shot of her saying this, I need a shot of her saying that, and then just a couple of close ups and I left that room and then she was out of the room in four minutes. This is literally the raw clip and I left that. That was the last thing I was shooting that day and I left that room and I was like and I had to edit it. So I'm like I don't know what the fuck we just shot. So the PA is talking to me. He's like where do you want me to put the lighting? And I'm like, I'm like not even like.
Speaker 1:You never, ever conscious of it In the van, just throw it.
Speaker 2:I just took all my gear back to the hotel room and I'm like I got to start cutting something because I need to know that this can work for something, even though the producer was like if it didn't work that wouldn't have been on me. But since. I'm shooting it and editing it.
Speaker 2:I'm like you know now my mind's working Like I'm thinking about all the negatives, like do I even have something to edit here? Yeah, yeah, four minutes, wow. So I put a VHS look on it because I noticed that, speaking of nostalgia, I noticed that Meg the Stallions behind the scenes video guy is only VHS. He's shooting on VHS. I went to her to like creative manager. I was like, oh, that's cool, he's using VHS. She's like we love the VHS look, we love like old film looks. So I was like, okay, probably should go that route.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good note to pick up.
Speaker 2:So basically the idea was like it's somebody picking up the phone, you kind of know it's Meg just by her voice. But at the end we reveal that it's her yeah, and it's her not technically talking directly to the audience and on a backdrop. It's her talking to like an unknown party about how all that she did at the AT&T block party. And at the end she gives her like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I saw the spot.
Speaker 2:But I had to do that with four minutes of footage.
Speaker 1:I was about to say I saw the spot. I would have never guessed. That was like a four minute.
Speaker 2:I'll send you the raw clip and you'll be like shit.
Speaker 3:Wow, Actually it's funny.
Speaker 2:I showed Tom the raw clip and he's like man.
Speaker 1:Wow, well, that, I mean, that was definitely noted.
Speaker 2:You know, I wasn't like something like that gets me like not nervous, but I'm like I'm not, I'm excited.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Of course I'm excited, but I'm more excited when I have the final product, because I'm like thinking you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:It really shows that your, your ability, you know as a creative, like it's creative problem solving.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's. It's a lot like music. You know you're, you're reacting to things. That's like, hey, this is what I have to work with.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:And you, how do I make it work? Because it's happening, it's right now, yeah, and I was like I need to do something because I'm I'm holding the ball right now. Yeah, this has to do something with this, whatever it is, yeah, and it's good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's always going to be problems with everything.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know it's. I write a lot of ideas and I always try to like write out. This is impossible, we'll never have a problem, but there's always a problem. But it's the bigger things where I'm like is this a problem? Yeah, so walking away with all that footage well, all that footage, four minutes I'm like I don't know if it's a problem, but I also don't know what the hell is going to go on here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I like to think about all that. I guess that's like a negative thinking, about all the negative things that can happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you don't want to hold your back. It seems like.
Speaker 2:What is?
Speaker 1:that you don't let it hold you back.
Speaker 2:Well, because I'm just thinking well, if this happens, I'm going to do this, If that happens, I'm going to do that. I'm like planning all the but you also shouldn't do that, but.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think I like that perspective because you're also not like oh no, all this is going to happen.
Speaker 1:You're also not like I don't know what I'm going to do. You're like, you're more so thinking of contingency plans. I was like, okay, I'm going into this and I know, okay, what can happen. Oh well, if this happens. Well, you know what I can make that work if I do this, if this happens, I can make that work. If I did this, I can bypass that. If this goes, I can the thing that goes. Oh, if this camera dies, I mean I still have camera angle two and three. I can always cut two if any case. So you build contingencies and I think that's a smart way to work. You just I think it's bad when people like flood themselves with all the negative possibilities, with zero solutions, and they let that get themselves frozen and like this sea of like and so much can go wrong and have no way to do with it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and and yeah. That's bad because when you deal with actors and you deal with, like, people that are around you, you don't want to show that there's a problem.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:So like if there is a problem I'll hide it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'll, because when you're dealing with actors that are trying to get into a character or trying to, or just dealing with, like a client who's there, there's always a workaround. It may change the result, but there's always a workaround and you never kill the mood. I'm a big mood person, so I try to feel the room out and I try to feel the people that I work with out and, you know, just try to be on a personable level with them, which is important because I see, like all these like life coaches are like how to land the client on LinkedIn and I'm like you talk to them. That's how you land the fucking client. I don't need some life coach.
Speaker 1:Amen.
Speaker 2:Thing I don't need to go to your seminar. I actually see that that's a big part of like being a videographer on Instagram is like. I get these sponsored ads that are like we're going to show you how to land your biggest client yet, yeah, and then, and then you go to like their profile and you're like what is this guy even shot Nothing, yeah I mean it's so bizarre to me.
Speaker 1:It just goes back to it's like you said. You talked to them, but biggest thing is the mood. Exactly, you make them feel good. People want to work with people. They feel good If you were to go on a job. And yes, something is not about. Like I said, it's not about if something goes wrong or when it goes wrong.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But the whole time you know you are working the problem, you're the technician here, you're the engineer, you're the, you're the professional in this field. The client isn't the actors, aren't whatever. You know you resolve it, but you hold face. The client the whole time is like you just like, oh, this happens, we're going to make this pivot, it's going to be good. Yeah, you know, this is just how it's going to be.
Speaker 1:There are more times than not, if they see you come cool and collected about it, they're like, okay, you know, but they pretty much take it. They like working with you and you work back and forth. I bet you that even if the end result changed slightly, for whatever the reason, they will come back to you every time. Because if they go to someone who's like a perfectionist, who doesn't know how to talk to the client, it makes it feel very aggravated. Or someone who can get a little panicky, you know, at every, every, at the pin drop, and so the client feels like you have no, like no stance on what you're doing. You know they want to feel good through the whole experience.
Speaker 1:They want to feel like I'm working with someone who knows what they're doing and can no matter what happens. I'm still going to get something good because he's going to take care of me and he's going to figure it out.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, same with the actors is like, okay, I don't need to worry if I'm going to look good on camera, I just need to worry about what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:I don't need to worry about the cameraman getting like making my best take completely out of focus the whole time. You know like stuff like that. You know like the, because if they feel incompetent in you, then they're thinking about that stuff on top of what they're already. Yeah, so it's like, like you said, the moon is so important.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's like you said you just talked to. People want to be come off professional. You want to just make them feel good. Exactly, people want to work with people.
Speaker 2:I also like to. I like to meet people and talk to people and understand people, you know, because it also helps me like think of stories and think of ideas, and it's part of what we do. This is like a conversational, like a conversational profession. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:I think it's creatives. That's a big part of the creative, especially if you're making something for somebody else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, it's a lot of pulling.
Speaker 1:He need to get in their head.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Extrapolate their vision and how it? Translates to what we do.
Speaker 2:And sometimes change their vision.
Speaker 1:Well, I would say help them evolve.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1:Evolve it, you know, because, of course, whereas the professionals, sometimes people need a little guidance. Yeah. In that department yeah definitely, and speaking of that.
Speaker 1:That's funny because, as you mentioned that, because we've had our fair share of that, yeah, any particular ones where you had kind of like this interesting proposal from a client and you kind of had to help them guide into a more mutually beneficial vision or just really help them get what they want versus what they thought they wanted, because that's interesting, I think a lot of people are going to ask if I've ever shot a porn.
Speaker 2:I'll say that one more time. Well, just help them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like get their vision right in the sense that like sometimes people think they know what they want, but once they explain, kind of like, what their end goal is and then what they're asking for, and you're like, yeah, that doesn't match the way you think it matches. Yeah, nothing notable, I mean well, how do you navigate that conversation then?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean basically, when somebody approaches me, the first question is is what do you want to do? What are you trying to accomplish? And then some people have no idea. So I have to just figure everything out, which I don't mind doing. Some people have an idea, especially like with music videos. They know, oh, this is what we see in our head when we wrote the song, versus. I have no idea. So it's basically like I'll take notes and then kind of flush their idea out onto paper and see where it needs things added, and then, like, read it as a whole and say, okay, maybe we, maybe I change it up, and then I'll usually send them a change version and explain why you wrote that yeah like hey, and I've never had like any.
Speaker 2:I've never had any like pushback or anything. Sometimes, they'll be like oh, if we could just add this, if we could add that.
Speaker 1:I think that's reasonable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nothing, nothing, that stands out.
Speaker 1:I think also is like correct me if I wrong. I think you really take it where you're, like you're really trying to serve the client.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's like when you do those changes and stuff, it's really in their best interest.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, of course I think that most people understand that I've never had like a nightmare client.
Speaker 1:that has been like I think if you come off the right way, you kind of attract people can sense that. I think maybe some people sometimes what I've seen is that some people can struggle with. I have a creative vision and I want to use your project to pursue my creative vision.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I never. I don't think that really ever works out, yeah no. You got to like, if you're going in for work, you really got to serve the client and there, yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:And try to give them the best piece of content. I always try to like maximize the content. Also, like I'll do a couple of different edits, send them a bunch of stales, like I just did something with Wolf or Winery we did a few edits and send a bunch of stales that I liked that I'd probably post on Instagram. Oh nice, I just try to you know, obviously there's an, obviously there's always contracted. We're going to do a 60 second this, but I always try to go above and beyond and do a little extra here.
Speaker 2:I'll make an extra edit because I think it might look cool. Yeah they use it, they use it.
Speaker 1:If they don't, they don't, I think that's then things like that is like where they'll be like oh, this is awesome, like yeah, I think when you, when you over deliver, in that sense, I think it's it's what stands you out, yeah, it's like what makes you even more enjoyable to work with, because, like, give it a hundred on the what they asked for, and then you added that extra 10, 20%.
Speaker 2:And yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't think also, like some people, when they think about going above and beyond think they go like thinking way too big about it. Like oh let me make another video, like no, not necessarily, you can make just another edit or take your favorite stills that you think.
Speaker 2:I almost always do that, yeah, because I also, like you know, I like to enjoy the content that I make. I like to try to do something different every time and no, that's an interesting idea. I think that's really helpful to help you stand out. I like archival the footage, so I literally have the first project I've ever shot and I don't know why I do that.
Speaker 1:I think that's a good habit.
Speaker 2:I love it Cause I'm like I like all this stuff and I it's like digital hoarding. Hoarder is the digital version. That'd be a great. That'd be a boring show actually.
Speaker 1:I mean depending on the content it could also be a very scary show.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it actually could yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh man, that's a round of hole and a half.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh man was there. I think there was a question. I don't know if I'm allowed to bring up a question.
Speaker 1:You could, hey, if you wrote for me.
Speaker 2:I think you guys asked me off air what cameras I started with. Yeah, pretty much the line of camera 100%. Yeah, so the first ever camera I had was a Panasonic 8 high eight camera.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yep, and that I had for years. I actually still have it and it still works Amazing. After that I got another Sony camcorder and I had a bunch of different. I had like two or three different Sony camcorders that I bought that we used to film like all the jackass stuff you know, like whatever we were doing at the time we were doing more.
Speaker 2:I say jackass, but it's more like our own skits and funny bits. And then I got. What was it? I think it was a Canon 60D. That was my first DSLR. That was cool. And then I moved up to I think it was a 70D.
Speaker 1:Nice, nice.
Speaker 2:And that's.
Speaker 1:I started with the 90D.
Speaker 2:The 90D? Yeah, I don't even know that, yeah. And then after that I got into what when I first went full time, the cameras that I was shooting, where it was the GH5.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, I heard really good things. Yeah, it was a great camera.
Speaker 2:And then after that I got the Black Magix, I have a 4K and a N26Ks, and then I have a Panasonic full frame and S5, which I really like too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've heard really good things about the S5 and the whole new S series from Panasonic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've always loved the colors of Panasonic. They could literally match pretty much any camera. You can get them to match any camera and yeah. Oh, that's great to hear so when I use the GH5, I'm like, okay, the S5 is like the full frame version of the GH5. And it actually is. You know a lot of those old color profiles that I had created when I was shooting with a GH5 applied to the F5, which is interesting.
Speaker 3:You know with Super convenient.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you have to tune a little bit, but yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, that looked out. That's pretty good when you can literally transfer, like those types of presets, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like stuff that you've used in the past, like stuff that you've created in the past. One of my favorite things is coloring, so a lot of people will send me their projects. That's like a service that I do also.
Speaker 1:How's your view on coloring Like? What would you say is like? Because I know a lot of people kind of have different philosophies when it comes to coloring. Some people are like I need to get it as like real to real life as possible. Some people are more like I'm trying to tell a story by the mood with color. Yeah, well, it depends.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I've done some full, full length films, some feature films, color, and that is very much coming at it from like a film standpoint, and even in music videos it's basically just trying to determine what you want the mood to be. I don't like when things look too realistic. You know I like a lot of like pastel colors and stuff like that, but I don't like when things look too overly sharp. That's a problem with like full frame cameras is. I noticed that, like there's sometimes in content that I've seen, like there's just too much depth and it almost like and the edges are too sharp where it almost looks like they're on like a green screen or something.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:So that's something that I don't really like, and then I also don't really you feel like that makes it less cinematic. Little bit, I mean just in my taste.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah, I know.
Speaker 2:Like it doesn't feel like I call it the green screen. I think other people call it the green screen effect, but it almost feels like they're just like digitally added in. Yeah, almost makes it If you don't have like that softness, the irony makes it more unreal. Yeah, I mean, if you look at films, they're not that there's. Unless they're shooting longer lenses, they're not typically. They don't typically have that much depth on, like, say, a 28 millimeter lens.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:If you go back and film, there's like a softness to the edges that helps portray that like cinematic look.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But yeah, but color is definitely like a mood thing for me.
Speaker 1:No, I love it. Yeah, definitely more of an artistic approach.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Visual storytelling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, To the next. And also, like you know, it also helps drive what whoever was shooting. If it's my stuff, whoever was shooting on set or on location, you know, helps drive the overall look of everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, is there anything in particular, any projects coming up that you're particularly excited about?
Speaker 2:Well, in July not too far away I'm going to be going to the women's MBA in Vegas, shooting a little bit.
Speaker 1:Nice, what are you shooting for?
Speaker 2:For actually AT&T.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, yeah, another one, another commercial spot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I've been working with a winery out on Long Island. I've been working with a bunch of different companies, actually Nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's always projects moving.
Speaker 1:That's good. That's good. Okay, I have to ask this because I was thinking about this earlier.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Was when you started to get a lot of these like travel gigs. You said people were reaching out to you in the beginning.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 1:Was it? Did you really, would you say most of these gigs were just people saying your work and asking you about it, or were you really like also, at the same time, reaching out to brands and companies offering your services?
Speaker 2:No, I'd never really like offer myself up.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I kind of feel weird about that. Not gonna lie, I just like I just interact with people.
Speaker 1:It's all interact with brands, so just network.
Speaker 2:I don't even talk about like. I just let them see my profile and if it interests them, it interests them.
Speaker 1:But you do reach out and communicate with them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sometimes like if it's like somebody following me or I'll always like reach out or start a conversation and if it's if they can benefit from some work, then they'll benefit. But a lot of it is word of mouth and I try to always like keep a good attitude on set, because then people want to be around you.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Especially if you like solve problems, because then they're like, oh, if he's there.
Speaker 1:You know, anything that goes wrong, he'll figure it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know if I'm that person, but it's good to kind of try to be that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Well, based on like, just seeing your direction and seeing what you have done and hearing that and just meeting you and speaking to you, I could definitely see that it speaks to just how you make people feel Just like leaving it all on the field and people feel that, probably feel that you're dependable and just easy to work with, good to work with. So and because for me, like when it comes to word of mouth, that's a testament to that Like people only speak about people they actually enjoyed.
Speaker 1:You know that's the only people they would recommend, and to hear that most of your work came from that really speaks to the value of being that type of a hard worker just being out there. But also I think it's a good tip too, just having those interactions being okay with opening up dialogue.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Don't have to be salesy, you don't have to be like hey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm like totally not. No, so you just like hey, I like your product.
Speaker 1:I like this thing. I'll thank you for following me this and that, and then they'll naturally get curious to see your profile, and it can benefit great, if not. No, yep, I got one more question for you. Final question Dun dun dun.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I didn't shoot a porn.
Speaker 3:No no.
Speaker 1:No, did you no Almost, oh man, okay, I don't think we have enough time for that one. I was gonna say is there anything in particular that you wish you kind of knew? Or you could have told yourself in the beginning that you know now through experience that you could have like wish you knew back when you were starting out and starting out more like professionally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Just believe in yourself and take the risk. There's plenty of things that I could say that I would have wanted to do different, but I think it coming from where I ended up now, I don't think I would wanna do anything different except just keep taking risks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, oh, that makes sense.
Speaker 2:I think that's simple but powerful, I think there's like. There is like a ladder you have to climb to get to where you are. So I don't even know what I would tell myself. You know what I mean? Probably all the nerdy stuff, but that's that ladder that you climb.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's like okay, start learning false colors.
Speaker 3:Start like all that stuff Just get this camera.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, there's been times where I question, I'm like, is this, like how sustainable is this? You know, and it's almost like your negative self talking to you, yeah, so it's like that has been a thing that I would tell myself. Shun those ideas and just know that you're on like you care about what you do and you enjoy what you do. At least for me, I enjoy what I do, yeah, and that's really it. That's probably all I would tell myself. I don't wanna know too much into the future.
Speaker 1:I got you yeah.
Speaker 2:I like to think, I like to hang on to the edge of the seat.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Not know where the hell you're gonna end up.
Speaker 1:Live life on the edge.
Speaker 2:Oh. I get that, whether it's a McDonald's parking lot or a Carvel, you never know where you're gonna end up.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, thank you so much for being on. You know and working.
Speaker 2:The good people find you online if they wanna see more work On Instagram at James Morano or jamesmoranocom.
Speaker 1:There you go, and of course, you can always find us at the Vision Maker Podcast and our other exploits with Vision Maker Productions, and thank you so much for being on.
Speaker 2:Of course, man. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Yep, see you next time.
