Blog Post 10/20/17 - My Thoughts on Doing Work Outside of My Position
Greetings!
This week, we have been trying to reach out to more contacts to try securing more interview subjects. I was asked by the director (Knox) if I would help reaching out to two people who worked on a memorial for our documentary subject (Irena) in ALASKA (of all places). I complied, but it was more of me just wanting to help Knox manage all of this he's trying to do for the documentary, rather than actually wanting to do those kind of tasks. I managed to message the person who did artwork for the memorial, but I could not find any contact information for the person who actually headed up the memorial.
For me, it is not laziness (or just not wanting to do it) that turns me off from wanting to do things for the project like reaching out to possible interview subjects. It annoys me to be asked to do such things because they are outside of what my job is. I am the Sound Mixer. I am the last person that should be reaching out to interview subjects. That has absolutely nothing to do with my job on the movie. It is like how you would never have the Sound Mixer on a narrative worry about casting. That is just ridiculous.
My main worry in this area is that by having me deal with some of the potential interview subjects that the job will not be done correctly because it is being done by me and not the director or the producer, who are way more attached to the subject matter than I am. It annoys me to no end when projects, ESPECIALLY 495 FILMS, put people in positions they have no idea how to do because they just needed something for that person to do. I feel like it most notably happens in the sound department. I am currently taking FST 497, which is a class where we spend the whole semester editing a 495 Narrative film from the previous semester. None of the films have particularly good production sound where we have to doctor the movie like crazy in the sound design process, and I know at least two of the three had inexperienced Sound Mixers on set.
The idea of not having the Sound Mixer, or DP for that matter, sharing the Producer's/Director's jobs also apply to that ridiculous assignment where we all had to make interview questions for the interview subjects. The Sound Mixer and DP are not going to be as knowledgeable about these people that are going to be interviewed on camera, so the quality of the questions will not be up to par with where they should be. My questions for Todd Sumlin were not even used, so that if anything showed how much of a waste of time it was for me to write out those questions. Also, while I cannot speak for Taylor, I know that I do not care what these people are asked because that does not apply to the work I am doing on the film.
All of this is to say that people who are brought on a project to do a specific thing should be doing that job and not any other person's job. I get that the producer/director have a lot to do in developing that side of the project, but that's the job. Let me worry about the sound. That is all I care about.
To be clear, I am not blaming the Director or Producer for wanting the DP and I to help find interview subjects. I am frustrated with the expectation of me, placed by the instructor, to be sharing the responsibilities of someone else's position rather than just doing my own job.
This week, we have been trying to reach out to more contacts to try securing more interview subjects. I was asked by the director (Knox) if I would help reaching out to two people who worked on a memorial for our documentary subject (Irena) in ALASKA (of all places). I complied, but it was more of me just wanting to help Knox manage all of this he's trying to do for the documentary, rather than actually wanting to do those kind of tasks. I managed to message the person who did artwork for the memorial, but I could not find any contact information for the person who actually headed up the memorial.
For me, it is not laziness (or just not wanting to do it) that turns me off from wanting to do things for the project like reaching out to possible interview subjects. It annoys me to be asked to do such things because they are outside of what my job is. I am the Sound Mixer. I am the last person that should be reaching out to interview subjects. That has absolutely nothing to do with my job on the movie. It is like how you would never have the Sound Mixer on a narrative worry about casting. That is just ridiculous.
My main worry in this area is that by having me deal with some of the potential interview subjects that the job will not be done correctly because it is being done by me and not the director or the producer, who are way more attached to the subject matter than I am. It annoys me to no end when projects, ESPECIALLY 495 FILMS, put people in positions they have no idea how to do because they just needed something for that person to do. I feel like it most notably happens in the sound department. I am currently taking FST 497, which is a class where we spend the whole semester editing a 495 Narrative film from the previous semester. None of the films have particularly good production sound where we have to doctor the movie like crazy in the sound design process, and I know at least two of the three had inexperienced Sound Mixers on set.
The idea of not having the Sound Mixer, or DP for that matter, sharing the Producer's/Director's jobs also apply to that ridiculous assignment where we all had to make interview questions for the interview subjects. The Sound Mixer and DP are not going to be as knowledgeable about these people that are going to be interviewed on camera, so the quality of the questions will not be up to par with where they should be. My questions for Todd Sumlin were not even used, so that if anything showed how much of a waste of time it was for me to write out those questions. Also, while I cannot speak for Taylor, I know that I do not care what these people are asked because that does not apply to the work I am doing on the film.
All of this is to say that people who are brought on a project to do a specific thing should be doing that job and not any other person's job. I get that the producer/director have a lot to do in developing that side of the project, but that's the job. Let me worry about the sound. That is all I care about.
To be clear, I am not blaming the Director or Producer for wanting the DP and I to help find interview subjects. I am frustrated with the expectation of me, placed by the instructor, to be sharing the responsibilities of someone else's position rather than just doing my own job.
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