Quality seems to be a four-letter word these days. The new mantra among the handycam and DSLR crowd seems to be “Put your camera in the air and wave it like you just don’t care. We’ll fix it in post with the Smoothcam filter”. And now people are shooting stories with iPads? Ugh! And News Directors wonder why viewers are leaving TV news in droves. I haven’t watched a newscast in years because of the lack of quality.
Do you think Netflix’s House of Cards, Orange is the new Black and other series would be where they are if they shot with an iPad? Would Breaking Bad be the show it was if it were shot by amateurs who didn’t know one end of the camera from the other or that lights and microphones were "outdated, useless technology"? Of course not.
I got sick of standing up for quality and professionalism only to be beaten down, told quality was irrelevant and that I’m a dinosaur. The "CON-sultants", the wannabes and the no-nothings have taken over B-roll and pushed out, no make that shoved out the experienced veterans of this business who care about a quality production and know how to accomplish it.
Hopefully someone will finally convince these wackobirds the emperor has no clothes but I’m not holding my breath. For now, I’m having more fun in front of the camera.