I used to think that I could be all things to all people. I thought that I could get every client and every crewmember to like me if I could give them everything they wanted. The goal that I am still searching for is that perfect balance between giving myself completely to the project and saving some resources for myself. A case in point: Just because I signed up to be the programmer for the lighting rig does not mean that I need to be the video programmer as well. I have seen this come up several times. The producer thinks that running their content is as easy as pushing “Play” on a DVD player. They will interrupt your lighting session to make content requests. The old me would step away from the lighting console to set resolutions on an Image Pro or tweak colors on the content in After Effects. I would return to the lighting desk only to realize that I missed my opportunity to get the perfect shutter cuts on the podium before it was moved. The new me says, “Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys.”
-Chris Lose, from “LD-at-Large,” PLSN, Sept. 2019, page 84.
