Friends of mine, who are luckily married to each other, like nothing better to do on weekends than test drive new cars. They rarely lease (which would probably make the most sense for them) but they do trade up and trade in often. In this headlong car culture, it suits them to get behind the wheel of a new car and slip effortlessly in and out of their workaday lives. Driven in part by utility but mostly by passion, their decisions aren’t half as much fun as taking all those potential buys out for a spin.
Sometimes, despite the consumer reports and ad campaigns that might convince them otherwise, they choose a car simply by the way it handles – it speaks to them, to the road and yes, to all the others driving right along with them. And then they fall hard.
Choosing a camera, new lens or tricked-out edit system can be like that, too. Sure, you must make your living with it, but you also have to live with it. As NAB comes hurtling toward us in the oncoming lane, my advice to you is open your mind to the pure joy of the test drive. There will be many great opportunities for this on the trade show floor and in dealer showrooms in the next few months. Just keep on walking past the obvious balsacams and buggy software.
Speaking of driving, I’d like to point out a unique tutorial on page 22. Frank Serafine, a film and television sound designer based in California, might just convince you to take to the open road- for good. His nuts-to-bolts advice on how to build out a professional mobile recording and mixing facility inside an RV certainly won’t translate into an afternoon or even a weekend project. But Frank’s plan is neatly packed with practical, multipurpose tips you could apply to any number of satellite facility build outs, whether hitched to a truck or parked permanently at the end of your driveway.
Take a break from your computer screen, grab a cup of coffee and this issue, and find a good reading chair. You may learn a few unexpected things, such as how to handle After Effects like a Flame (page 6) or how to get the projects you want by wearing a full-bodysuit hot dog costume to your next publicity shoot (page 60). While you’re at it, take a break from reading, too, and daydream about an upcoming project or even your next sweet ride. It’ll do you good.
– Beth Marchant, Editor-in-Chief bmarchant@accessintel.com