Outlets

Photo by Brandon Riley

For the majority of us working in the TV production field there seems to be one common reason we have chosen a career path in this industry, a chance to be creative.  From story producers crafting unique ways to bring exciting action and drama to a TV audience, to elaborate set designs from art department, as well as amazing mood capturing set-ups from our lighting and D.P teams, they all have one goal in mind, making a unique and creative project.

One of the most pleasing benefits of working in our field is the wide variety of people and places you get to experience.  Being behind the scenes of huge productions, spending day to day time with celebrities, and traveling the world are all perks many people outside our profession would love to experience.  As we all know, it’s not always as glamorous as it seems, but most of the time the perks far outweigh the pains.  Having a job in such a diverse field opens the opportunity to a variety of creative outlets both professionally and recreationally.

For me, being an audio mixer was a progression from my former years as a music producer and performer, and it was a smooth transition from one side of the audio spectrum to the other.  Although I’ve learned many things from my years in TV audio production, creatively it never satisfied and thus I was always looking for new outlets for my artistic interests.  I found refuge in the world of photography and graphic design.

I always try and look at the world around me to find unique things that strike my interest.  One example is the first shoot day I had on a season of The Bachelor.  The house location was set far out in the Malibu hills and as we were taking a shuttle to location we passed a small dingy boat that was left alone in a grass field.  One person in the pass van with me exclaimed, “Look at that boat sitting in the middle of nowhere, what a waste”.   By the looks of the boat he was right, but at that moment I instantly saw an opportunity and decided I would make use of that boat somehow.  A week later I was asked by a clothing company in L.A. to do a photo shoot for their product line.  They asked if I had any good ideas of where I wanted to shoot.  I smiled and told them I had the perfect place.  Sometimes shuttling to location has its own unexpected benefits.

This is just one example of many I have to share.  The point is that we have so many opportunities in and around our field to help inspire us creatively.  People we work with possess amazing creative potential and most do a great job of pouring that energy into their work, yet more still shine off the clock as well.  From comedians, to artists, singers to writers there seems to be no creative field left untouched in my personal encounters with some of the talented people I have had the honor to work with.  In future articles I will be sharing some more of my experiences, but we would also love to hear from you!  If you have a story of your own creativeendeavors you’d like to share, or know someone who does, send us an email with a description of your topic.

/// By Brandon Riley

Send us your stories: openeyezstudios@gmail.com

Check out more of Brandon’s work at www.openeyezphotography.com