I’m not sure how this would be interesting for anyone to read, this is just more on my plan off attack. Maybe it could be of some aid to thinking about you’re own attack plans, or something like that, but I don’t know.

I have a CD to flip. This is both survival money from my Dad and I, and it’s tool investment money.  I know virtually nothing about this financing sorts of stuff, but here’s what I’m thinking:

1. I should pay off all credit card debt.
2. I should make some sort of an allotment for my tool investments.
3. I should take out enough money to live on (and I don’t really know what this number ought to be)
4. Might be nice to have some emergency funds in the checking. (or maybe leave that to credit cards?)

What I’m actually thinking is.. I’m not going to be able to get a clear financial picture until I invest in some home finance software, which isn’t likely to happen till late February / early March, because of the evil Apple situation. One way or another, what I really need to do is hold off doing anything with a significant portion of the money, till I can get a picture. Right now, my principle job should be to work out my tool budgets. What exactly am I going to be investing in?

Currently, the list looks something like this: 

1. Computer / stuff that goes with computer (display, hard drives, etc) 
2. Sound Tools (DAW, instrument upgrades, and possibly new tools)
3. Video Software (Should I go with Final Cut Studio? After Effects upgrade? A couple other odds and ends)
4. Camera (DSLR): What do I need in a camera? Specs and Lenses mostly
5. Video Camera: What do I need for what I want to do?
6. Video Accessories: Lights, chroma key rig stuff, maybe microphones
7. Microphones in General: For podcasts, sound production, etc.
8. Modo (3D application)
9. Art Supplies: Canvas, paint, that sorta thing.
10. Education Resources: Books, and online stuff.
11. Are there other things I want to think about? Electronic drum kits? Electric Bass Guitar of the cheap-o variety?

I can go through a lot of money fast, so it’s important to think carefully about this stuff. As clearly as I can tell, from how poor my current understanding of my financial situation is, If I can keep my tool investment expenses to a minimum, I should be ok for a while.  

It’s hard to explain my plan, at this point, as there’s a mystery at the heart of it. I have to have faith enough to walk into the mystery, and believe magic can happen. That said, the tool sets should indicate something.

Fundamentally, I want to do something amazing. When I say amazing I’m thinking revolutionary, I’m thinking….Well I’m thinking there is a “disruption” going on. The disruption is changing the music industry, changing the film industry, changing everything. But most people don’t really have a big picture sense of what it all means, or where it’s all going.

Let me trying and layout what I’d like to do:

What if I created a video, lets say a music video just to have something to fit in our box. What if what I created was several orders of magnitude greater then anything you had seen before? 

Let me try and explain:

If I sit down with some serious production tools.. in such a way that..  once you get beyond the expense of the tools.. good design comes from time, I mean basically. The question is, “how much time can you give to refine this thing.” So imagine you created a situation inside of which.. time was cheap. At this point, it stands to reason that you could create higher production values then what Major Label bankrolls can afford.

I’m not a big Steven Speilberg fan, but what if you where Steven Speilberg, back in the days when his films seemed to look so much better then most of the other films out there?

Next day:

I present this idea to you as a principle, not so much as a “this is exactly what I’m going to do.” Here’s another example:

A friend of mine, it’s not unlikely that I’ll be helping him with some Flash work for a client. He was telling me about some of the estimates various design shops were giving him. What he’s looking to do, as far as I understand it at this point, is amazingly simple stuff. He literally had estimates in the 6 figure range. This is a project I though I ought to be able to do for 2K, maybe less, maybe more.. hard to tell without more details.. 

What this brings us to is the question “how much does Flash work cost?” As far as I understand the Flash market, there’s not really a lot of people out there who do it really well, it generally involves a somewhat complex skill set, and it’s probably not a bad career move to master the Flash Platform.

If you buy into the notion that good design comes through time, and if I’m doing my own Flash work, and the market prices can be ridiculous.. or even redoculous.. and again, if I’m leading a vow of poverty like existence so that time is cheap..  Dude, I could blow your mind.

A couple days latter: 

The truth is a little more complicated then I’m representing it.  For one thing, to get great results takes a little more then time: It takes talent, skill, dedication, hard work, and what have you. Much of what I’ll be attempting will involve wrestling with steep learning curves, and trying to progress at a huge rate of speed..

I also think there’s some sense in not trying to do it all your self..  but alas, I am a little insane! It’s best to work with people who are better at what you are less good at, then to necessarily try and do it all your self.  Hmm.. I suppose what I’m attempting is simply DIY on steroids.

With that.. its been too long since I’ve posted, so here’s this little bit. 

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 am and is filed under Flash, Media / Arts Business, Media Arts, film making. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.