Your path to production starts here.

One of my biggest reasons for beginning this blog was to educate interns and newcomers to this crazy business. I find myself teaching interns the proper way to do some of the simple tasks on set that I take for granted. Universities and film schools do a great job with the foundations of video and film production, but there are some things that you just can’t learn in a classroom.

When I began to work in this industry I had several people looking out for me at a company called Skyline Teleproductions.  Unfortunately, the experience was short lived when the company was dissolved to make way for more news at our station.  I was “thrown to the wolves” without too much help to find my way.  So I started to learn on my own – reading books, staying late, checking out forums and bugging the people who were left.

This website is many years in the making and has always been a dream of mine.  In the past thirteen years I have made a good living working in the production industry.  I really enjoy what I do and I am hopeful that I will be able to continue working in the business that I love.  In the meantime, I want to do something that will help others to be successful in this industry.

One last note

Production Apprentice is a website for learning.  Everything on the site is free and it will always be that way. There will be supplemental material in the future but everything that you need to know will always be free.  I spent a great deal of time struggling to learn most of this stuff on my own.  I hope that you will never have to do the same.  So let me begin this website with a simple disclaimer:

If you think that these articles and videos are too basic for you . . . they probably are. These articles and videos are designed for beginners – students and newcomers to the business that are looking to learn from this site and its content.

I urge everyone to watch and maybe learn something new.  To claim to know everything is unbelievable.  This business changes so quickly that there is always something new to learn, I know that I always learn something new each time I’m on set.

However, I am always looking for input on this site to make it better, so I urge you to comment and email with questions, things that you want explained and tips to make this a better place to learn.  This business is built on collaboration and this website will be the same. Enjoy the lessons – I hope you can enjoy this business as much as I do.

Please send me your questions and your comments and give me the opportunity to guide you through the foundation of production.  Don’t be afraid to ask any question because there is nothing stupid about learning the proper way to do things.  I will do my best to answer every email that I get and also keep this site up-to-date and full of interesting facts for everyone to enjoy.

You can email me your questions and comments at  john@productionapprentice.com or just post a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you!

If you want more in-depth tutorials, podcasts and articles please visit the following websites:

• www.creativecow.net Great forum site for video professionals including software and hardware help
  
• www.dvinfo.net Forum site for various DV and HD cameras and editing equipment
  
• www.dvxuser.com Forum site for various DV and HD cameras and editing equipment
  
• www.videocopilot.net Excellent free tutorial site for Adobe After Effects and motion graphic design
  

These websites are excellent resources for the production industry – I use them all the time.  However, if you need the basics of video production – you’ve come to the right place.  Stay right here and learn something new.