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Scaling Up Solo: Travis Peeples' Production Playbook
Your favorite shot might not survive the final cut, and that’s a good thing. We sit down with filmmaker and producer Travis Peeples to explore the real work behind great video: training crews from zero, upgrading underpowered gear with patience, and making hard editorial choices that keep story above ego. Travis’ path runs from university media trucks and ESPN uplinks to Hendrix College’s candlelit choir streams, where he learned to do more with less and preserve the magic of a live moment without getting in the way.
We dig into the craft and the career: how watching top editors log footage and build rough cuts can change the way you shoot; why “read the manual” is a superpower; and how to teach students by matching their natural strengths, graphics for the desk lovers, cameras for the movers. Travis also shares a field guide to gear strategy: invest in lenses, date the bodies, and let your deliverables decide what to buy versus rent. Expect plain talk on ISO vs. gain, variable-aperture zoom pain, and the difference between camcorder “light” and DSLR depth of field. Plus, a candid look at stepping out on your his with Triple Double Productions, navigating nonprofit lunches that turn into referrals, and adjusting to clients who email back on their timeline, not yours.
If you’re starting out, Travis’ advice is both generous and direct: shoot what you love, copy the masters to learn actively, and claim your title as soon as you practice it, especially once you’re paid. Hit play for a grounded, gear-smart, and story-first guide to building a career that scales from gaff tape to directing, from kit lens to cinema glass, and from safe choices to your own voice. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more creators can find it.
Hello everyone. Welcome to Auto Focus. We are here today with our friend Travis Peoples. Nice to meet you, Travis.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, nice to meet you.
SPEAKER_00:I know, even though I've known you, I think, for like over a decade.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, probably two.
SPEAKER_00:Two, yeah, at this point. Yeah. So uh yes. But but for everybody out here who it doesn't know who Travis Peoples is, why don't you tell to tell everyone who you are and what you do?
SPEAKER_03:All right. Well, uh, my name is Travis Peoples and I own Triple Double Productions. We're a video production content creating company and uh located in central Arkansas. And uh yeah, we we do everything from small business people's product photos all the way up to political ads and corporate videos and things like that.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome. How did you get started, like in video?
SPEAKER_03:Um, so my first job that related to video was at the University of Arkansas for their media department, which is on the global campus down there on the square in where it was. I don't think it's there anymore, but um that's where it was when I worked there. And um, they had all kinds of uh projects that they would do. The big one that they were working on when I first got there was um a documentary about Silas Hunt, which is what the admissions building on campus is named after, because he was the first black person admitted to a land grants uh university. And uh so they were doing that at the time when I got hired there. Um, but yeah, at that particular job, they had cinematographers, they had audio uh engineers, they had full-on just regular engineers, and then of course directors and and things like that too. And we had studio space kind of over by the stadium, production truck, uh graphics truck, satellite truck. It was pretty in own trucks.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So there's like three trucks.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and they were all parked down by that studio uh that's kind of behind the police station over there.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, I remember that. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and so that was that was, you know, my first experience with that type of thing. And it was great in a lot of ways because it was like immediate industry standard like experience. Um, like when any of the athletics would have an uplink to ESPN because they want to, you know, interview a quarterback or something. We would go handle that. And so I got to see how people set up in a studio, especially that would get to be on ESPN later that night or CBS or whoever it might be. And so those were really cool experiences, you know, because you get to play around with some really high-end uh equipment and things like that. But it also kind of ruined me because once you sort of that's the way things go. When it's not like that, you're like, where's all the things that make things cool? So uh, but yeah, that's that was how I got started. And it was great to be able to learn from people that um really cared about what they did and had passion about their job, um, because they would always want that bar to be as high as possible when it came to production value. And I learned a lot of great stuff from them from that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, what was it like working with like a big team? I don't think I've ever worked on a large video team before.
SPEAKER_03:So it's great because, like I said, the production value of what you start making goes way up. Um, you know, when everyone is really good at their specific thing that they do and everyone's free to just do their one thing and do it well, and you can focus solely on that, you get a really good product out of that. Um, and when you work well as a team and everyone's pulling their weight like that, um, it just it just makes it amazing. But of course, I can't imagine trying to pay for all that with my overhead and like wrangle all those people and all that other stuff. I mean, the call sheet's one thing, but like, you know, when you're dealing with studio cameras that have quarter million dollar lenses on them, I'm like, yeah, I didn't think about it at the time, but now I'm like, I can't believe they ever let me touch those things.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Oh no. What was your job there? Like, what did you specifically what was your specialty?
SPEAKER_03:Well, when they first hired me, it was literally that building that they were in, had so many other like they would host conferences and live events and things like that. There was a theater in there too. Um, and so they would host plays and things and they rent out that theater like Theater Squared, and people were like, I don't even know if that's still a thing anymore.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah, they have a huge building now.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, well, yeah. So they used to do their shows in the theater there. Um, and so for a long time, uh, my job was to just facilitate all those things that would happen. It was like my my technical role was or my my title was uh multimedia technical specialist. Um, and that basically meant I could set up the projectors in all the conference rooms, get them working and be the per person, you know, the tech guy in the building for people. Um, but when we would do shoots and things like that, I was just basically a grip and a gaffer, you know. And so whatever they needed, but um, I'd run cables, I can, I can lay down some gaff tape like you would not believe.
SPEAKER_00:I might need some pointers. I am so bad. Like it's like I feel like a cord always like rolls off and I'm like, no, no, come back.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, no, I got so good at that. I should it's like it was like being a roadie, you know what I mean? Um, but uh yeah, so but when they would, you know, someone wouldn't be able to be on a shoot or something like that, I would get to fill in for any of those spots. And so in a way, I would get to learn all of the different, you know, parts, whether there was audio or video or lighting or whatever it was, um, you know, I would just fill in those gaps as needed. And again, having getting to watch people do it and graciously they would explain to me why they were doing whatever or, you know, what decision they were making and and how that was affecting what was happening. You know, it was all that sort of knowledge that I was picking up without realizing that I was getting it. Um, and then it that served me really well later. But it was really cool to be able to do that sort of stuff and um and sort of fill in. And then the editing part of it, I got to watch some really good editors. We had like a full-on editing bay down in the basement. Oh, why? It was crazy. Um, and again, I just thought that's how things are, right? Yeah. And how many editors were there? There was two dedicated ones. And one of them, even though he was an editor, he was also one of the uh cam people, like one of the cam ops for the most part, too. But um, yeah, the one dedicated editor, like as you know, as we'll talk about later, uh when I started training students to do all this, I started telling them like some people can sit behind that computer and edit for hours and they love it, right? Like that's their that's their place, that's that's their happy place. That's not me. Not but those people that do, they make great editors and like graphics designers and motion graphics people because they don't mind just sitting behind that desk for hours on end and just doing the most tedious to me things on earth. Um, but he was amazing at it and getting to watch somebody like the way he would log footage, uh, the way he'd go through it afterwards and sort of do his rough sketch and his rough outlines of things and how how his process was for that was uh pretty, pretty good to learn from and and something that I carried on and then inadvertently or I guess verdantly um sort of passed on to the students that I then learned teach to do that too.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, I remember, yeah. I I always liked, I always wondered what it was like, you know, to be to be like an editor when you weren't at the shoot. Cause I feel like if you were at the shoot, like you saw what you were we were you were filming and you knew how you were gonna put it together later. And I can't imagine just like when you we just like hand off our stuff to an editor, we're like, have fun, here's the here's the rough notes, you know. It's like in like someone, you know, so you really have to like understand like who you're working with and like Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, and you know, there's there's benefits and and drawbacks to both of those ways of doing it. Yeah, if you're there and you can shoot for the edit and you know what's gonna happen, then sure, it makes it a little bit easier. Um but also I think having someone who wasn't there to see it all happen make something out of all that and get it like into the same storyline or context that you were shooting for, like they're getting to look at all of your stuff with a fresh set of eyes. And so they might see things that you didn't see or um try and apply shots where maybe you wouldn't think they go, but they work better, if that makes sense, you know. And so it's like um a good editor, it you know, they will see all that stuff and build you something amazing, right? And so they don't really need to have that as long as they can have their outline of like where you want to start here and end here.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, like this is the point of the video. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, and if you've done your job up front and you've you know built out your shot list and all that other stuff, then there should be not a whole lot of wiggle room. But um, yeah, you know, personally, I if I had to pick one, I would rather just be able to shoot and then hand it off to an editor. Yeah. I would I don't like getting the stuff and doing it. Although when I do edit, I tend to enjoy more than if I wasn't part of the shooting process because I get to like put the puzzle together without really having too much influence over the what I'm trying to do.
SPEAKER_00:That's cool. So yeah, it does. No, no, I yeah, I I'm definitely I'm definitely the type where like if I'm filming something and I have a vision, like I want I'm I guess I'm a control freak. I want to control the whole thing throughout the whole thing, you know? Yeah. No. And then you get to the feedback stage and you're like, fine. You know, I see what you're saying.
SPEAKER_03:Have you ever heard the phrase of it's not finished being edited until your favorite shot is not in it anymore?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So it's like you gotta let go of some of those things where you're like, but I really got that really sweet lens flare. And they're like, it doesn't serve what's happening, it's gotta go. And you're like, but it's like they're like, no.
SPEAKER_00:Like, can I put it in some B? Can I put it in the bloopers? They're like, yeah. I'm gonna keep that from like, can I put it in the trailer?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Exactly. Um, but yeah, so uh, you know, it was fun to be able to do those things and see those guys work. And one of the things I really uh came to appreciate afterwards was having two dedicated engineers who would fix our equipment when it would break. Yeah. Um, because once I didn't have those and things started not working the way I wanted to, I'm like, why can't I not just hand this problem off to fix it for me, you know? And uh at the same time, I then have to learn a lot about the gear that I had to fix. So that's helped me in that way as well.
SPEAKER_00:That's awesome. All right. So you started off at the UA and then you moved to where?
SPEAKER_03:Uh so then I got a job. Uh my wife and I moved to Conway, she got a job at Hendrix, and I got one there as well. And um at the time, that role was uh basically another multimedia technical specialist, is what they called it. But then the job description, when you start reading it, it turned into like, well, you're just gonna make all the videos that we do on campus here. And so it quickly evolved into that. But I also showed up and I went from having full-on studio equipment and, you know, industry standard multimillion dollar like equipment inventory to some Canon Vixia uh prosumer camcorders that you'll see out on the sideline of a soccer game.
SPEAKER_00:So the one that had like the sling, you're just holding it. Yeah. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03:And uh the first thing that they had me do was uh they have this tradition right after Thanksgiving, it's gone on for 60 some odd years now, almost 70, that um they call it the candlelight carol performance, and the choir performs a candlelight carol service in the chapel on campus uh lit with candles. So not very well lit.
SPEAKER_00:Which in person it sounds very pretty and amazing, but but to film it with a camcorder.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. Well, and yeah, so they had like two of them, and of course there's not much light, and the camcorder does not like that, and they want it to be live streamed, and it was, you know, the equipment that we had to do that was probably from the late 80s, early 90s, and this was in 2011. Um, and so, you know, that first year I really had to do more with less. Um, but you know, we got it done. And then I immediately after that was finished was like, okay, well, first things first, we're just gonna need to upgrade at least one of these cameras so that like the main camera can at least not struggle so badly. Um and you know, little by little we we did that over the years and and got it going. And so uh by the time you know it's 14, 15 years later, now we have like, you know, like XA55s with SDIs out on them that do really well in the low light, and you can run those those those runs for as long as you need them to go. And we got them to uh uh uh put a little more light in the chapel candles, um, which is good. And you know, I I still don't feel like it detracts from the vibe that that's going on in there. Um you even though it's not fully just lit with candles, it does, it still feels exactly like that. So um, and it's it's really a really beautiful performance. And uh I got to do it every year right before Christmas would start. And so it was always like my signal that Christmas year, but we gotta get the decorations out.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:You walk in and there'd be like all the pews have these reeds and little ribbons coming off of them. They'd set up a big tree right under their big stained glass behind the pulpit and stuff. And it was uh it's just really nice because then I would always think of those songs during during Christmas time. So yeah, it was one of those things where uh, you know, you sort of it's sort of as a struggle at the beginning, but then when you get the rhythm of doing it, you're like, oh, this is just like and it's a nice like little kick to the thing because you can just finish with Thanksgiving break, and then you're like, all right, let's do this one big thing, and then now it's Christmas time. Christmas time. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. No, I mean, and I was just wondering, like, how how did you adjust like from going from like a huge team where everybody had like they were like their own special thing to basically a team of one where you were like, now it's me.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, that was definitely um a shock um and a big giant learning curve. Uh and I asked that of my boss when I got hired. I was like, hey, you've got all this stuff. Well, who else is gonna help me do it? And they were like, We have student workers who you can help you with it. And I'm like, cool, which of them is like the video like professional? And they're like, none of them, and they're like, you're just gonna have to train them. Um, so it did take me a long time to wrap my head around being able to trust an 18 to 22 year old to like do a job that they haven't been like working for very long. And you know, unfortunately, in content creation world, when you make a mistake, it's pretty obvious, right? Everyone can see and hear it. So, like, you know, you it's not a lot of room to hide your your mistakes. And so uh it took me a while, but at the same time, it was pretty gratifying to just get to like take a person who was brand new and be like, I'm just gonna teach you from the ground up how we do it. Um, and that way I'm not having to make you unlearn bad habits, things like that. You just know what I tell you is what, and let's just go and do it. And, you know, after that, it was just a matter of finding students who had a proclivity for that type of thing, and then just watering that plant. Um, but I got really good, like I was saying earlier, about picking people's strengths, what they were good at. So, like if you show me that you like to sit behind there, I'd be like, let me show you around in premiere and after effects, you know, and and here's the tools and here's all the guides and tutorials that you could use for it. I'm gonna give you some jobs that I need for what we're doing, but feel free to sit here and learn. Yeah, play. Yeah. And um, and I, you know, I would tell them, you know, we pay you the federal minimum wage to to to work here, but I will pay you by the hour to sit here and learn after effects, you know. So, like, and then I would also tell them, especially if they started as freshmen, it's like by the time you leave and graduate when you're a senior, I will have given you a degree in how to go out and and have a very marketable skill that you can use. Like you might be a history major for your classes, but I'm gonna teach you how to show up on any set and not feel intimidated or like you don't belong there. And um that was true for a lot of them. The ones that that really cared and and did want to do that have all gone on to do very successful things. I have um a lot of nice success stories that have come out of it. And now those are the ones, you know, the examples of ones who really wanted to lean into it and enjoyed it and got a lot of gratification out of it. I've had plenty as well that just it was their job that they were doing and they couldn't care less.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, ever. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, but it was it was nice. And then, you know, if I did happen to get a student or two that did have some experience, that was nice because then I'm not starting at exactly zero. Um, but it was always really uh gratifying for me personally too to just watch them you know start their journey and then be able to like what what types of projects they would be able to uh you know finish by the time they were done and sort of what skill sets they had they had uh made. And um yeah, I I was that was one of the one of the best parts of that job was getting to see that journey of them taken, you know, when someone shows an interest in something and you feel like you've helped them grow it, it's always nice to see what happens out of that.
SPEAKER_00:That's super cool. Yeah. So what is some advice you would give to people that are if like they're like just learning like premiere after effects, cameras, all that? We were talking earlier about the cameras and uh when you have a camera, you are smarter than your camera. Yeah. Don't put it on auto. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Well, um, so I would anybody who's like starting with that sort of stuff, you know, if they're wanting to learn it. I mean, luckily in today's day and age, the internet has everything for you. You're gonna find hours and hours of content that will show you how to do it.
SPEAKER_00:YouTube university. Yes.
SPEAKER_03:But you know, I always find it tricky to like find a good video that someone will tell you what they're doing and show it to you without being condescending. Like, why does everybody have to be so condescending when you're showing me you're you're offering your help to me. I don't really understand why you want to talk down to me about it. Like, I why would I be watching if I knew how to do it? You know what I mean? Yeah, but um well, there are some out there that like do that too. But um, for for that, I would just say, yeah, you know, understanding your gear, first of all, is going to be paramount, right? If you don't even understand what that tool is in your hand, like you need to figure that out. So um, as my former students will tell you, if you ever ask any of them, anytime we'd get any type of new piece of gear in, I would read that manual front page to last page, all the way through the troubleshooting section and all that other stuff, because I wanted to know how that thing works inside and out, backwards or forwards, and be like, okay, um, you know, this is the thing. And that way, when I need to know, hey, why is it look like this or sound like this, you know, then I can understand where that setting is, why it's doing that, how I fix it, uh, what the bet, you know, benefit versus, you know, detraction or uh what's the opposite of benefit? Doesn't matter. But whatever the you know, what's the pros and cons of this particular setting, right? Um so I would I usually never let the camera make a lot of decisions for me or or anything like that. Um I will always try and put it on manual. And then, you know, if you don't understand uh the basics of shot composition or shot exposure and things like that, then you're gonna be in a big trouble anyways, and it's gonna show usually, um, which is fine because in today's day and age and social media creation, it doesn't really matter. Yeah. Um, but yeah, and as far as like editing software and stuff like that, and motion graphic software and things, um, you've gotta, you've gotta wanna be able to sit there. It's just, it's a long thing. You can't just pick it up in five minutes, you know. It's gonna be a long time. And especially things like Premiere and After Effects, um, they just have so many things in them that it's just overwhelming to look at, right? Um, that was always the first conversation I would have when I was teaching people to edit was like, I know this looks like a lot, but we're gonna use like five or ten things in here most of the time. I know there's three million in here. Yeah, but we're gonna use like 10. And I'm gonna show you where they are. And I've I've put them in bins where they're all nice and easy for you to get to and stuff. So um, but you know, once you sort of give somebody the keys of that car and they learn how to drive it, they're like, this is pretty slick, right? So they're like, okay, now I'm now I'm I'm moving around like I know what I'm doing. And watching that little turning the corner on that, and you're like, okay, now you're ready to go. Um, but it just comes with reps, you know, you just kind of have to do it. And just like anything else, you know, if you're excited about doing it and you feel that passion to do it, um, you know, it will be not a chore for you to spend that time learning it, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, it's it's fun. Yeah, yeah. Like you spent like you're like, you're like, yeah, you spend an hour to like animate something. Like, look at this, it rolls, you know, and you're just so proud of yourself. And everyone else is like, that's great, it's 30 seconds. You're like, this took me five days.
SPEAKER_03:I have a great example of that. So um we were making these graphics for a live show that we recorded, and it was the it was a Vegas theme. And so we wanted the lower third to animate out with a rolling casino chip. So like this. And um my editor at the time, she spent so long getting that chip to like all like like um spin and yeah, but like spin, but like also spin, like, you know, uh, what's the word I'm looking for? Like evenly or like make it spin uniformly and out at the right speed and all that. And uh I had left at like five o'clock on a Tuesday, and I come back in that Wednesday morning, and it looks like she's been in there like all night. And she's super proud that she'd done it. And I was like, you know, that that's just like a couple little clicks of this thing. But she was one of those people who would just outwork her problem, right? Like she would, I would like, here's the easy way around that. She's like, Yes, but I have figured out not just you were giving me a recipe, I figured out what all the ingredients are, how they all work.
SPEAKER_00:And I made my own. Yes. Exactly.
SPEAKER_03:And I'm like, okay, you know, that's exactly it, right? Like you'll just gotta spend that time. But it's it's like anything else. You know, if you want to be good, like, you know, good at baseball, you're gonna have to sit in a batting cage and take a lot of hits and a lot of misses until you figure out this is what it feels like and how it works and you know, all that other stuff. It's just reps like anything else.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, for sure. All right, let's talk about what you're doing now.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So what are you doing? So what are you doing? What do you so you you uh now you are out on your own, the triple triple double pr productions?
SPEAKER_03:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:What is that? Like well, you're right, you already explained what it is, but like where did the name come from?
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Well, the name is um it's a basketball reference, and um, a triple double in basketball is when you've gotten double digits in three statistical categories, so like points and rebounds and assists, and what it's a hallmark of is having a really good excelling at a game in a lot of different categories and really contributing at a high level. And so because, you know, it's basically a one-man band right now, although I do have some some gig workers that do some things where my skill set is a little bit lacking, uh, I have some people that come in and and do that for me. But um, but it's just a mindset of like trying to do things at a high level and and do all of it sort of well without overextending yourself. And um so yeah, I mean, this week alone I did um, well, I did my first political ad this week.
SPEAKER_00:That's fun.
SPEAKER_03:Which was yeah, it was definitely interesting to uh, you know, see how people's stump speeches translate to uh, you know, a video and stuff like that. And and uh there are pickup trucks. I just think of the Clinton ad, you know, you go to Clinton house and there's like a pick pickup truck and but but there was definitely like this is my dog and kids, and you know, like here's me in my office and that kind of stuff. And uh yeah, but um at the same time, you know, it's it's interesting to get to what you know, one of the things that's really nice about doing it the way I am now is it's not all one institution or company's things, right? Like when I had the job at Hendrix for 14 years, I made Hendrix content, right? Which is fine and it was uh great and all that other stuff, but it's one thing, right? And so even in just a short amount of time I've been doing this, I've had do businesses videos, corporate videos, uh nonprofit videos, live events for like weird things, like, and it just exposes me to a whole lot of other different things, which is really uh another nice little uh part about it is I get to learn so much about a lot of different things rather than just this one thing, you know? And so um that's been a really nice learning experience and getting exposed to different environments, um, although that's also been a challenge because I'm used to having one institution's culture about how the rate and style of business flows. And I'm like, when people don't respond to my email in like two or three days, I'm like, well, they must hate me and hate what I can think, you know? And they're like, oh yeah, no, I looked at that. I just don't care to email you back because it's not because you know, super important to us to get this done in like the next two days or something. And I'm like, oh, okay. But like that's been a challenge is yeah, adjusting to everyone else's business flow timelines, you know. And so it's like, oh, okay. They don't, it's so weird because it's like if I don't get that immediate email back, I'm like, well, I guess that's gone.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I guess they're like three months later, they're like, Oh, hey, you sent this to us, we're ready now.
SPEAKER_03:And you're like, and it looks great, Corinne. I'm like, Yeah, okay, I thought you hated me, but whatever, that's fine too.
SPEAKER_00:Cool, yeah. Yeah, the best is like when you like send them the final stuff and they never acknowledge that they even got it. Yeah. And then like three months later, they're like, We have another job. And you're like, Oh, I guess you did like it. Great.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. It's like I want that that feedback, positive or negative, and getting none of it. I'm always I'm like, it's gotta be technically and they hate it, yeah. They fired me without even they didn't even they hated it so much, they won't even then myself.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:It's not that at all. And I've had to get used to that a little bit, you know, and uh, but but it's been it's been great. And like I said, the getting a variety of projects is is really nice. Um and then just um, you know, the networking that gets opened up from that as well. Like um, like my first one was for a nonprofit. And um, when I showed up to shoot it, they were like, hey, go get your uh your little lanyard that has your name and your your table on it for lunch and stuff. And I was like, oh well, I'll be working. And they were like, no, you need to sit down during lunch, nothing's gonna be happening. Go ahead and sit down. Oh, okay, okay, I'll have some food. But then I sit down at this table and it's like all the board of directors of this charity, and like, and what do you do? And I'm like, so I tell them and stuff, and they're like, Cool, let me have some of your business cards. And I was like, Oh, like cool, thank you. Yeah, and I was like, Okay, and then like a couple of weeks later, I get a phone call from one of them and stuff, and it's like, oh, awesome. But also, like now I have another little branch out into my little tree here of what you know is is going on for me. And and it was just because they were watching me do my job in an area that I have no business being in otherwise. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but there I was, and uh just enjoying a free lunch, and you got you're like, There you go, business cards.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I didn't have to pay for that lunch exactly. So um, but yeah, it's it's been interesting in that way. But also, like um, you know, because I was very good and practiced at the actual video production portion of it, um, I realized pretty quickly that I needed to go to business school and do a lot of catch up. And getting to see how a variety of businesses go about their business uh has been some of that. And I'm not afraid to ask questions of people either. Like I was talking to Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I was like, what's your business model? Yeah, and I was like, that's a really good question. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I was like, what are y'all doing around here? Yeah, I like, you know, why are the lights around around here? And I was like, so that has been its own education, which is nice too. Um, because, you know, again, being in one spot for so long, you you you learn all of that and and kind of get it mastered, and there's that security and safety of being in that that one stable spot, but uh, you know, it doesn't allow for a lot of growth, you know. And so having something new and challenging just about every project is is like helping me grow a lot in that area as well. That's awesome. Well, good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I wanted to talk to you about because like the equipment, this will be two more, we have two more questions. Yeah. So the equipment, so you basically did this again. So you basically grew up Hendrix to have like good equipment for 14 years.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And then you left, and now you're starting over again from like, you know, working your own equipment up. So how is that, how's that going? And what advice do you have to give? Because I'm sure that there's a lot of people that have already going through that. So, like, how do you like basically how do you start over?
SPEAKER_03:Right. Um, well, it helps to know that you're starting over and where you're trying to get to when you're starting over, right? You at least have a goal in mind. When you have no idea, it's very daunting because you're like, I don't even know what I don't know and what I need or don't need and what's superfluous and what's necessary. And so um, so just that in and of itself is is handy. But I would say that um, and I was actually very much looking forward to this conversation with you because I don't think we've nerded out about equipment just a whole lot in our our time we've known each other. So I I'm I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this too. But um, you know, for me, especially it's like what you need is uh gonna dictate what you you know what what projects you're trying to do will dictate the gear you need for it, right? So um, so like like I said, my first thing was a live event that needed to be live streamed and it's in a low light setting, right? So I'm going to need one, a camera that will run for a long time and can operate in uh low light, and then we also can have battery power that I can hook into something because you know, unless you want to have those giant, huge studio batteries on the back of a camera. Um, and again, in that particular setting in that chapel, it's a very small chapel. So we want to have as small footprint as possible so that we're not there, right? We want to be capturing it, but no one should know you're sort of in that space. Yeah. And so that informs a lot of those decisions. So then it was balanced against what kind of budget you have, right? Um, and then how often you're going to need that. Stuff right, so if you're gonna be doing this every week, then sure, go ahead and invest in that because it's gonna pay for itself pretty quickly. If it's just a one-off thing, you're probably gonna want to rent that. But then what do I rent and why and all that other stuff? So, um, but yeah, so what I've tried to do now is um for my own gear starting over, it's get back to basics so that I can have an everyday shooter, right? So for me, that's gonna be uh a DSLR body, or I'm actually now I'm way leaning into the mirror.
SPEAKER_00:Mirrorless is uh, I I'm all about mirrorless.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I know. And I'm I'm getting converted slowly by sure. But um but yeah, so you know, that with a pretty long lens on it, a telephoto lens that I can get uh a lot of good coverage. But you know, I don't know if you've ever heard the term you marry the lenses and date the bodies. Yeah. So you really want to get into your ecosystem of what appease you know what pleases you when you look at it, right? Um some people like the way Nikon images look, some people like the way Sony's, some people like canons, whatever, right? It's just whatever you know is most pleasing to you, you should be in that ecosystem. But then yeah, you want to get those glass pieces. And again, what types of things you do generally will dictate what you're gonna need there. But um, like I tell anybody who ever asks me, in video and like visual world and audio world, it's really one of those instances where you get what you pay for. Like if you're gonna spend$200 on your lens, it's gonna look like a$200 lens. If you're gonna spend a$20,000 on it, it's gonna look like that too. And you truly will get what you pay for. And if you have enough of those projects that it will be justified, then that's exactly what you should get. Um, but that's why renting is also really nice as well, is because you get to sort of uh test out those things. You can date it all. Yes, exactly. Yeah, it's like speed dating. Yeah. Um, and uh yeah, without having to commit too much to it. So um, you know, in that way it's like but but you know, I think that every photographer or or person with like a uh a handheld camera, mirrorless or DSLR, would probably tell you that a 50 millimeter is probably like the beginner lens or I don't know, listen, beginner is not the right word, but it's like the catch-all lens that does a lot of good things because it's right in that middle range of focal length. And so uh like a nice prime 50, uh, you know, I think they even call them nifty fifties and fifties.
SPEAKER_00:I know. And it's gotta go down like to like 1.4.
SPEAKER_03:You gotta have that 1.4 aperture on there. Otherwise, you know, because if you're gonna have that prime, you know, that's what you have it for, is to get that depth of field that you can get. So um, well, yeah, like a nice one, like you spend a a grand or two on a body and then start investing in those those really nice lenses. As long as you live in that ecosystem later, you know, and your shutter starts to wear out and all that other stuff, you can you can zoo that. But those lenses, if you take care of them, yeah, you can have them forever.
SPEAKER_00:I still use the lenses I had that I moved here with in 2003. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And they're like, you know, as long as you take care of them, it will reward you forever and ever. And then you just replace that body once it starts to wear out, and then and it just goes, it just keeps going.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um then the mirrorless, because I I um then the the Nikon will have an adapter. Because yeah, those the mirrorless on the Nikon is like literally like the hole for the lens is like this big. And so like I'm I'm terrified of changing the lens because I'm like, dust is just it's just like a dust magnet, you know?
SPEAKER_03:I never thought of it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you're just like, oh my, oh my god, I have to do this real quick. Like you got like a vacuum. I know, you're like, oh, that's a good don't get the dust.
SPEAKER_03:Um yeah, no, it's um it's it's funny because you know people will think, oh, okay, well, you know, I've got this like kit that comes with the thing and it says the 18 to 55 millimeter, right? And this would be a thing that I would show to my students all the time. I would be like, here's the kit lens that came with this, put it in this hand. Now here's the 24 to 105, you know, Sigma art one over here. And feel how heavy this one is versus the kittens. And they're like, oh, okay, why? And I'm like, because this one is mostly plastic and plastic parts, and this one is real glass, real thick glass with like metal parts in there, and this will last forever. And this one will last for probably two years.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, right. Yeah. And then like those, like they don't, it's not a two-eight like fix. So it's like, you know, if you're zooming in, like, like they're like all of a sudden the sh the the aperture is getting smaller and smaller and smaller, and like you're not gonna get in as much light as as as you need. And so yeah, having those lights like a lens that is a fixed two eight, like that's that's stuff.
SPEAKER_03:So what um what what's your what's your take on lenses and body lens here?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, I do. I love I love lenses. Yeah, I still I mean I still have the the lenses I I when I when I moved here in 2003 at the newspaper, I still have them, I still use them.
SPEAKER_01:That's cool.
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, and I just yeah, because you can like the lens, and again, yeah, a fixed two eight, you know, just like those lenses, because like when you when you have a lens and um and that's it's not a fixed two eight, even the ones on these, these, these, these cameras don't do it. As you zoom in, like the it doesn't the it can't, the aperture gets smaller and smaller and smaller, so less light gets in. Yeah, and that's the first thing I do when people photograph like basketball when they're at like their kids' games or like trying to shoot football, they're like, when I zoom in, it doesn't look as good. And you're like, Well, okay. And you try to explain it to people, and they just look at you can just see, they're just like, What? And I'm like, Well, it's because it's because your lens sucks, you know, and you don't you don't want to say that. Yeah, you're like, Well, your lens could be better. And they're like, Well, how much is your lens? I was like, it's like$2,500.
SPEAKER_01:Like, they're like, Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:My car costs, I know, uh-huh. Like, yeah, but you don't you don't need this, but you know, here's how you can kind of you know, yeah, get a monopod.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and people who uh don't come from a background of that, and you're trying to explain that to them always like, okay, well, it's like when I'm looking at you like this and my eyes are wide open, I'm sure a lot of light is coming in, but I can kind of see everything. But then when I start to squint at you, my eyes get smaller, yeah. Less light is coming in, even though I can focus on that farther thing. Now, if I could have the squint without having to make my eyes, that's what this lens does, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, and I'm like, yes, it's there you go. Yeah. But you were talking earlier too about the difference between gain and ISO on different cameras. Oh my god, yeah, the cameras. Quarters versus a like a how I don't know what you what do you call a DSLR?
SPEAKER_00:A mirrorless, it's like a mirrorless camera.
SPEAKER_03:What do you call that body style versus like a camcorder? What's the what is that? I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:A DSLR, but it's like it's followed by its name. Yeah, it's a DS, yeah, digital SLR. It's a single lens re reflex. So then the mirrorless, when you bring in the mirrorless, you're like, it's a mirrorless camera.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:There it is.
SPEAKER_03:But it's like when I would have to explain to them, my students, the difference between the two, right? Because you're explaining the exposure triangle, your shutter speed, and your ISO, and then your aperture. And when we would go for it on the camcorders, they're like, Well, where's the ISO? And I'm like, Well, there's not one. They call it gain on here, and they're like, Okay, well then why don't the numbers like correlate? And I'm like, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Nothing correlates. It drove it drove me crazy.
SPEAKER_03:But then what they would do, they would notice that when those telephoto lenses on those XA55s, when you would get doing that, your aperture then starts to creep up as you start to zoom in. So your base, your lowest one you can get to is only like you know, 4.8 or something like that. And they're like, how come I can't get back down to there? I'm like, because now you squished the yes. I was like, it has to do like that. And they're like, oh, okay. But then I was also like, but for a pro zoomer camcorder, mostly that aperture is just light. It's not really giving you the depth of field like a DSLR will do, right? Like where it's actually, you know, giving you that bokeh and whatnot. I was like, it it's not defining the scene that well. It's just sort of how open the the thing is the light coming in.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And they're like, oh, I'm like, you're never gonna get a rack focus out of this. And if you do, it's because we have like cranked up the thing so high, the gain and other things else, so that we can get a lot of light, but otherwise it's not gonna let you try it. Um, although I will say, you know, with our 4K one that we used there towards the end and candlelight, uh, we would get some really nice rack focuses during the live stream of that. And people would always like, ooh, and ah, because it would go from like a candle that was on the pew to like the Christmas tree way back there and stuff. And they'd be like, Oh, this is like so so Christmassy and stuff.
SPEAKER_00:I know, and you get all the reactions.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Further emoji, bird emoji.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, sometimes that was my favorite part of doing those live streams because I would, after a while, I would let my seniors direct the show. Like they would, you'd start as a freshman, and when you're a freshman, your job was to run all the gaff tape.
SPEAKER_00:Like, here's your gaffer's tape, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And you're gonna do all the grant work, and then the next year you're gonna be able to punch graphics or run a camera. And then when you're a senior, then you'll have had enough experience that you've been barked at over the headset, you know, running the cam that you know what shot should be happening. So then when I could leave that to a student to direct, and I just kind of was watching the live stream, I would get to be Hendrix in the group chat and like respond to everybody who'd be talking and stuff. And it was very fun to just be able to be like, Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too.
SPEAKER_01:And yeah, you know, they'd be like, Oh, that's my that's my granddaughter. She's singing her solo.
SPEAKER_03:I'd be like, Yeah, you know, good for you, and stuff like that. And so um, that was always fun to connect with community like that and uh get to get to interact with your audience, which is not something you know, you don't usually get that direct feedback from your audience like that until you're in those types of scenarios. That's also yeah.
SPEAKER_00:All right, last question. This was the one I always asked. Yeah, what advice would you give to someone who is just starting out? So just starting out on their on their video journey.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Um, so of course, like anybody else will say to you, is you should just do it. Um, but then what I would say is, you know, figure out what gets you up in the morning and wants you to pick up that camera and just do those. And then once you have identified with that sort of uh profile or style or whatever it is, you know, types of projects you want to do, find people who do it really well, the the ones that you like and rip rip it off, steal it all. Yeah. Like just try and do that because in your attempt to copy Brooks' style, you're gonna get your own style going, right? And it might be influenced by Brooks, but you're not gonna get Brooks just because you're not Brooke. And so uh, you know, if yours is Tarantino or, you know, you like Roger Deacons' way of, you know, doing films and stuff, try and do that. You know, it's a really good exercise to just try and go rip that off. Uh, we didn't talk much about Filmmakers Club, but that would be something that I would tell them all the time is just if you like this one style of movie that David Fincher makes, go try and make that. You're gonna fall hilariously short, but you will learn a lot about the craft and how he does it because now you're not just passively watching his movies, you're actively watching it. I would tell them go sit down with a notepad and be like, okay, he makes cuts this often. He uh likes to put the camera here for this. Why does he like, or she or whoever? Why do they make those decisions? And once you start understanding why people do that, then again, you start applying that to your own thing and your project's gonna be different than that one. And so you're gonna take that lesson and apply it in a different environment. And now you have made a new piece of art that's like that, but also yours. And then later on in life, you'll go back and watch the things you first made, and you'll be like, wow, that's like so hacky. You know, it's obvious like this. But then by the time you watch your progression, you'll be like, okay, here's where I started to find my own voice and start to do things, even though they're still heavily influenced by the people that you know, whose examples I saw, it still is turning into my thing, right? Um, and that's also a really nice journey to watch people do, is sort of develop their own voice and their own sort of style and get to see that. But um, yeah, that would be my advice is just start doing it. Um and then when people ask you what you do and stuff, like say it. Be like, that's what I do. And like it's so funny. James Cameron has a quote that's like the first time you direct something, guess what? Now you're a director. You're a director. Yeah, like that's it. No, there's no like, you know, form you have to fill out, no government agency is gonna give you a license that says director on it. I mean, sure, when you get up there, you have to draw in the director's guild and stuff, but like even that's just some fees you pay, right? Like they don't like check and make sure you can direct or something like that. And so um, you know, fake it till you make it, but as soon as you start making it, you've made it. I know.
SPEAKER_00:That's the thing, is like when you get the first job you get paid, you're a professional. Yeah. So you're like, I'm a professional photographer, you know, like I got paid today, you know, you're professional.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And that's what I would tell my students for the long time, too, is I would be like, I have hired you to do it. You are now a professional editor. And you can put that on your resume that you got paid to do that. And of course, you know, I would also be like, anytime you work on a project for me, uh keep that footage if you want for your reel. That is your stuff. Like you're gonna make it. Yeah, and so like I didn't make it. I told you what I wanted and you went and got it for me, but you made it. So like that's your thing. So and yeah, and you should take that if this is something you want to do and and continue on with it. Um, one of my students uh was like, My first reel was like all of your shots and stuff. And I was like, great, you know, but now it's we should make them completely, yeah. I was like, but it's something else completely now, but that's how you had to start and look at what you're doing now, and it's you wouldn't you would not even think to put my stuff in your reel anymore because you don't need it. You you've gone on to do all these other things, and it's not because somebody like you're a director now, you just are, you know, it's like go do it. So um yeah, anybody that's starting out, just go you're already doing it. If you have uh an inkling to go do it, you're already ahead of the curve. And then, you know, in today's day and age of social media and TikTok and short things, like everybody wants it to look like you shot it on a phone anyway. Yeah, right. Like, and I've started to see a really big influx of like people wanting things to look like 90s on VHS tapes now, too. Oh, that's funny. So, like they're trying to make it make it look gross, retro grimy. Yeah, you know, I'm I you know, I'm a big we were just talking, I'm you know, I like the nice cameras to make nice clean crisp images and things like that. And to see them like sully it all up, I'm like, what are you doing? What are you doing? Why? We we we fought to get past going back. Don't go back. We don't want VHS at door. We have streaming now. It's 4K. Why would you want to?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's hilarious.
SPEAKER_03:They're like, no, I want the little play thing to like be in the top corner with the like vertical bands going across. Like, oh I like that. Yeah, you're like, yeah, it just shouldn't look like your grandma recorded it off the TV on Saturday night, you know. Like, but that's that's what they like. Oh, that's hilarious. It was interesting getting to work with college students all the time because you're constantly seeing what like the new like trends and things. Like the first time that they started wearing like the mom jeans with the really thick like things that we used to wear in the 90s and stuff.
SPEAKER_00:I was like, oh, what does happen? Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, but you know, then I think that we used to wear clothes that made us look like we were in the 70s. And sure, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I used to wear, yeah, I had I had a bunch of s 70s clothes, and like I would, yeah, I would even borrow my mom's clothes that she had from the 70s. Yeah, yeah. And my dad's flannels.
SPEAKER_03:Like, I think we've actually aged out of the Nirvana thing now. Like, I think Nirvana t-shirts aren't as in vogue as they were like two or three years ago, but like when that started happening, yeah, that was funny. Well, that's good. But then I was like, I used to wear a Led Zeppelin shirt and I didn't grow up. I know. People were like, name three songs. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome. All right. Well, thank you so much for being here. This has been so much fun. I've had a great time. Me too. Um, okay, one more uh let's tell them call to action about your um how can they find triple dog productions? Triple double productions. I like triple dog. I think that's another company of that that we we use our equipment.
SPEAKER_03:So triple doubleproductions.com. Um, I'm on social media, on Instagram, on triple double prod, and then I'm on Facebook as well, uh, YouTube, Vimeo, everywhere that you can find. I'm not on TikTok yet. I should probably be on TikTok. Yeah, it'd be fun. But um, I can't bring myself to it. I guess that's the old man in me where I'm like, no, I won't.
SPEAKER_00:But uh there's a whole over 40 TikTok. You'll love it. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah, I'm on it.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, I'll have to give it a look. But yeah, that's how people can find me. Um, yeah, just visit my website if you'd like to uh get a anything going. You can fill out a quote request and we'll get it done.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome. Thank you so much, Travis. Thanks for having me on. All right, thank you guys. See you next time.
SPEAKER_03:Bye y'all.