By Laura Frank
We are a group of entertainment production professionals who work with video displays in live performance. We donโt have one catch all term to define who we are or what we do. Some of us make video content, though we specialize in everything from motion graphics, animation, information displays and storytelling. Others of us manage the engineering, programming and operations of delivering that video content to screen. We control miles of copper to communicate, transmit and reveal imagery on massive screens on the sides of buildings or on your home computer.
Our discipline has changed radically in the last decade and is undergoing another monumental shift in response to the pandemic. Most of us wait at home without the hope of employment until live events return, when, in the fall? Next year? No one can say with certainty. Yet the tools we use represent a possible future to deliver virtual events online. Many of us are deep in a learning cycle of next-generation production technologies. I hear stories of my peers working harder than ever to invent the future but the future refuses to come.
๐๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐.
๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ:๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ wonโt fix anything or make jobs happen – but itโs the place we can occupy to support each other until those things do happen. Like many other computer based disciplines, we were so busy innovating we forgot one essential task: we need to educate our professional peers who we are and what we do. We need to take this moment to step away from the magic black boxes and share the complexities of our work. We need to lay the groundwork for a stronger professional engagement with our clients and each other for our longevity.
๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐จ ๐ช๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐.
๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ:๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ was meant to be a professional conference, but like so many group activities, we are going to make a home online. We intend to launch a virtual gathering for mid-June. Please come visit our website, join our mailing list and be the first to hear what we have planned for our community.
๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง.