Saturday, July 28, 2012

Spreading Usury like Love upon an Orphan

Burn Camera, burn...

My job occasionally careens into the morally bankrupt (or at least questionable) turf of something legal but possibly wicked. The payday loan industry is totally legal, and the people who work there, pleasant and happy, like your neighbors. The deep canyon hidden beneath, is a attached compound interest rate of 391%.  I worked on a job for my very favorite client, on a series of ads for a major payday loan company. I had worked on spots for this loan company before for another production company and like the casino ads, they left me feeling old testament wrath was lurking outside my view. My job was to provide basic audio (like a camera mic) in case we could capture laughing or car door slams. It's belittling work because it is not the quality I would like to give, but I stay out of the way and do not make production slow down.  It was interesting to once again be on a larger crew; the digital revolution has slimmed corporate crews to nothing and I mostly am now on two man crews where I do audio and gaff/grip. There were people aplenty on this crew and the roles, when that clearly defined are not to be stepped over. Crews this size create something undeniably superior to smaller crews, the 10% difference in the look between the spot shot with 3 people and the the spot shot with 20 is very noticeable, but is it worth it?  The bloated waste makes me question what I once took for granted. First world problems to be sure.

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