2024 12 27
Becoming a Documentary Filmmaker in 2025
My slow and reluctant pivot back to video is underway, though admittedly much slower-paced than it should be. The move back to shooting video is both personally and professionally-driven. Before I became a photographer, I was a videographer. Itās my first artistic passion and one that I want to further explore before it gets too late in life. Beyond that, my industry of commercial photography is now demanding that all photographers are also motion directors, so itās basically required if I wish to continue making money in that field.
In the new year, I will obsess over video and dedicate a huge amount of my time to manning a video camera again. Part of why my video pitch has stalled is my instinct is to operate. I must be operating the camera to be fully engaged in the production process. And that requires a time-consuming re-learning process, familiarizing myself with new camera systems and methods that didnāt exist when I was running MiniDV cams in the early 2000ās.
Fortunately, a friend reached out to me a few months back with the idea of partnering on a doc project featuring a mutual artist friend of ours (Iām keeping all the specific details out of it for now as weāre in the super early stages of this and I donāt want to jinx anything). We have already begun production and are now seeking additional financing so that we can move full-steam ahead in the new year (hit me up and Iāll send you the pitch deck!). Iām excited because I think this project has a lot of potential to be something great, though I also know itās going to be a beast of a process and take up a huge amount of my time.
With so much content being made and shared these days, Iām very sensitive to making sure this project stands out and is elevated from the pack. I donāt want to make just another āfeature-length documentaryā that gets tossed onto YouTube for a few thousand people to passively watch and forget. There are themes I hope to explore that, I think, will resonate with lots of people; if we handle the project right, it has a chance to really become something that goes beyond Chicago and touches people worldwide. But again, I donāt want to jinx it, so letās keep it casual!
Semi-relatedly, Kartemquin Films is moving their office directly below my studio inside the Kimball Arts Center. Iāve very much been ālistening to the universeā lately, and this feels like a clear sign that I should pay attention to. I also aim to make a monthly screening night happen in our studio space, which weāve dubbed Cinema 606. While this wonāt be strictly doc-focused, I do want to make sure documentaries are a large part of the night.
With Ai blowing up and affecting lots of industries, including my own world of commercial photography, I love the idea of adding documentary filmmaking to my core competency of offerings. On top of that, I have no shortage of ideas for various subjects and people that I would love to explore in moving-visual form. Of course, time and money are always the main deterrents, so it will be very revealing to know just how much this project takes out of me before I make grand plans to become the next Werner Herzog.
Some themes weāre likely to explore in this project include: the business end of art; what it means to be an artist; the unwavering dedication to a city that doesnāt always love you back; substance abuse in relation to artist endeavor.
Iād consider it a huge win to complete the project, be proud of it, and have other people choose to watch it on their own accord. Perhaps, if things go well, a modest run of screenings around the country would be an amazing end cap. It will be interesting to look back at this post a year from now, as I realize thereās a lot of actual work to be done and this here talk is cheap. Itās time to get moving and make a damn movie!
-Clayton
This is one entry in a multi-part series of self-exploration and contemplation-out-loud in advance of the new calendar year. Some of this may happen; none of this may happen.
For the complete list of posts, please see 2024 12 25.
Caught in the act of art. Chicago, Illinois. October, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Becoming a Documentary Filmmaker in 2025
My slow and reluctant pivot back to video is underway, though admittedly much slower-paced than it should be. The move back to shooting video is both personally and professionally-driven. Before I became a photographer, I was a videographer. Itās my first artistic passion and one that I want to further explore before it gets too late in life. Beyond that, my industry of commercial photography is now demanding that all photographers are also motion directors, so itās basically required if I wish to continue making money in that field.
In the new year, I will obsess over video and dedicate a huge amount of my time to manning a video camera again. Part of why my video pivot has stalled is my instinct is to operate. I must be operating the camera to be fully engaged in the production process. And that requires a time-consuming re-learning process, familiarizing myself with new camera systems and methods that didnāt exist when I was running MiniDV cams in the early 2000ās.
Fortunately, a friend reached out to me a few months back with the idea of partnering on a doc project featuring a mutual artist friend of ours (Iām keeping all the specific details out of it for now as weāre in the super early stages of this and I donāt want to jinx anything). We have already begun production and are now seeking additional financing so that we can move full-steam ahead in the new year (hit me up and Iāll send you the pitch deck!). Iām excited because I think this project has a lot of potential to be something great, though I also know itās going to be a beast of a process and take up a huge amount of my time.
With so much content being made and shared these days, Iām very sensitive to making sure this project stands out and is elevated from the pack. I donāt want to make just another āfeature-length documentaryā that gets tossed onto YouTube for a few thousand people to passively watch and forget. There are themes I hope to explore that, I think, will resonate with lots of people; if we handle the project right, it has a chance to really become something that goes beyond Chicago and touches people worldwide. But again, I donāt want to jinx it, so letās keep it casual!
Semi-relatedly, Kartemquin Films is moving their office directly below my studio inside the Kimball Arts Center. Iāve very much been ālistening to the universeā lately, and this feels like a clear sign that I should pay attention to. I also aim to make a monthly screening night happen in our studio space, which weāve dubbed Cinema 606. While this wonāt be strictly doc-focused, I do want to make sure documentaries are a large part of the night.
With Ai blowing up and affecting lots of industries, including my own world of commercial photography, I love the idea of adding documentary filmmaking to my core competency of offerings. On top of that, I have no shortage of ideas for various subjects and people that I would love to explore in moving-visual form. Of course, time and money are always the main deterrents, so it will be very revealing to know just how much this project takes out of me before I make grand plans to become the next Werner Herzog.
Some themes weāre likely to explore in this project include: the business end of art; what it means to be an artist; the unwavering dedication to a city that doesnāt always love you back; substance abuse in relation to artistic endeavor.
Iād consider it a huge win to complete the project, be proud of it, and have other people choose to watch it on their own accord. Perhaps, if things go well, a modest run of screenings around the country would be an amazing end cap. It will be interesting to look back at this post a year from now, as I realize thereās a lot of actual work to be done and this here talk is cheap. Itās time to get moving and make a damn movie!
-Clayton
This is one entry in a multi-part series of self-exploration and contemplation-out-loud in advance of the new calendar year. Some of this may happen; none of this may happen.
For the complete list of posts, please see 2024 12 25.
2024 11 25
This morning, I woke up a bit grumpy, thinking about how success at my job has increasingly more to do with being good at sales than it does being good at photography. This isnāt just true for commercial photography but fine art, crafts, trades, etc.
Tonight, I read the latest Tim Kreider Loaf piece about how thereās a show at The Met right now consisting of art made by employees of The Met. He sums it up humorously by saying the museum is promoting it as well as if they were hanging their childrenās macaroni art up on the fridge. Is art worthy if it was made by the security guard of the art museum?
Is art better if it is made by an attractive female who gains tens of thousands of views via social media posts consisting of high-energy videos of herself? It is worse because of this?
Of course, none of this is new, but Iāve been thinking about the landscape of the art world (you know, bananas taped to the wall and whatnot) a lot lately, as I myself wade deeper into art both through my photography and a documentary project, which is in the early stages of development. That documentary will likely explore these thoughts, ideas, and frustrations in further detail, so I need to figure out what art is. If anyone reading this knows, please leave it in the comment section below.
Thanks!
-Clayton
The art of skating as seen through neon art by Neon Mike. Chicago, Illinois. September, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
This morning, I woke up a bit grumpy, thinking about how success at my job has increasingly more to do with being good at sales than it does being good at photography. This isnāt just true for commercial photography but fine art, crafts, trades, etc.
Tonight, I read the latest Tim Kreider Loaf piece about how thereās a show at The Met right now consisting of art made by employees of The Met. He sums it up humorously by saying the museum is promoting it as well as if they were hanging their childrenās macaroni art up on the fridge. Is art worthy if it was made by the security guard of the art museum?
Is art better if it is made by an attractive female who gains tens of thousands of views via social media posts consisting of high-energy videos of herself? It is worse because of this?
Of course, none of this is new, but Iāve been thinking about the landscape of the art world (you know, bananas taped to the wall and whatnot) a lot lately, as I myself wade deeper into art both through my photography and a documentary project, which is in the early stages of development. That documentary will likely explore these thoughts, ideas, and frustrations in further detail, so I need to figure out what art is. If anyone reading this knows, please leave it in the comment section below.
Thanks!
-Clayton
2024 08 08
Lollapalooza just wrapped up. I havenāt stepped foot in a music festival in many years. Today is my ten year anniversary with Allison (!!), who I met while we were both photographing a music festival (Pitchfork). I used to be young and somewhat cool but these days Iām more concerned about the weather and crime. The news anchor made a comment that my old brain found amusing: during the weather report, they were discussing Lollapalooza and she mentioned that if you knew any of the names of the bands, you were cool. Chappell Roan performed to what has been reported to be the largest-ever crowd at Lollapalooza. I have no idea who Chappell Roan is. My first though was to wonder if she is somehow related to my friend Matt Roan. I am old, and not cool.
This whole getting old thing isnāt so bad, though. Sure I miss out an making photos of all the cool, young people. But I also have time to sit in my office and write blogs and watch the skateboarders down below me doing cool things without breaking a wrist or getting beer spilled on me. Yes I miss getting a front row view of the best bands in the world, but I recall ten years back writing a scathing blog about how I was DONE with music photography because it had become so over-saturated and demoralizing. I went looking for that text, which Iām sure is massively embarrassing, entitled and self-important, and thankfully couldnāt find it. I did, however, find a gallery of images from my final fest assignment, the one I met my future wife at, and many of the images hold up! And yes, it does make me miss the days of concert photography, but Iām also sitting on my couch chilling while watching another buddy do what I did fifteen years ago and I see how damn time consuming it is! The endless grind for little to no money. Late nights and early morning. Getting paid in social media mentions, if at all. Itās definitely a job of passion and I used it as a spring board to get myself to another place.
While I may no longer be cool, I now have a ten-year relationship with a girl I love dearly and am about to tie the knot with. So I think it was a fair trade.
-Clayton
Watching the cool kids from my office. Slappy Curb. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Lollapalooza just wrapped up. I havenāt stepped foot in a music festival in many years. Today is my ten year anniversary with Allison (!!), who I met while we were both photographing a music festival (Pitchfork). I used to be young and somewhat cool but these days Iām more concerned about the weather and crime. The news anchor made a comment that my old brain found amusing: during the weather report, they were discussing Lollapalooza and she mentioned that if you knew any of the names of the bands, you were cool. Chappell Roan performed to what has been reported to be the largest-ever crowd at Lollapalooza. I have no idea who Chappell Roan is. My first though was to wonder if she is somehow related to my friend Matt Roan (or local sports anchor Dan Roan). I am old, and not cool.
This whole getting old thing isnāt so bad, though. Sure I miss out an making photos of all the cool, young people. But I also have time to sit in my office and write blogs and watch the skateboarders down below me doing cool things without breaking a wrist or getting beer spilled on me. Yes I miss getting a front row view of the best bands in the world, but I recall ten years back writing a scathing blog about how I was DONE with music photography because it had become so over-saturated and demoralizing. I went looking for that text, which Iām sure is massively embarrassing, entitled and self-important, and thankfully couldnāt find it. I did, however, find a gallery of images from my final fest assignment, the one I met my future wife at, and many of the images hold up! And yes, it does make me miss the days of concert photography, but Iām also sitting on my couch chilling while watching another buddy do what I did fifteen years ago and I see how damn time consuming it is! The endless grind for little to no money. Late nights and early mornings. Getting paid in social media mentions, if at all. Itās definitely a job of passion and I used it as a spring board to get myself to another place. There are days I regret this decision and wish Iād stuck it out and continued focusing on the young, the cool, and the culture instead of chasing the financially-stable path.
While I may no longer be cool, I now have a ten-year relationship with a girl I love dearly and am about to tie the knot with. So I think it was a fair trade.
-Clayton
2024 07 09
Too busy to blog. Relearning how to be a photographer. Busy drinking all the worldās best coffees. Busy planning a wedding; relearning how to make film photos; learning how to make all of the cocktails; thinking of opening a bar. Busy coming up with new ways of making money. Too busy to blog.
-Clayton
Kimball Arts Center. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Too busy to blog. Relearning how to be a photographer. Busy drinking all the worldās best coffees, scheming and dreaming. Busy planning a wedding; doing my morning pages; relearning how to make film photos; learning how to make all of the cocktails; thinking of opening a bar. Busy coming up with new ways of making money. Too busy to blog.
-Clayton
2024 05 06
Are you familiar with @paulie.bās āWalkie Talkieā series on YouTube? If youāre not, you should be!
https://www.pointingatstuff.com/2024/2024-05-06
Bart Simpson caught in the act at Slappy Curb. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Caught this video over the weekend and had so many wonderful thoughts about it. Per the rules, we must discuss and share the link here. Iāll preface by saying this channel, by Paulie B, is fantastic and highly worth digging into for anyone even remotely interested in photography and definitely for anyone interested in street photography. The "walkie talkieā series has him tagging along with various street photographers and getting a peek into their process while an interview plays out alongside.
This specific episode featured a photographer I was not previously familiar with named Trevor Wisecup. His enthusiasm for the craft, perspective on life, and positive energy were all refreshing, inspiring, and had me wanting to pick up my camera and hit the streets. In general, the video reminded me of my younger self while also serving to push my current self a bit harder in the sense that, as you get older, sometimes you start to overthink things or self-doubt a bit more, or generally just lose the insane drive your younger self mightāve had.
As a lifelong Chicagoan, whenever I see videos like this I immediately regret not living in NYC. While making work of this nature is definitely possible here in Chicago (shoutout Vivian Maier) youāre going to need to put in twice as much time to get half the results as you will in a place like NYC which simply has the density of humanity needed to provide consistantly amazing street moments. Paulie B himself previously lived in Chicago and has since relocated to NYC. All this to say: I shouldnāt allow this one challenge to stop me from producing any work! Perhaps it could even allow me to think outside the box and make something more unique to me. I have ideas, they just need to be manifested, which can only happen once you leave the house. Thanks to Paulie for the endless inspiration to do just that (once I finish watching his channel, of course).
-Clayton
2024 05 03
Iāve returned from my big job in Atlanta and catching up on things. Maybe Iāll write more about photographing big production assignments sometime. Itās a fairly fascinating job. We took over an $800,000,000 airplane for the day, brought 40 people and a dozen trucks filled with endless stuff onto the busy airport tarmac, placed our āsunā lights onto a giant lift platform to get them high into the sky, and then ran through seven scenarios as if we were enjoying a flight 30,000 ft in the sky when in fact we were safely down on earth. While everything is being faked, I pride myself on making everything feel as real and authentic (creative director buzz word alert!) as we possibly can.
Speaking of creative directors on big production assignments: this is Zach skateboarding at Slappy Curb outside my See You Soon studio. We met last year on a big production job and one fun fact about him is he does not have any social media accounts. How amazing is that?!?
-Clayton
Slappy Curb in late afternoon sunlight. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Iāve returned from my big job in Atlanta and am catching up on things. Maybe Iāll write more about photographing big production assignments sometime. Itās a fairly fascinating job. We took over an $800,000,000 airplane for the day, brought 40 people and a dozen trucks filled with endless stuff onto the busy airport tarmac, placed our āsunā lights onto a giant lift platform to get them high into the sky, and then ran through seven scenarios as if we were enjoying a flight 30,000 ft in the sky when in fact we were safely down on earth. While everything is being faked, I pride myself on making everything feel as real and authentic (creative director buzz word alert!) as we possibly can.
Speaking of creative directors on big production assignments: this is Zach skateboarding at Slappy Curb outside my See You Soon studio. We met last year on a big production assignment and one fun fact about Zach is he does not have any social media accounts. How amazing is that?!?
Image made from my first roll off teh Contax T2. I tried pre-focusing on the pavement, anticipating where heād end up, which worked a bit but didnāt quite nail it. The fun thing about shooting film is these imperfections often only enhance the image, anyway.
-Clayton
2024 04 05
Sunsets are like a photographer cheat code. Itās easy to make a nice photo with a brilliant sunset. Because of this, sunset photos are cliche and not really something professional photographers like to make photos of, unless they are mentally-healthy mainstream photographers.
One of my best ideas was an app that has one and only one task (aside from gathering emails to monetize): send you a push notification when a pretty sunset is happening near you. Iāll never act on this idea so I will give it to you, dear reader, to act on and become an overnight millionaire.
Yesterday I briefly partook in a āphoto walkā now that I am a film photographer and people take me seriously (before sneaking off early and going back to my studio to edit my clientās digital photos which are due before I can leave town and make more digital photos for another project). I spotted a fun scene in an alley and raised my Contax to make a serious film photo. It was subtle, just the way a carās headlights were bounding off a puddle halfway between us, but just after snapping a frame, I heard an audible sigh from a photo walk participant as he mockingly-proclaimed, āan alley photo!ā Just as instant shame set in, but before I even had a chance to turn around and awkwardly defend myself, but annoyingly just after I made the image, a massive airliner dramatically emerged from the overcast skies perfectly placed in my composition like a phantom sign that I indeed was on to something.
Sunset scene with a skateboarder making use of the popular Slappy Curbs spot outside the Kimball Arts Center. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Sunsets are like a photographer cheat code. Itās easy to make a nice photo with a brilliant sunset. Because of this, sunset photos are cliche and not really something professional photographers like to make photos of, unless they are mentally-healthy mainstream photographers.
One of my best ideas was an app that has one and only one task (aside from gathering emails to monetize): send you a push notification when a pretty sunset is happening near you. Iāll never act on this idea so I will give it to you, dear reader, to act on and become an overnight millionaire.
Yesterday I briefly partook in a āphoto walkā now that I am a film photographer and people take me seriously (before sneaking off early and going back to my studio to edit my clientās digital photos which are due before I can leave town and make more digital photos for another project). I spotted a fun scene in an alley and raised my Contax to make a serious film photo. It was subtle, just the way a carās headlights were bounding off a puddle halfway between us, but just after snapping a frame, I heard an audible sigh from a photo walk participant as he mockingly-proclaimed, āan alley photo!ā Just as instant shame set in, but before I even had a chance to turn around and awkwardly defend myself, but annoyingly just after I made the image, a massive airliner dramatically emerged from the overcast skies perfectly placed in my composition like a phantom sign that I indeed was on to something.
Follow your instincts. Donāt let the haters bring you down. Shoot the pretty sunset if it makes you happy. Shoot more film (and digital to pay for the film).
-Clayton