Q. My son is a high school senior. Next year he wants to go to community college and live at home (at least that is reasonably affordable) instead of going away to school. He wants to take an expensive major however. Video production. We have been able to save about $5,000 towards his education. We are not wealthy people. The rest will have to come from loans and maybe a grant or scholarship.
We are looking at some "entry level" pro cameras in the $1500-1800 range. That's about 1/3 of our savings for his education.
Models include these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/518555-REG/Sony_HVRHD1000U_HVR_HD1000U_Digital_High_Definition.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/745707-REG/Sony_HXR_MC2000U_HXR_MC2000U_Shoulder_Mount_AVCHD.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/878341-REG/Panasonic_hmc40kit_AG_HMC40_AVCCAM_HD_Camcorder.html
and
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/749467-REG/Canon_4922B002_XA10_HD_Professional_Camcorder.html
My concern is he starts September 2013 so these products may not even be available by then or others will be available. We hope he graduates May 2015. He tells us when he graduates he will maybe find a freelance job or shoot local cable news, build up some experience, maybe after 2 years go for a B.A. at least part time.
Is anything we buy him in 2013 (summer) going to be any use to him as a working professional in 2015 (summer)? So let's say you are a class of 2012 graduate with an AAS in video production. The camera you purchased in the summer of 2010 when you first started, do you still use it professionally? Can you make anything doing freelance news videos, PR videos or local account commercials with this equipment?
We're going to do everything we can to help him. No doubt he will still be living at home in the summer of 2015. By then he's going to have a student loan to pay off. We have a 2005 Hyundai Accent that we are going to give him for college. I hope that thing still runs when it is 10 years old and he isn't making car payments on top of that. The thing has 120,000 miles on it but runs really well. I just fear when he graduates he's going to be in deep debt and have limited employment. I may be wrong. What do you think? Thanks.
A. Hi "Upwardly Mobile":
Fellow Contributor "L" covered most of the bases quite well, but the only point he didn't underscore is that MOST good video & film production programs at community colleges HAVE the cameras, lights, mikes, tripods, and other gear that the students will learn on & use.
When I went to a local (but nationally prominent) university with a Broadcast/Film Dept., portable video was still fairly new, but all the film cameras, tripods, & light kits were supplied by the Department for students to "check out" as-needed for class projects.
And most video production students start out with Studio Production techniques (where it's easier for groups to learn 3-point lighting, camera setup & tripod/dolly operation, shot composition, audio techniques & mixing, etc.). No need for portable field gear there.
For field production & Electronic News Gathering, a good college will have a fair number of camcorders for students to use & check out (if needed for outside-of-class projects).
The same is true for Editing Software & computer workstations. Some college programs might be economizing and making students supply their own laptops for this, but all the major software companies offer Academic Editions of their normally-expensive edit suites at discounted prices. And of course, nowadays, apps like iMovie (Mac) and Movie Maker (PC) come "free" as part of the operating system and can accomplish what older (and expensive) software used to do, as far as basic editing.
As "L" mentioned, do a bit of "homework" yourself by contacting the community college's department head & instructors for your son's chosen major. Tour the facilities (studio and edit suites) and ask about the "equipment room" for student project gear. See what textbooks (a major expense) are required, and whether computer/laptop & software expense will be part of what's expected of your son. Only if there's little-or-no camcorder gear (or no hands-on studio cameras) would I recommend buying anything like the models from B+H that you listed.
Almost every cable TV & freelance video job I've had over the past 30 years has "supplied" (rented or company-owned) the cameras & grip gear I needed. I bring my own gear only when it's a "favor" or when what I have is better-suited to the task, or they want a "director with gear". My point being, your son doesn't need to own =any= camera gear to make a living freelancing. A good camera operator can stay busy in almost any part of the country, with just his/her skills. (Same for sound mixers & boom/wireless mike operators.)
hope this helps, and hope it saves you some money,
--Dennis C.
If you collect all three stamps at McDonalds for their monopoly contest, do you automatically win that prize?
Q. I've been playing the McDonald's monopoly thing and have almost collected all of one color and I want to know if you definitely win that prize.
A. Ah, the McDonald's Monopoly game... chasing after that one color stamp to win the big prize. If only it was that simple.
First of all, if you like McDonald's and you are happy about winning a food prize, its ok to play. Here's how it breaks down:•Medium Fries ($1.75) – Odds 1 in 9, or 11.1% chance you win.
• Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese ($3.60) – Odds 1 in 44, or 2.3% chance you win.
• Small McCafe or Smoothie ($2.40) – Odds 1 in 44, or 2.3% chance you win.
• McFlurry ($2.55) – Odds 1 in 44, or 2.3% chance you win.
• Breakfast Sandwich ($2.65) — Odds 1 in 22, or 4.6% chance you win
The other instant prizes (winning a DVD rental from a Red Box) to headphones are tougher. The DVD is 1 in 101 and the odds go up from there.
Now for the challenge - getting the properties. The truth is that whatever property group you need, one space is much, much, much more difficult to get than the others. Take the Red group (Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky) which gives you one of 40 plane tickets - the odds of getting Indiana or Illinois are around 1 in 10. The odds of getting Kentucky Ave., however, is 1 in 15 million.
Here is a list of the odds for all of the properties (plus the toughest one of each set to obtain):
BROWN: Mediterranean Ave, odds 1 in 30 million wins $1,000.
• LIGHT BLUE: Vermont Ave, odds 1 in 40 million, wins $5,000.
• PINK: Virginia Ave, odds 1 in 200 million, wins $10,000
• ORANGE: Tennessee Ave, odds 1 in 602 million, wins Super Bowl tickets.
• RED: Kentucky Ave, odds 1 in 15 million, wins one of 40 plane tickets for two.
• YELLOW: Ventnor Ave, odds 1 in 300 million, wins $20,000
• GREEN: Pennsylvania Ave, odds 1 in 40 million, wins one of 15 Fiat cars.
• BLUE: Boardwalk, 1 in 602 million, wins $1,000,000 in $50,000 annual payments.
• RAILROADS: Short Line railroad, 1 in 150 million, wins a year's supply of gas.
Do you see the challenge? It's not getting two of the three properties, it's getting the extremely scarce third one.
Here, btw, are the odds for winning the non-food prizes:
40 point MyCoke Reward (or medium Coke) - 1 in 151
$5 McDonald's Arch card - 1 in 21,518
EA Sports $10 promo code - 1 in 161
$10 Shell Gift Card - 1 in 60,250
Hasbro Monopoly Board Game - 1 in 60,250
$25 Shell Gift Card - 1 in 86,071
Shutterfly 8x8 PhotoBook - 1 in 302
EA Sports Game - 1 in 35,441
$50 - 1 in 60,250
ur Beats Earphones - 1 in 4,061,000
$100 - 1 in 105,701
Panasonic Lumix TS20 Digital Still camera - 1 in 1,506,202
Beats by Dr. Dre Phil Speaker - 1 in 4,016,601
Headphones - 1 in 301,245,030
Panasonic Viera 50-inch Plasma HDTV - 1 in 10,401,541
$5,000 - 1 in 40,166,041
EA Sports NFL Game Experience - 1 in 10,041,541
Beaches Resorts Vacation - 4,634,539
Ace Hardware $7,500 Home Fix-Up - 1 in 31,710,004
NFL Pro Bowl Experience - 30,124,503
2013 Fiat 500 Hatchback - 1 in 60,249,006
2013 Fiat 500 Cabrio - 1 in 60,249,006
$20,000 - 1 in 200,830,020
$100,000 - 1 in 301,245,030
So the morale of the story is if you want to win Medium Fries, you have a good chance of going away happy; otherwise, don't count on anything else.
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