I think enthusiasm plays a big part in media (movies, and TV movies, and episodic TV, and Commercials, Industrials, Music Videos, etc.) but there is also a professional aspect that gets behind that enthusiasm ( like if you go to work one day in a bad mood it doesn't matter ). The pro part is simply that you are doing a specific job and you have to give it 100% ( in general you are only as good as your last job). There is (especially as you get older and more experienced with more water under the bridge) a point where words like 'art', and creativity and so on means little. Odd as that sounds. Solving problems requires creativity (or the experience of having seen others solve similar problems with similar equipment at your disposal ) but I know of a film local that abhors the word 'art' when applied to the allied crafts. It's a long story why that is. Has to do with contracts and benefits, etc. Being involved with the arts and being creative beyond work ( writing in spare time, painting, shooting personal stuff ) has nothing to do with the work aspect, but of course it means you never have disdain for art and creativity. If you are a really good DP, lets say, you are shooting a script with time restraint (pages per day) and equipment restraints, so you do the best you can and add value to the thing, which is why that particular DP got hired to begin with. Then, after the day is done, it goes to post and you find out what happened re: coverage and so on, how the story played out visually etc. It is an amazingly complex and busy assembly line of a LOT of people, and it's their jobs ( not art and not fun ), if that makes sense. When someone says, "Boy, that show really stunk, I'm glad they cancelled it," it means around 400 people just lost their jobs. Oddly enough that same audience is the arbiter of what ratings do, which leads to advertising revenue, and whether a show gets cancelled or not. Therefore, if I can hoodwink someone into believing something they hate is really fantastic, I save 400 jobs and everyone is happy. Well, not me so much cause I still have nobody to cook for me : (
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