Broadcast Filmmaking with Joel David Hinrichs [Ep192]

Podcast

Aug 25

Joel David Hinrichs is a Director of Photography specializing in sports-related documentaries for Television release. Joel has had the pleasure of shooting the NFL Super Bowl three times and has even shot at NASA. In this episode we're discussing Joel's body of work and what retirement may look like for freelancers.
Joel's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jdp.video/?hl=en

Joel David Hendricks (00:00):
Lot of times with the broadcast world, you get to work with, you know, kind of more people that have
less time, you know, like, you know, the quarterback from, you know, the saints, you know, drew Brees
or something, you know, like I've filmed with him and you know, it's like, he doesn't have time to sit
around, you know, it's like he comes in, you capture a scene and it happens and it's over and it's like,
you gotta be all on the ball. You gotta
Ariel Martinez (00:21):
Ready to gotta go.
Ariel Martinez (00:27):
Welcome to another episode of the I filmmaker podcast. My name's Ariel Martinez. Yes. We have a new
set today. We have a new guest. We have Joel David Hendricks, awesome guy. I've worked with him
once relatively, if you count him, renting my gear one time and maybe sending out a PA for him, if that
counts, but I've had him, we've met at NA also, but before I bring him out, let me read some of his
accolades over here. So his work has been featured on 30 plus television stations. He's filmed at three
super bowls. I'm jealous and 10 years in the video production industry, five years fully self-employed as
a freelancer has DPD for free for a feature length documentary on Booker T for a and E. So Joel, David
Hendrix, how are you, bud?
Joel David Hendricks (01:15):
I'm great, man. How are you?
Ariel Martinez (01:17):
Good, man. What a mission? Trying to get this thing up and running. It's so funny. You would think that
us doing what we do for a living. We, this should be a breeze for us, you know, setting up camera, doing
a video conference call, but it wasn't What a nightmare. Uh, that's always how things work, man in our
industry, but dude, so happy to have you on how have you,
Joel David Hendricks (01:42):
Yeah, man, I'm just so grateful to be here. I, I look up to you in your work and I've been following you for
years and it's just, yeah, it's just a huge honor to be on the show. So thanks for having me. No,
Ariel Martinez (01:53):
No way, dude. I see. I'm so jealous. Every time I see your work, I'm like, man, this guy's doing some great
stuff. Uh, I need to do more of that stuff, but no, man, it's awesome to follow your work and it's cool
that you follow mine. And uh, uh, I just love being able to connect the network with like-minded
individuals that are doing the same work heading in the same direction, sort of, and we could sort of
learn and feed off each other, man. That's always awesome to do. And just to have conversations like
this.
Joel David Hendricks (02:21):
Absolutely, absolutely. There's always something to learn and, and grow and, and connection is
everything, right? Like as a freelancer, it's, it's everything who, you know, and, and, and who you, who
you talk to and what you learn, you know, it's how you get better.
Ariel Martinez (02:35):
Definitely. For sure. Um, so anyways, just to get started let's I mean, let's go ahead and, um, talk about
you a little bit, uh, by how did you get started with video production? Your director of photography is
what you do right now. Uh, you do a lot of sit down interviews. How did you get to where you are now?
You said, uh, you mentioned it's been 10 years. You've been in the industry for 10 years, which is almost
exactly how long I've been in the industry. Um, or at least how long I've start. Since I started my
business. How did you get started? What was the, that spark that got you going?
Joel David Hendricks (03:10):
Yeah, it was, it was several things. Um, they got me interested into video production. Right. Um, you
know, you, music was one. Um, I, uh, was in a band, uh, several different bands actually. Um, and I
started recording guitar in, in, in, um, doing some audio recording. Um, that was in 2005, 2006. And I
had seen video growing up. Uh, my dad had a, a video camera, you know, so I was around video seeing
him record things and, and the guy down the street, um, that lived down the street from me actually
was in the news and he always had a big news camera and it was just really fascinated me seeing that.
Um, and so, uh, you know, I just had, I had those and, and, um, as I got older, I was looking for
something to do with my career. I was like, what do I do?
Joel David Hendricks (04:04):
So, um, when I went to school, I was kind of navigating and I don't know, it's like I knew I wanted do
communication. Uh, some of the communication degree, I'd kind of dabbled in advertising and radio,
you know, being with, uh, audio and everything with the music. And yeah, I, um, I just kind of found my
way, it was like one thing led to another, you know, it wasn't like one big thing happened. It was like, uh,
these small steps that kind of made it. And then I decided to go into telecommunication and film and
school and, um, did a bunch of news type work and that, um, I actually shot in four by three, which is
crazy to think about now. Um,
Ariel Martinez (04:46):
Four by three
Joel David Hendricks (04:47):
Who shoots in four by three. What is it like if you ask somebody now, like what is four by three? What is
a black and white view finder? Yeah, I learned on a black and white view finder. No. Yep, yep. Yeah. Our
new art cameras at school were like really ancient. They were the big news cameras.
Ariel Martinez (05:02):
It's crazy to think that people still today use black and white view finders.
Joel David Hendricks (05:07):
It is. They say, they say that it's, you know, it's better for certain things like for sharpness, I guess, and
like focus,
Ariel Martinez (05:13):
Sharpness and exposure pro probably. Yeah. I'm not, I, I, I, I just don't do that. So I would not know.
Nope, I'm sure other people listening to this. I probably like these guys know nothing.
Ariel Martinez (05:27):
Yeah, man. So, so you started a news and broadcast, which is funny because I personally, I have shot
news and broadcast jobs. I had not liked it for the sole purpose of it's nothing in my opinion, creative
about it. Right. So you're broadcasting it and I'm, I'm more specifically talking about, you go out to a
place with a camcorder everything's in focus, nothing's cinematic about it. It's just, you know, it's not,
it's not my sort of desire to, to sort of capture that kind of stuff. Um, but you sort of gravitated onto
different kinds of work because I don't see you doing what I'm talking about. I see you doing other stuff,
like sit down interviews and all that. How did you sort of transition into that? Cuz it's still relatively news
and broadcasty right.
Joel David Hendricks (06:15):
Yeah. It's kind of a end. Um, I, you know, I, when I, when I, when I got my degree and, and when I got my
degree in telecommunication and film, I, I had to decide what to do. Like what direction do I head?
Right. So it was like go to the news station, be in a, you know, be an intern or something, you know, or
go work for an agency or whatever. And I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. It's like, well, I'll just
buy a camera. Like I had some money saved. So I just bought a camera. Um, it was like a, you know,
camera, quarter type, kind of a thing had the screen that flipped out and everything. And yeah, I, um, I
did that. I was, I kind of freelanced for a while and I got a good reel together, um, after a, out a year, um,
just doing local stuff, right? Like just shooting like triathlons and racing events. And, you know, those
jobs kind of got me hooked up with other jobs, like one thing led to another. And so I got a good reel
together and I got hired on as an apprentice for a director of photography. And that's when really the
doors were blown wide open.
Joel David Hendricks (07:17):
Yeah. Wow. Apprenticeship.
Ariel Martinez (07:19):
Yeah. That's great. And that's opened a, a variety of other opportunities and doors for the rest of your
career.
Joel David Hendricks (07:29):
Yeah. The apprenticeship was just amazing. I mean, it, you know, cause I had done more things on the
local scale. Um, not so much of the broadcast, actually. It was a lot of just kind of, of local, you know,
local highlight videos for events and different things and weddings, you know, of course. And, and you
know, once I got in with that apprenticeship, it brought me up to a new level of doing more of the
broadcast level work. Um, and just, wow. I mean, it was the experience that I out doing that you can't
put a price on it. It's just, it's just, it's priceless. Yeah. That's great.
Ariel Martinez (08:08):
Now I could certainly relate to that. Uh, those that have listened to my show from, you know, other
earlier episodes, they know how I started with extreme gys. Um, my man Ricardo was based, my mentor
taught me a lot of stuff so I can relate to that. And uh, I think that's one of the things that I certainly
encourage everyone that is getting started to sort of do is to find a mentor, find someone that you can
get under and learn from them so that you're just not learning on your own. You have somebody
explaining every aspect of what you're seeing, what you're observing. And um, because that, that, that is
priceless, you know, absolutely Is absolutely gonna skyrocket your career in a sense of experience,
knowledge just about everything that you're taking in
Joel David Hendricks (09:00):
And, and doing things the right way, you know? Oh yeah. I mean, it's so easy to, to, to start doing things
on your own and you're getting the job done, but you're not, you don't have to do everything by the
books we reality is it's kind of an art form. What we do, you know, there's, there's a mix of art and
science, but you know, there's certain ways you gotta do things certain way. Like the key light for
instance, is gonna come from, you know, the side that your interview, uh, you know, is looking towards.
Right. It's not, you know, so sometimes the rules are broken, but generally that's the case. Oh yeah. Um,
and that's a small example, but you know, learning from someone who's experienced is, is really great.
Ariel Martinez (09:38):
No, that's, I, I, I believe it's vital. It's vital for, for, you know, for your career. You know, if you're trying to
find things out on your own and you don't, you don't, you don't have anyone to learn from it's super
vital that you do. So that's awesome, man. So you've been able to be in front of a lot of celebrities. You,
you say you do a lot of, uh, sports related documentaries. How is that different in the sense of news and
broadcast? Like, are, are these like unique stories and you're making special interest pieces on, on
athletes?
Joel David Hendricks (10:15):
Yeah. A lot of work has been that it's like, um, kind of a blend, I would say of there's this news aspect
because it's timely. Right. Because it's something that makes sense for what's happening at that
moment. Um, but generally it's kind of like a documentary too, cuz you're really just capturing these
moments with the, you know, with these athletes or who I of it might be, you know, I do a lot of
different documentaries, but um, it's like a, you know, kinda like a feature piece, a little short feature
piece and it kind of tells you something, a story about that person. Um, and it's yeah, a lot of it's been
for broadcast. Um, um,
Ariel Martinez (10:55):
Okay. Have you, have you explored, like doing, I'm sure you have done some sort of corporate work
where it's not really documentary, but it's more commercial.
Joel David Hendricks (11:03):
Um oh yeah, definitely.
Ariel Martinez (11:05):
And you kept coming back to documentary or is it like, what would you say is your preference?
Joel David Hendricks (11:13):
Yeah, I, you know, I really like documentary. I like, I really like being in the moment and capturing
something that's that moves people if I'm filming it and I feel moved, you know, and I'm, and I'm sitting
there behind the camera, like, whoa, this is really happening. You know, I know that the audience is
gonna feel that too. So I really live for those moments. And that's what I like about documentaries. You,
you, you don't know what's gonna happen a lot of times. Um, that's a beauty of it.
Ariel Martinez (11:43):
Wouldn't that make things a little more stressful or less stressful. How has, how, how is that different?
Like, so I'm thinking like obviously in a corporate film and I'm going based off sort of how I've shot
corporate stuff, commercial stuff, you can plan, you can foresee in documentary. It's hard to foresee,
you know, so I know I've had to sort of train myself to anticipate things that are gonna happen, um,
angles. That would be ideal for me to be in for this anticipated moment, you know? Um, so you have to
get good at that, right?
Joel David Hendricks (12:22):
Oh yeah. Yeah. Anticipation is, is It's a lot, a lot of it definitely.
Ariel Martinez (12:28):
And every one thing I love about it is just, it's always different in general, whether it's document
commercial, whatever, it's always different. It's always an adventure.
Joel David Hendricks (12:40):
Yeah. And especially, you know, working with these, like these athletes and people, a lot of times with
the broadcast world, you get to work with, you know, kind of more people that have less time, you
know, like, you know, the quarterback from, you know, saints, you know, drew Bre or something, you
know, like I've filmed with him and you know, it's like he doesn't have time to sit around, you know, it's
like he comes in, you capture a scene and it happens and it's over and it's like, you gotta be on the ball.
So you gotta
Ariel Martinez (13:06):
Ready to go. You gotta go.
Joel David Hendricks (13:08):
Yeah. Um,
Ariel Martinez (13:10):
So that's a, so, okay. So that's interesting. I've definitely been in that, in that experience where I had to
rush, rush, rush, that's a good segue into gear. How does that determine the kind of equipment that you
sort of use cuz you don't have all the time in the world to set up?
Joel David Hendricks (13:26):
Yeah. So, so I invested into, uh, really good lens.
Ariel Martinez (13:31):
Okay.
Joel David Hendricks (13:31):
Uh, and I found that was, that was vital for me, uh, with the top type of work that I do. Um, and having,
so it's a 20 to one 20 millimeter lens. And so, you know, I have so much range of any situation I'm in to
cover, right. So if I'm like backed into a wall, in a room, in a corner, I can go wide. And then if we're, you
know, say we're in that room and then we go outside two later, you know, I throw some ND on and they
they're, you know, off throwing a ball or something. And then I can punch in at one 20 and kind of get
that medium or medium closeup shot. And so it's kind of having that variety, you know, cuz sometimes
I'm one man band. Sometimes I've got two or three cameras that depends. And just having that
flexibility has been huge.
Ariel Martinez (14:16):
What factors do you go into a shoot determining whether, what gear to bring are you sometimes you
you're the DP, are you providing the lighting yourself or are you hiring a grip?
Joel David Hendricks (14:29):
I often provide the lighting.
Ariel Martinez (14:32):
Yeah. Okay.
Joel David Hendricks (14:33):
Um, yeah. I often provide lighting sometimes I'll bring in a, a, a gaffer definitely grip. Uh, it just depends
on the shoot. Every shoot's different, every shoot is different,
Ariel Martinez (14:43):
A hundred percent.
Joel David Hendricks (14:45):
Uh, and so yeah, just look at the situation. I always try to get as much information as possible. It's like
pulling hair sometimes to get the information you need. Yeah. Just knowing what you're getting into
and, and thinking ahead,
Ariel Martinez (14:57):
Man. So shooting three super bowls, incredible. I'm jealous. What is that like? What is that like from the
perspective of a shooter? What was your assignment at these super bowls? Were they all the same?
How much access did you have?
Joel David Hendricks (15:14):
So they were, they were all different actually. Oh, okay. Um, yeah, they were all a little bit different. Um,
so the first super bowl was in New York and I was doing, it was actually like pre-game right. So we were
out, um, with, uh, like an NFL hall of Famer, uh, running around the field before the game. And he was
talking about the players and you know, the game and everything like that. So it was kind of like more of
a broadcast, uh, set up there, um, capturing that. Um, and then after the game they were like, Hey, just
go out in the field and just get what you can get of like, you know, the celebration. So, you know, the
game ended and then we ran out and it was like, you know, a lot of slow motion shots on that at the
end. Um, getting, you know, the trophy being held up and the confetti falling and things like that. Um,
some more cinematography at the end I would say. And then, um, the second super bowl was, uh, most
cinematography was just, I was on the sidelines and I was just capturing moments, you know, little, little
blurbs of the game.
Ariel Martinez (16:20):
Oh, that must have been fun.
Joel David Hendricks (16:21):
It was such a thrill. And I mean, it was a dream come true. I mean, yeah. You know, when I, when I
started video production, I, um, I was doing a lot of triathlons and kind of sports related things and it's
like, I wanna do a super bowl. That would be so cool. That would be like a highlight of career, you know,
to just do that. And you know, your mind tells you like, oh, that's not possible or whatever. And then to
actually be there and to get there, it was like,
Ariel Martinez (16:44):
Yeah, I was saying that to myself yesterday. Dude.
Joel David Hendricks (16:48):
What happened yesterday?
Ariel Martinez (16:51):
No,
Joel David Hendricks (16:51):
Just, just,
Ariel Martinez (16:52):
I was just dreaming about that just yesterday.
Joel David Hendricks (16:58):
It's common Ariel. Y'all just had a super bowl. Not too long ago, right?
Ariel Martinez (17:01):
Yeah. Yeah. We had a super bowl. Um, I got to shoot the preliminary festivities around the super bowl,
but I didn't actually go and shoot the super bowl.
Joel David Hendricks (17:12):
So didn't go into the game.
Ariel Martinez (17:14):
Yeah, no, I got to shoot a couple things. A couple of clients were doing some things out here, but uh,
yeah. Yeah, it was pretty cool. Good experience. So you shot three astronauts at NASA. Like what the
heck dude, first director of photography to go to space maybe. Is that next? What lights would you bring
out there?
Joel David Hendricks (17:42):
How would you hold a camera? How would that work? Like keeping it level and I don't know. That'd be
interesting.
Ariel Martinez (17:48):
I'll tell you what, it'll the most stable shots you'll ever get. Would you even take a gimble out
Speaker 3 (17:55):
There? How would that
Ariel Martinez (17:58):
Sandbags? Who needs
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Those?
Joel David Hendricks (17:59):
No, no sandbags.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Uh,
Joel David Hendricks (18:03):
Man, it'd
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Be bright too though.
Joel David Hendricks (18:05):
You need some diffusion? Probably
Speaker 3 (18:08):
I really
Joel David Hendricks (18:08):
Close to the sun up there. I don't know.
Ariel Martinez (18:11):
I have no idea what to
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Expect. That's a wild thought.
Joel David Hendricks (18:17):
No, this one time. This one time. Um, actually twice I got a ride in it's. I call it the Mars Rover. It's actually
called the space exploration vehicle. Um, but two different times for two different shoots. Uh, we
actually gotta go out to the Mars. They call it the Mars yard in the back of, uh, NASA in Houston. And uh,
we gotta ride in this thing and he was just crazy, man. It was so surreal, like stop being on that vehicle
with an astronaut and, and filming them. We're climbing this hill, this like really steep hill with all these
rocks. They make this environment to look and resemble and you know, drive in a vehicle like Mars.
Right. Because they're preparing for it. Right. And so, you know, we're going up this hill on this vehicle
that has like eight wheels or something. I don't know how many wheels this thing has, but the wheels
are all independent and have independent ox and different things is wild. And we're going up like
sideways dude. Like I'm like look at the camera. And like the hill is like going through the frame, like 45
degrees.
Joel David Hendricks (19:20):
Um wow. And that was so surreal to be on that vehicle with the camera. Like just thinking like, what
would it be like to be the first person on Mars? Right. And like really being in that situation, like that was
such a eerie feeling to think about like
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Wow.
Joel David Hendricks (19:37):
To be the first person on the moon to be the first person on Mars. Like,
Ariel Martinez (19:41):
Yeah, I'm here, I'm here thinking the first camera op in our space. That's a perfect tagline for the promo
of this episode.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I like it.
Ariel Martinez (19:52):
Holy cow. Now, is that the same Rover that actually went out space? Or is that like a practice sort of
Rover that they had out there? I'm pretty sure it's a practice one.
Joel David Hendricks (20:02):
Yeah. Yeah. It's yeah. I'm sure it's a practice one. Um, I, I don't remember that's for,
Ariel Martinez (20:09):
I I'm sure it's for training. I'm sure it's for training purposes, but that's still wild, man.
Joel David Hendricks (20:14):
Yeah. I mean, any experience any of those times I've been to NASA? I don't know. More times than I can
count. Um, being in Houston, there's a lot of work there. Geez. Um, which is a blessing it's amazing. Like
to go film at NASA. I mean, come on and wow. Um, this one shoot. We went and we looked at, uh, Uh,
lunar, uh, oh, it was actually the Genesis rock. Right. Which is the first, uh, the first, the first moon rock, I
guess, or the first, one of the, basically from the beginning of creation, you know, one of the oldest rocks
there is, And it's like, it's just wild man to be with these people and these environments and these things
and it just puts it's, it's humbling for sure. And man,
Ariel Martinez (20:55):
What's impressive is the amount of doors that are open in, in industry like ours that people pay. No, like
People don't know the opportunities that are available. The experience is the, the adventure, the
journey that you can probably find yourself in,
Speaker 3 (21:10):
In
Ariel Martinez (21:10):
This industry. Oh yeah. It's incredible to think about now.
Joel David Hendricks (21:14):
Yeah. And like, I mean, to do some of these things, I mean, I don't even feel like it's work sometimes. I
mean, sometimes she's a part of course, but it's like, gosh, going to NASA, like I should pay you. She's
paying you for that ride. And then Mars Rover.
Ariel Martinez (21:28):
All right. So, uh, Richard Branson just recently went up to space. Looks like they're gonna try to make
that a thing. Now they're gonna be taking more consumers that just want to pay. Pretty sure that's
gonna get more affordable. Let's say they approach you and say, Hey, we want to make a cool promo.
You're gonna come up with us, uh, take footage and we're gonna make a promo. What equipment do
you take? How do you set that up?
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Hmm,
Joel David Hendricks (22:00):
Man.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
That's fun about this.
Joel David Hendricks (22:02):
This is wild Ariel man. The first camera man in space. Uh, Uh, you know, I guess you'd have to ask lot of
question to start with, you know, you know, you'd have to ask them, you know, how much space, you
know, what can I do? I have room to bring anything would be the first question, you know, what could I
bring? Like, can I, um,
Speaker 3 (22:23):
I would where
Joel David Hendricks (22:24):
I don't know. Yeah. I mean, it would depend on the project. It would depend on what their, you know,
where is the end product gonna be? Where is it gonna be? You know, what kind of, you know, do I want
really nice glass? Um, But my first instinct would be to go small and something that's easy and nimble,
you know, maybe my FX three or something or something smaller. I
Ariel Martinez (22:46):
Was thinking the same exact thing. FX three.
Joel David Hendricks (22:48):
Yeah. For the such a solid camera for, and being so
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Portable, compact,
Joel David Hendricks (22:55):
Um,
Ariel Martinez (22:55):
With a nice, with a pretty budget. Um, you know, something that you can probably even, I don't even
know. It'd be interesting to find out if you could like rig something up onto corners or something like
that. I wouldn't know what that whole thing would look like. That that's such a bizarre project to think
about. You know, it really
Joel David Hendricks (23:18):
Is. It really is. Cuz I mean, well I'm sure NASA is filmed up there. Obviously there's plenty of footage. Um,
Ariel Martinez (23:26):
Sense like GoPro footage.
Joel David Hendricks (23:27):
Exactly. Yeah. This is a whole nother level.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
This,
Ariel Martinez (23:31):
If you're gonna put like a, a, a Komodo rigged up onto a corner, you better make sure that thing's
secure, man. Cuz it is not like putting it on a car.
Joel David Hendricks (23:40):
Who's gonna do the space walk. Am I gonna
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Like,
Joel David Hendricks (23:43):
How does that work?
Ariel Martinez (23:46):
You the Gibo let the camera float and follow, Oh man. Just think distinct shooting underwater, but you
don't have to worry about your equipment getting wet.
Joel David Hendricks (23:59):
Yep. Yep, exactly. And that's how they train too. Right. They train underwater, you know, the um,
Ariel Martinez (24:04):
Oh man pool. That's so, so yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy where this conversation went too. Oh man. So
feature length documentary with Booker T for a and E U peed for this.
Joel David Hendricks (24:20):
I did.
Ariel Martinez (24:22):
How was that?
Joel David Hendricks (24:23):
Yeah. Um, that was really cool. Cool. So it was a historical doc. Um, so there was a, you know, there was
a lot of historical footage. Um, we did a lot of interviews for that. Um, you know, interviewed his wife,
we interviewed Booker, obviously his brother, um, and different people. And then just following Booker
around at different areas and getting a sense of his life. Um, it, and man, he, he had a rough life, man. I
mean, it's, it's amazing to hear his story, um, go to different parts of Houston. Um, you know, cuz he, he
was in jail and different things. I mean he, you know, so we went to some of these areas in Houston and
kind of got his, you know, thoughts and feelings about that area growing up and you know, he used to
be on the corner, you know, all the crazy craziness that goes along with the lifestyle he was living.
Joel David Hendricks (25:13):
And so did that and then gotta go and ride with him in his, uh, convertible. I don't know what kind of car
it was. It was a small little car. It was so cool. Uh, this small little convertible and we were just driving
around his old hood and just getting his, and now, like I said, the, those are the moments where it's like,
there's no retakes. Like this is just a moment we're capturing it. This is what happens, you know, you get
what you get. And um, yeah, so we did that and then we got, we got these little pieces around town, we
got a bunch of interviews and then we got a lot of specialty as well. Um, so a lot of, you know, a lot of off
speed kind of cinematic shots, um, reflective kind of uh, style. Um, and
Ariel Martinez (25:50):
So was this sort of a, a, a biography on Booker tee?
Joel David Hendricks (25:53):
It was exactly that's yep. We're
Ariel Martinez (25:56):
So we're talking about Booker T the, the wrestler, correct? The former wrestler, correct.
Joel David Hendricks (26:03):
Longest interview, longest interview I have ever done in my life. I think like a eight hour interview or
nine hour interview with him.
Ariel Martinez (26:13):
Really?
Joel David Hendricks (26:14):
Yeah. So
Ariel Martinez (26:15):
I could beat that.
Joel David Hendricks (26:17):
Oh yeah.
Ariel Martinez (26:18):
Oh, well recently I did one for, um, pat Riley, definitely the longest it was, uh, actually, no, I think, no,
you beat me With pat Riley was Five hours. Oh, it was about the same. It was about five hours of first
day, second day of another three to four hours,
Joel David Hendricks (26:38):
Man.
Ariel Martinez (26:38):
It was about the same, holy cow. Holy cow. That's definitely the longest so I can relate.
Joel David Hendricks (26:47):
Yeah. Yeah. It's like, you know, an hour or two interviews, pretty long you get up to like four or five
hours, eight hours dues.
Ariel Martinez (26:53):
Wow. I mean, we're, we're talking, we're talking about the main character of a feature length
documentary film,
Joel David Hendricks (27:02):
Just, yeah. There's a lot of content to
Ariel Martinez (27:03):
Go through. Just so that for anyone listening for the main character of a featured length documentary
film, about 5, 6, 7, 8 hours, you're looking at yep. To get it all.
Joel David Hendricks (27:19):
Yep. Definitely mean there's so much, there's so much unpack, right?
Ariel Martinez (27:24):
Oh, I can imagine. Well, it also depends on the specifics, but yeah, it's, there's a lot there there's a lot
there. Not only, not only to shoot, but to edit. Oh, so you don't, you don't, you don't do editing work.
You don't, I don't. No, but you do edit.
Joel David Hendricks (27:42):
I do edit. Yeah. Okay. I just prefer, I prefer to not edit. Yeah. Um, yeah. I like being around people. I like
being in the field. Yeah. You know? Um,
Ariel Martinez (27:54):
You do edit if you, if they needed you to, Would you or no?
Joel David Hendricks (28:00):
Yeah. Yeah. I've, I've actually worked on a couple like smaller per projects recently where I did a little bit
of the editing. Um, yeah. And um, yeah, it was cool. It was, it was fun. It's, it's, it's a different feeling,
right? Like going and shooting it and then, and then editing it. Yeah. When you get the finished product,
it's a different feeling to me sure. Than handing it off and have somebody else add it,
Ariel Martinez (28:23):
Different feeling how?
Joel David Hendricks (28:26):
Um, I think it's like the, the creative side. Okay. You know? Um, cuz cuz the editing is really where you
tell the, I mean you tell the story through both shooting and editing, but like sure. How you piece it
together. Yeah,
Ariel Martinez (28:39):
Yeah, yeah. You could you capture the story through the shooting. You tell the story through the editing.
Joel David Hendricks (28:43):
Yeah. There you go.
Ariel Martinez (28:45):
Makes sense. It makes sense. But editing is a whole nother monster though.
Joel David Hendricks (28:52):
Yeah. Yeah. What's time consuming.
Ariel Martinez (28:55):
Oh
Joel David Hendricks (28:55):
It's hard to put a time on it. Like you can say, you're gonna get it done in a day. It might take you three
days, you know, is we're shooting. It's like, Hey, this is what I'm doing. This is how I'm going. It's like a 10
hour day. This is it. Yeah.
Ariel Martinez (29:05):
I would much rather shoot an eight. Our interview then edit an eight hour interview.
Joel David Hendricks (29:09):
Oh gosh.
Ariel Martinez (29:11):
Put it that way. See it that way Any day.
Joel David Hendricks (29:16):
Oh yeah. You do a lot of editing. Right?
Ariel Martinez (29:20):
I do. I do editing. I prefer the shooting if I'm being Frank. Yeah. But it's one of those things where um, I
mean whoever has the budget kind of deal. If there's a budget for editing, I put it this way. I'd never
mind the editing because I charge so much for it. Sometimes it's a, it's a deterrence tactic, but if they
take it, Hey gravy, I'm making more money, you know? Mm. Um, but yeah, I have to, I have to, because
I've, there's so many times that I've been stuck with an editing project where it's almost not even worth
the money. It, so I've been there already. So that's why I naturally charge a more and oftentimes I end
up sending the footage, which is awesome. Just shoot and send off the footage and, and if they accept it
great, you know, Maybe hire somebody else to do it. But uh, either way I it's a win-win in my book.
Joel David Hendricks (30:23):
Yeah. And if you're accounting for your time, like you saying, like now that you you're, you're budgeting
for it properly. I mean, I think that's a lot of it.
Ariel Martinez (30:31):
Oh yeah, no, no, no, absolutely. Yeah. If they're taking it, it means that it means that they have a really
healthy budget. It's definitely worth my time. Uh, yeah. You have to make it worthwhile. You have to.
Um, because there, I mean, you know, you could start small when you're starting, but after a certain
point something's gotta give you can't be charging the same prices. It's always a wild adventure kind of
sifting and sort of figuring out this, you know, this industry, you know, thinking about what what's next
on in the agenda, what is there next after shooting a few super bowls, shooting NASA astronauts, um,
that's what we got into the whole space shooting in out space kind of conversation. Where do you see
yourself moving toward?
Joel David Hendricks (31:25):
Yeah.
Ariel Martinez (31:26):
Or have you even thought about that? That's something that I, I think that, you know, a lot of people
they're pretty happy or they're probably just too busy to even have thought about, you know, what am I
gonna do in the next five to 10 years? Cause yeah, we're freelancers, but we're also business owners
and even business owners have goals for their businesses. Uh, I know that I don't want to be hustling the
way that I was hustling five years ago when I'm 50, because that's, it gets tiring.
Joel David Hendricks (32:06):
Yep. It's very labor intensive. Right.
Ariel Martinez (32:08):
Oh, very, very labor intensive, you know, and things like retirement is something that as freelancers we
have to think about,
Joel David Hendricks (32:18):
You know, definitely. Yeah. I think that's really been hitting me actually recently this year is like the
reality of that, right? Oh yeah. The, the, the retirement and thinking ahead and scaling, you know, and
yeah,
Ariel Martinez (32:30):
Yeah.
Joel David Hendricks (32:30):
Um, yeah, yeah,
Ariel Martinez (32:32):
No, it's just, yeah, it's just, uh, I'm just bringing up stuff that I've sort of been sort of looking into, don't
know if you, if you've been there or you've just been too busy as I have sometimes. And there's just
some seasons where I just, there's nothing else I could possibly think about than work at the moment.
Um, I've had those, but um, you know, it's always something to think about.
Joel David Hendricks (32:58):
Yeah. And not, you know, I think directing is very, very appealing to me. Um, cause I, you know, I do
love, I do love video production. I love storytelling and filmmaking. Um, uh, so I think it's like diving
deeper into the storytelling aspect of like, how do we yeah. How do we, how do we, yeah. And like
maybe more me more, uh, personal content that I could, you know, potentially market or sure. Like find
somebody to buy into it or something. Um, yeah. You know, I've been working on a, a personal nature
documentary, so that's been a crazy adventure, um, which has taught me a ton. Um, and uh, so as far as,
you know, storytelling goes at least,
Ariel Martinez (33:41):
Um, that's awesome. You're working on your own passion projects.
Joel David Hendricks (33:43):
Yeah, for sure. So yeah. I mean I think directing yeah. Directing storytelling, um,
Ariel Martinez (33:49):
Yeah. That's cool. Like at a certain point, like you're not gonna be the guy showing up with all the
equipment. Like you have people to do that.
Joel David Hendricks (33:56):
Yeah. It's been busy though. It's just been, you know, it's like, you know, as you get a breath of air, then
it's like all of a sudden it's like busy again. And so it's just finding the time in between to manifest that.
And
Ariel Martinez (34:07):
Yeah, you gotta, you gotta anticipate the seasons. So that's, it gets easier as the longer we do this.
Joel David Hendricks (34:17):
Yeah.
Ariel Martinez (34:17):
I, I just, I just threw that. I just threw that one in there. Whether you were ready for that question or
not.
Joel David Hendricks (34:25):
It's definitely, definitely a valid question. I mean, yeah. It's something we should all be thinking about. If
you're a freelancer out there, you should be definitely thinking like, you know, how, how does it sustain?
You know, I mean, not just for the next six months or year, but down the road, um,
Ariel Martinez (34:39):
10, 15, 20 years. I mean,
Joel David Hendricks (34:41):
Yeah,
Ariel Martinez (34:42):
It'd be ideal to, I know it's, it's easy to get caught up in the, in the hustle that is going on right now,
which is awesome. You wanna do that? Make sure that you're taking care of business now, but maybe
have one eye toward the future, you know, to see at least explore some different options to what you're
gonna be doing later on. Um, cause I know my back is not gonna be strong forever. It's gonna get
weaker and weaker
Joel David Hendricks (35:13):
Better do that core work. Yeah. Keep doing that core work.
Ariel Martinez (35:18):
Yeah man, you gotta keep working out.
Joel David Hendricks (35:20):
You got an easy rig, right?
Ariel Martinez (35:22):
I'm sorry.
Joel David Hendricks (35:23):
You have an easy rig.
Ariel Martinez (35:25):
I do.
Joel David Hendricks (35:26):
Yeah. That was a game changer for me. I would not be shooting on this 20 to one 20 without that easy
rig.
Ariel Martinez (35:31):
No way.
Joel David Hendricks (35:32):
Um, yeah,
Ariel Martinez (35:33):
No way. Yeah. You'll break your back. Easy does help. You'll be as strong as you want man. But after 10
minutes holding that thing, you wanna put it down without an easy
Joel David Hendricks (35:43):
Rig. Yeah.
Ariel Martinez (35:45):
Yeah. I've done full, I've done full interviews like hour and a half long. Even on an easy rig. That's tiring.
Joel David Hendricks (35:52):
Oh yeah.
Ariel Martinez (35:54):
That's tiring for like an hour, half long cuz the client wanted it handheld.
Joel David Hendricks (36:00):
Wow. Wow.
Ariel Martinez (36:03):
So even things like breathing, I gotta be careful with, cause it moves the camera. I make sure to breathe
when they're not talking.
Joel David Hendricks (36:09):
Right.
Ariel Martinez (36:12):
Oh man. That's that's a rough one.
Joel David Hendricks (36:14):
It's it's interesting too. Like when you put down the camera because when you're shooting, you know,
you're thinking about so many different things from the camera perspective. Right. And like I was saying,
like maybe getting in directing or something like when you pull away and you're, you don't have the
camera and you can look at something, you know, and, and you can really see it. I that's really appealing
to me. That's kind of cool. Cause it's like, then you can start to break into like, how do I, how do I, I don't
know. It's just a different, a different creativity to it.
Ariel Martinez (36:41):
Definitely dude. Well, this was an awesome, I think insightful episode, man. Um, thanks so much for
coming on and sharing your career with us, dropping some knowledge over here and your experiences.
I, I think it's definitely helping others to hear what director of photography, uh, operators, people that
just sort of do what we do, um, sort of discuss and just share what we know and what we've been
through. And so I appreciate you coming on and, and sharing what you've been through.
Joel David Hendricks (37:19):
Thank you, man. It's it's been a pleasure. Thanks for having me on
Ariel Martinez (37:22):
Definitely. What are, what are some, uh, what is, uh, what's your website? Where can people find your
work?
Joel David Hendricks (37:29):
Yeah, so Joel, David productions.com will send my website, got my reel on there. Um, some work
examples as well, my gear and then my, uh, Instagram is J D p.video.
Ariel Martinez (37:49):
Very nice. We'll be putting all those links in the descriptions down below whether you're watching this
on YouTube or listening to this on iTunes or any other podcasting platform. Thank you guys for listening,
Joel. Thanks for stopping by. Appreciate it.
Joel David Hendricks (38:04):
Thank you, sir.