Knowing Your Role on Set [Ep183]

Podcast

May 11

We're making some changes to our platform and delivery. On this episode we're introducing our new co-host for the show, Mike Hernandez. I've been working with Mike for some years now so we have a lot of shared experiences. Who better to have some good conversations regarding our work and our business!

Mike Hernandez

Ariel Martinez (00:05):
Welcome back to the ifilmmaker podcast. My name's Ariel Martinez today. We have Mr. Mike
Hernandez.
Mike Hernandez (00:12):
That's right. The great Mike Hernandez,
Ariel Martinez (00:14):
The, the great Mike Hernandez on the show. Very
Mike Hernandez (00:16):
Original name. Like there's no one out there with Mike Hernandez.
Ariel Martinez (00:19):
So I said today, we have Mike Hernandez, but we're gonna be having Mike Hernandez moving forward.
Ooh,
Mike Hernandez (00:25):
I'm here,
Ariel Martinez (00:26):
Here. We've been, we've been working a lot together lately, a lot on sets on jobs. And I thought it made
a lot of sense to have you on the show to just talk about our experiences. A lot of people know that I
don't, don't like doing solo episodes. I do it out of necessity. Not, you know, not because I want to, yeah.
To try to keep the show going. Um, but it takes much more prep time that I don't have, I'd rather have a
conversation with somebody to get a nice back and forth, cuz sometimes we might not even agree on a
couple things, um, or just have different share a different experiences on the same topic and it's good to
have different perspectives. So I'm glad you're on.
Mike Hernandez (01:09):
And we're relational. So this is good cuz we can, we can, we're all about relationships, so
Ariel Martinez (01:12):
Right. Let's do this. So this is awesome. Super excited to have you on the show,
Mike Hernandez (01:17):
Which by the way you said you've been hiring me a lot. I haven't gotten one paycheck. This is net 45 net
100 and at 200. What going on
Ariel Martinez (01:22):
Here? I do net one year.
Mike Hernandez (01:24):
I like that. Yeah. Net one year. I'm do the same thing with my guys. Yeah. Except just can't apply to me
though. Please. Just kidding. I'm just kidding. He plays way early, which is amazing.
Ariel Martinez (01:33):
So let's get a quick background this your first time on the show. That's right. Let's let people know how
you got started first and for almost you're a man of faith. I love that. I think that that's one of the things
that connects us on a great level. Um, it's got a quick background. How you got started with video. Yeah.
What did you do before?
Mike Hernandez (01:55):
So I was born at a very young age first off and um,
Ariel Martinez (02:00):
Born at a young age.
Mike Hernandez (02:01):
You should see my baby, my first pictures, like a little tiny thing with a tail. And um, no man, I got
actually got speaking of faith. I was um, 15 years old homeschooled. So that's gonna say a lot about
those podcasts. Um, and uh, my church that hire me is like kind of gopher, you know, person, go, go get
this, go get that. And started watching cars there and doing a lot of things in between we schoolwork.
And um, one day the, the video now this is a pretty big church, but they had one guy doing all of video,
which is kind of common. And uh, this guy, just whatever the situation was disappeared and they were
left with what do we do? And I happened to just be at the right place at the right time, which is kind of,
kind of a trend in my life or right now. And uh, and I believe that sometimes it's divine, sometimes it's
just being in the right place. And uh, they threw me on a computer. It was PC and it was on this software
called pinnacle. Some people might relate to that. Oh, pinnacle. That's great with all those awesome
transitions that they do, all the warping and everything. Uh,
Ariel Martinez (03:03):
I've never heard of that program.
Mike Hernandez (03:04):
Great. And that's how, that's how old I am. And uh, yeah, so I got on there and they had some Christmas
players, something that needed to be edited and cut. And I didn't know a thing I jumped on there
literally worked through the entire night until the next morning realizing what time it was. And I think
that's the moment you catch, what is possibly your passion, your, you know, desire to do something that
it's not about the paycheck, it's about something you're you really love to do. Mm. And so I discovered
that for the first time never in school because I wasn't homeschooled always 15,
Ariel Martinez (03:34):
15 years old,
Mike Hernandez (03:35):
15 years old. Wow. Never in school was I introduced to it. And so I, I just, I wanted to just blow my mind
into understanding what this is all about. And yeah, so that started me on the path. And, um, eventually
I left that church and got actually approached by a different church, um, in Miami. And, uh, that's where
I really learned. So there's something special about being mentored by someone who is way better than
you. Um, especially if you don't go the route of the, you know, college degrees and whatnot. And so I'm
self-taught and, um, it was great to be able to ask someone practical questions, not theories. How do I
get this done? How do I get this done? How do I be creative with this? And so we went that route and I
was there for many years, um, expanded on that.
Mike Hernandez (04:17):
And from there on out, um, I left that to start my own business, which now I've been doing since 2011 as
a full-time and, um, you know, it's been ups and downs. It's been great experiences, great people. One
thing I was just telling some of my friends and actually my dad yesterday is, you know, he's a, he's a
cubicle guy. And one of the cool things about what I do is I get to experience so many different things, so
sure. What we do generally the same thing, but it's constantly changing the parameters are so different
and there's travel involved and there's different people. We're all likeminded. We all have one good goal
to achieve. Yeah. And so many different avenues and ways to get there, but it's just so cool to have a
different day every single morning. Yeah. And, um, yeah, so I got into my own business and I got hired a
lot in, um, larger productions.
Mike Hernandez (05:03):
And what I mean by that is like corporate commercials, um, or, um, just the corporate world. Um, also
commercial world that was pretty much like 90% of what we did. And, uh, that a lot of, you know, big
name, you know, companies that you would know their names for, do a lot of ads for them and
commercials. And then as industry became more social, it kind of went from TV and commercial to
internet. Everything was internet based. Um, but the quality only just got better actually, which is ironic.
Wow. Bigger, bigger, bigger resolutions for tiny little screens.
Ariel Martinez (05:34):
Yeah. So when did you start, when you, when you did the, those commercial jobs, was it like, what was
your role on jobs? Was it to do the whole video or was it to be an first AC DP, PA,
Mike Hernandez (05:49):
So sure. So we're, I actually learned a lot about filming. So I transitioned from full-time video editor at
that church and I moved into the world of just kind of being independent filmmaker. And I got hired at
the studio, which I give them so much credit for pretty much teaching me all that I know today, um, in
that area where I started from the very bottom as a PA. Got it learned. See, I think that's one of the cool
things about when you've almost touched every position. You not only understand the person you have
on set that position, but you kind of know what they should and shouldn't be doing and you can high
kind of like right. You know, prep them and recognize when something's out of line, which right. May be
something you want to get into. That's good. Um, but yeah, so I started as a PA worked, my, worked my
way up, basically got into, you know, the, my primary thing was, uh, first AC okay. Um, shooting and
DPing as well. But the, I guess the majority of my time, cuz once I hit the higher levels, I was out, um,
wanted to go and do my own thing. Of course. Um, you've
Ariel Martinez (06:45):
Already learned everything.
Mike Hernandez (06:46):
Yeah. So it was a great experience, man. It was, it was amazing from beginning to end.
Ariel Martinez (06:51):
So you, you learned all the jobs basically on set. Cause I remember when I started working with you, you
already knew that stuff. Yeah. You knew how to first AC you knew how to DP, you knew the basics more
than I did on handling a C stand handling, like stuff like that. You know, I didn't, uh, get that kind of, uh, I
guess training or education, like specifically, I started at a PA for a J op and you know, while I was on set,
when I had a little bit of downtime, I would just roam around and start like looking around, start talking
with the audio guy and start talking with the DP and whoever's available to talk to, I would just start kind
of searching my own answers there. You know,
Mike Hernandez (07:34):
That's a, that's a really good point because one thing I've made up, one of my, my biggest things in life in
general, it's not just this industry is ask questions. Oh man. And there's always that risk that there is a
risk of looking like you don't know what you're talking about. Right. And losing credibility. But if you put
some of that aside and there's ways of doing that where you don't lose credibility, but man, I used to go
up to the grips and be like, what's the right way to, um, coil up a stinger, you know, there's audio cables,
you know, over and under. Yeah. There's stingers and all these different things and like the basic
questions and some of the things that we deal with, I would always be asking questions. And that really
helped me, even if it's departments that I was involved in. Right. I just wanna know, just wanna get to
Ariel Martinez (08:13):
Know that's good. Um, yeah. No, I agree. Ask questions sometimes it hurts you when you don't. Um, and
I've experienced that. Not from not asking, but from not being asked. Mm. And I've paid the price. No, I
had to pay the price cuz it was my so. Mm. Um, so yeah, that, that's awesome. How you kind of got
started and kind of gotten to know your, your responsibilities on set and kind of how to maneuver and
manage through this whole industry. Now, what I wanted to talk about today was regarding knowing
your roles on set. Right? So this didn't happen recently. It happened on a, on a job where it's super
memorable though. This was my last job, my last full-time job before I went, full-time freelance in mind
you, uh, you know, how you were mentioning earlier that, you know, it's always exciting, something
different in, in this field. I had never had a job more year before I went full-time freelance. It's just that
the, the monotony of, of just routine that was just like so boring to me, you know? And I think that even
doing video work, wow. It got old for me cuz I kept coming into a job where it's not, you know, I don't
have the creative freedom, at least not, not to, I kind of do, but it's not mine. Yeah. It kind of, that was
kind of, that was a deal, you know? So what did you
Mike Hernandez (09:44):
Really do? Huh? Let's tell the truth. What did you really do to get kicked out
Ariel Martinez (09:48):
To? No, I left.
Mike Hernandez (09:50):
You got kicked out. Don't lie.
Ariel Martinez (09:51):
I
Mike Hernandez (09:54):
Cool.
Ariel Martinez (09:54):
No. And
Mike Hernandez (09:55):
So you be creative, you wanted to own that idea. Yeah.
Ariel Martinez (09:57):
But it's scary. It's scary leaving. I have had a salary and whatnot and um,
Mike Hernandez (10:03):
That's one of the hardest things is to leave the
Ariel Martinez (10:05):
Security and really, yeah. And really one of the things was that I was hired to do video work. I was hired
to be the video guy whenever we have a shoot, um, the video guy and when I have to edit it. Right. But
you know, one of the things that they made very clear is that I can still pursue my own work, obviously
not going out, getting their clients, but I could still pursue my, I could continue to, um, build my
business. And that's what I did. I have. I had, I still have, you know, the, the film school, Instagram
account, which I'm very active on, on social media. I did my own blogs. I, I, I was very active on my own
personal social media, actively promoting myself out there. I mean, I was persistent about my business
and then they started to see that it was getting a lot, lot of traction. The film school account had 16,000
followers.
Mike Hernandez (11:01):
Okay.
Ariel Martinez (11:02):
Within 6, 7, 8 months, it was already over a hundred thousand.
Mike Hernandez (11:07):
Did you say, show me the money to keep me here.
Ariel Martinez (11:10):
So what happened was that they started asking me to do that stuff for their business. Yeah. And then,
and then I was my, I sort of disposition was, that's not what you hired me to do.
Mike Hernandez (11:21):
Yeah. That's a good point.
Ariel Martinez (11:22):
So I was very hesitant about stepping into that territory because now you're giving me, you're seeing
what I'm doing for my business. You want me to do it for yours, but you're not paying me to do that.
Right. Yeah. I know things got a little uncomfortable for several months, several months that, and then
that's when I started seeing like the possibility that I might not be here too much longer. Mm. Um, I'm
getting hired left and right. Mm. But they're still my priority obviously. Um, and I had to make that
choice. Like it was a, it was a, just a, a, a point where I had to, I was CA I felt I was capped. They allowed
me to use their equipment to do my ju shoot. So I understand. Whoa. Okay. I understand. Yeah. They're
very generous. They never mentioned anything about, you know, giving them a cut.
Ariel Martinez (12:07):
They never said that, but ethically I should. Right. Cuz it's their gear. So I did. Okay. But then later on is
when they mentioned 50%. Whoa, they want 50% of all my work for using their equipment. They never
mentioned that at first, anything, any kind of percentage. So that's where started getting very
uncomfortable. Yeah. On, on, at that job because dude like I'm working hard as heck I am doing your
job, what you're paying me to do. But you know, it just, it started getting a very becoming
uncomfortable there. And I had to make that choice. I could see that I was capped. I wasn't gonna be
able to make any more money being there eight hours a day, you know? So I needed to free myself up.
Thankfully at the time I still, I was still living with my parents. So it wasn't, you know, it wasn't, uh, I
didn't have too much, um, to worry about there,
Mike Hernandez (13:00):
But it's great that you had a side hustle that you built up, right. That you were able to fall back on when
the time to make a decision. Yeah.
Ariel Martinez (13:08):
So going through that experience, having that amount of like, I guess for me it was drive right. And one
thing that a lot of people don't know about me because they see, they see me posting the FX nine a lot.
They see the Sackler, they see all this expensive equipment. Yeah. And I, it is funny cuz I, I, I made a post
and a lot of people said, well, money is not the problem that I saw that somebody put a, I guess it was a
joke. Right. Cause they laughed at it and said, when money is not a problem. And I said, money has
never been the problem. Mm it's been the excuse because I never, I never said those things when I was
taking the bus, the public transportation bus with all my equipment to go to a client's office. Right.
Wow. I had a $30 slider that I had in my hand. I had a $20 tripod. I had a backpack full of equipment,
taking the bus, going to a client's office, stopping a block before so that they wouldn't see me coming off
the bus smart and then walking to their office. I was saying, I'm here to do the shoot, you know? Yeah. I
was doing that for months. Wow. And that was, I had to do what I had to do. My car had broken. Mm.
But I have to do what I have to do to get it done. So like a pursuit
Mike Hernandez (14:19):
Of happiness kind of thing here,
Ariel Martinez (14:20):
Dude. And so it's um, that's where I come from, you know? And people only see yeah. The office, they
see all the equipment that I'm posting, but all that, of course it's all glory to God. Like it's, it's something
that you have to, when I don't see that people, you know, I keep it to myself, but I can keep clearly see
somebody and see how they've been maneuvering. And I can tell you this, guy's not gonna make it.
Mike Hernandez (14:44):
Yeah. Lack of ambition.
Ariel Martinez (14:45):
Like you have to want it, you know? Um, so it's just one of those things where, um, it it's, it's your drive.
It's how much you push. It's really how much you push this is we we've gone way off topic.
Mike Hernandez (14:58):
I mean, I like it cuz it's just a lot of people think they look at your success or anyone else that they're
looking at. And they're like, I just want that. I want that tomorrow. Yeah. But it's like 30 year overnight
success story, you know it hasn't, it's not literally over, we've gone through the trenches and like hearing
that story right there. People may not think that that was even part of your story. They may think, oh, he
just must have been there from the very beginning. But we all gotta grow into what either, whether God
has put us in ministry or whether we're in fulfilling our purpose here in this industry, you know, there's
steps to everything. You can't just, you know, run the race and expect to just start at the finish line, you
know, there processes. And in that there's things you learn on set adequacies and certain things,
different things that it helps when you've gone through it. Because when now you're hiring a ton of
people, which I've seen some of your really big jobs, it's a lot of people under you when you have people
don't understand their position. Sure. It's not it's nonunion, but sure. There's still some adequacies that
need to occur or every one's gonna overstep each other, including the boss, man, you know, and this
just doesn't work
Ariel Martinez (15:55):
Like that. Yeah. Um, so which brings me to a, a story that I had, um, I was hired to DP, a shoot for BJ's
the wholesale warehouse and we're on there. It's it's, it's a crew of about, I would say seven people. We
had a crane out there. We had gaffers, we had everything we needed. Right. We were shooting on the
red that's back when I was shooting on the red dragon a lot back then the red dragon six K was like the
hammer. Um, so I'm setting up the shot and framing it up. I hired a PA to, to PA, but it was off of a
referral. I've never worked with this person or
Mike Hernandez (16:34):
That's risky. Yeah.
Ariel Martinez (16:35):
He comes in on set, talking about what he used to do in Cuba and how he he's a DP and like big time
GUAS, like, like straight up what I said
Ariel Martinez (16:46):
And um, whatever he talked to big game, a lot of people do, but it's fine. Whatever do what he do. I
hired him as a PA I guess he needed work. So I hired him and um, the guy like would constantly start as
I'm trying to work, he's giving me his opinion, like continues to talk in my ear. Like, nah, that shot's not
framed up that well, man, if you want to get this and, and then the guy at ONET point, the 40th part was
he pulls out a light meter and goes in front of the camera to start measuring the lights stuff,
Mike Hernandez (17:20):
Gets
Ariel Martinez (17:20):
My blood. And in my head I'm like, what is this guy doing? Like, he could be whatever he, he could, he
could, would have done that stuff in the past, but that's not what I hired you to do. Yeah. You know?
And so, um, I think it's very important cuz do you think I hired that guy again? Like I'm not gonna use
him again
Mike Hernandez (17:40):
And that's what people don't see. They don't, they don't think past this job. You know, you always have
to think about that next job. And it's just, you only get hired according to how you perform in the last,
like for example, if you kept hiring me in the last two, three jobs just completely failed and bombed,
you're gonna rethink hiring me again. You're only as good as your last job. And if you're gonna come in
and take over a shoot when that's not your position. Oh my goodness. Don't get restarted.
Ariel Martinez (18:04):
Yeah. And um, I, I don't get me wrong. I have always liked it. Where there have been times there has
been times I was a PA for extreme JS. I was working as a, you know, whatever these we're talking like
music videos. He's big time. We're talking music videos for pit bull, Enrique gala, Shakira, uh, Elvis K
Crespo. Uh, uh, what's this guy, Lenny Kravitz. Like we're talking big time music video. Big time. Yeah.
Ariel Martinez (18:34):
There's a couple of times. And it made me proud. There's a couple times the director turns to me and I
was just standing there. That's awesome. And like just asked me, um, you know, one, one of the was
like, does that look, does that light look slanted to you? And I'm looking at it. I'm like maybe a little bit.
And you know, I got to give my input. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Um, but I, would've never dared like with
this whole crew, me being so green and like, you know, that's just not my role. I see like 50 people on
set and I'm just the PA for the jib operator, not for the entire production. Wow. So it is it's um, you
know, you have to, I guess, know your place, know your place on the set. Uh, you shouldn't be giving
your input unless asked. Right. Uh, you should not be overstepping on other people's responsibilities.
Mike Hernandez (19:23):
Yeah. It kind of goes with the saying, stay in your lane,
Ariel Martinez (19:26):
Stay in your lane, you
Mike Hernandez (19:27):
Know? And um, I'll never forget. It's also relationship. And when you work with people long enough,
you, you kind of figure out what the other person, some of the skill sets are. Yeah. And I'll never forget
working with this one guy. We were shooting for Walmart and um, this is DP, DPE, and I'm, and at this,
this point I was just a PA right at the brink of AC and he looks at me, he knows he he's seeing what I I've,
what I've been able to do without over any overstepping. And he goes, Mike, I'm just, I'm stuck man.
And like, no one was around. So it was just us too. He was like, I am stuck, man. This is just not working.
What do you think I should do? And I had one of those moments like, oh, you know, like he's asking me,
then I, then, then I quickly, you know, petered my pants a little bit.
Mike Hernandez (20:11):
And uh, and then right there, you know, I was like, well, if you, you know, I try to come at it as humble as
possible. If, you know, since you're asking me, I would think that this, because a light angle is here, blah,
blah popped out my, you know, sun app and all these whatever. And, um, he was like, yeah, that sounds
like a great idea. And then everyone came over to get any of the credit for it. Absolutely not. But it was
so cool to be able to see that true respect there. That's good from working with each other over time.
And, um, that was one of the things that eventually propelled me to hire higher positions there. Got it.
Um, I was on a set once where, um, they brought in this BTS guy, you know, behind the scenes guy. I
know. And we're on a large shoot.
Mike Hernandez (20:49):
I mean, it's, it's a big commercial. And um, you know, they got an established DP and not, and that was
first AC and we all know our roles it's nonunion, but everyone knows the roles. You know, this BTS got
coms and he's got a whole steady cam this back in the steady cams where, you know, things for, for
smaller frame re it was like, like a glide cam. Yeah. Uh, yeah. Well, yes. And this guy comes in and he's
got the whole vest and everything. It's cool. I love all that stuff. I'm I'm for it. But then as he's holding it,
he gets one of his behind the scenes shots and he is like, that light shouldn't be there. We all, all of us
went like this, the
Speaker 3 (21:24):
BTS guy,
Mike Hernandez (21:26):
What, like first off, did you just speak,
Mike Hernandez (21:32):
Like, who gave you the right to do that? Um, and, uh, and then you just speak, get back in your lane.
Listen, let me say something. Okay. Production adequacy. When, especially in like a studio atmosphere
and large, large, I consider large formats. Like any, any crew over like 50 that's, that's a, to me it's good
size crew. That's huge. And so, you know, you have art department, you have so many departments
involved and when you have this no name person, and what I mean by no name is, they're just not a
regular, you know, start to give directions and overshadow the, the producers on set. Um, the, um, ad's
and the, the, the D O P and it was like one, one thing. And I know this sounds really harsh in a set like
that shut up really, truly, everyone just be quiet and it's not a disrespectful thing.
Mike Hernandez (22:25):
It's there there's a lot at play here. There's a lot of pre production that comes into there's just weeks and
weeks. And sometimes months of pre-production when the day is here, everyone should know their
role. Okay. And if you start to speak up about every little thing, you're gonna get chewed out and
eventually not be nasty. And I've seen that right. Where they're just released. And this is a five day
shoot, um, for just speaking out too often. Right. Um, now I actually have a personal story of myself
where I crossed the line. Would you like to hear that? Yes, absolutely. Um, I'm all about, you know, selfreflection here, but right. Um, hopefully I don't say so many of mine that everyone was like, oh, this guy
sucks. But, um, yeah. So one day I was, I was on a production and, um, the director was like, listen, we're
gonna have you edit it.
Mike Hernandez (23:10):
I'm like, okay, cool. You know, I've got a ton of experience editing and he already knew that. And so I
came into the shoot and I was second camera op. Right. So there was the main camera op, he was the
director and I was second. And so we're on the shoot. And I am thinking as the editor thinking post, you
ever shoot like that, where it's like, you want to think of, but you should, you should. Right, right. But
I'm, it's not my shoot. Okay. So here's where I fell into a little bit of a, a little situation here. So not once,
not twice, but about three times I told the director, Hey, why don't we leave some room for, for, for
titles. So for this angle, let's leave from room for titles. Was it, was I wrong about my idea? No,
absolutely not. We needed some room for titles.
Mike Hernandez (23:52):
Sure. Cuz it's have the safety or whatnot. Um, it happened a few too many times where it almost looked
like I was trying to take over the concept of the shoot and, um, the shoot was over and I had the, the
first camera up. Um, amazing, amazing guy come up to me. And he was basically, he was basically like
my mentor in the business at that time. And he came up to me and said, listen, he was like a one of
those mentors. Or it's like, like a father figure mentor. Okay. He does. I need you to call the director
between 10 day and tomorrow, before you start editing this thing, call and apologize. I was like, excuse
me, it's like call and apologize. What you did was you overstepped your boundaries. Sure. Your input
was great. How you came about it is you blasted it off in the air and you, that's not how you bring up
corrections or suggestions.
Mike Hernandez (24:44):
You can, if you wanna do that next time you go to him directly. But you don't, you find a moment the,
the moment too, you don't just cut. Hold on, guys. Let me talk to the director. And, um, he was just
teaching me some of those stay in your lane moments were in the middle of a break. You'd say, listen,
you know, these are some of my concerns, just some of the thoughts of post and that would've been the
right way to handle that. But I would just call it out in the, the air, the whole crew listening, challenging
his authority in a sense. And so I was a little upset, but I, you know what I grew up in, in church, I grew
up in a great foundation in a home. That's great where I understood authority. And I understood
learning from a mistakes and stepping up to the plate when it comes to when you've made a mistake.
And so as much is I was biting my tongue. And at first I didn't agree with it cause I was learning. I was
just, I was just too ambitious. Just wanted to skip all, everything, trying to get
Ariel Martinez (25:34):
Over the, the prideful aspect of Industry brings also,
Mike Hernandez (25:38):
You know, what happened is that he gave me a little, um, not only credibility, but he gave me a little
free reign to, to feel important when he said, you're gonna take on all the editing for this too. I, it was
like one of my first projects. I did that. And this is a big project. It's not a little thing.
Ariel Martinez (25:51):
He walked in on set glasses on shoulder shrugging, man.
Mike Hernandez (25:54):
I walked in with a little limp, pimp limp and all that good stuff. And um, no, but, um, I called him up and
he immediately was like, bro, did you already screw up the edit? What's up? And I'm like, no, man, I'm
just calling apologize. And he was flabbergast. He was like, bro, you didn't need to. And then I, then I got
a little upset and I was like, wait a minute. I didn't need to, you know, but so, so he was like, no, man, I
really appreciate you doing that. And, and yes, the thought came across my mind that I just kind of felt
like you were just overstepping a little bit. Um, so I appreciate the fact that you're willing to call me. He
said that, wow. And apologized for this cuz you didn't need to. Wow. And I thank you for that.
Mike Hernandez (26:29):
Our relationship from that day forward leaps and bounds. Wow. And the trust he had in me from there
on out and I would quickly check myself when those moments would come. Wow. Because there's a
little bit of arrogance. And I think, look, when you're a business owner, you have to have a little bit of
arrogancy and in a healthy manner, you have to have some confidence about you. Sure, sure. You have
to, even if you don't know what to do, you're still thriving and, and are trying to thrive sure. On the
experiences of what you've had to merge those into this brand new experience that you don't know
much about, but you're just gonna confidently tackle it. Um, and so our relationship was great after that
and he trusted me more and then we went and we did all sorts of cool traveling gigs and we became
what we would call the, a team like our team was the, a team and we could get anything done and in a
small group.
Mike Hernandez (27:16):
And with that, we actually ended up becoming that kind of, um, Swiss army knife of a team where we
all, all did everything. Wow. Eventually, because times changed right. And budgets got smaller. So we
couldn't afford the 50, 25 crew. We, we had to get that thing down because times were just changing
and the clients were expecting this much for this little and that's a whole nother concept, but we're also
talking about big stuff. I'm not talking about, you know, $2,000 projects. I'm still talking about 50,000
and above. Um, but we became a crew of like about four, maybe five and man, we could get anything
done.
Ariel Martinez (27:54):
That was awesome. And you were able to see that relationship flourish from then moving forward for
that simple act of humility. That's awesome.
Mike Hernandez (28:04):
Lot of people don't wanna talk about humility in this game. You know, they don't it's, it's a
Ariel Martinez (28:08):
Most, most recently for me actually, uh, this happened like couple months ago maybe. Um, I got hired
to, I was called to be the first second camera op on a shoot on a big documentary. It's actually the last
dance part two, essentially with magic Johnson, pat Riley. Uh, we got a bunch of big names. Uh, Larry
Bird, Larry Bird. Yeah. So, wow. I got called to be a second camera camera operator. They said they saw
my work. They love it. We love to hire you for a second camera op budget. Wasn't was peanuts, small,
minimal budget, but I'm like, man, I can get this on my portfolio. Yeah. You know? So I'm like, all right.
So I agreed to it. I get on set. They already have a DP, which is fine. I guess I anticipated it. Um, and
there's, you know, there's a director and I'm there.
Ariel Martinez (29:10):
You know, I already have the office, I have a ton of experience. I know the work. I know exactly what
needs to get done. They really didn't need, I felt like a little not to kind of put myself on a, on a high, I, I
feel like I'm, I'm not being used to my abilities. I think that I'm, I'm, I'm a little too qualified for what they
really needed. Right? Yeah. They didn't need me like to, to, to be there. Um, cuz I was essentially being
the first AC. I was just helping them get the lens onto the camera. Yeah. And get the monitor, working
for the uh, the director. And I was like a little disappointed when I got on set. Cuz that was my role.
Right. Then mind you this just a couple months ago. And then as the shoot go on, cuz it got me for three
days as the first day shoot, you know, we started going, I was like, all right, whatever.
Ariel Martinez (30:03):
We still get to shoot with pat Riley and all these other great guys. I started realizing, I just did a little, um,
Google search and I found out who the director was. The director was pretty big time. Like this guy
directed three Mandalorian episode. And I was like, whoa, this guy's big time. And then I started looking
at how the DP works and started looking at the final product. And I'm like, this stuff looks good. Like I
don't know that I could have put this together. And then little by little, I started realizing, and then I look
up the DP while you know, you know why we did during interview a sit down interview. I don't have to
be moving the camera. So I, I do a quick search on him. I'm like, holy cow, this guy has worked with
amazing people, George Clooney. He's got all these celebrities and the lighting looks phenomenal.
Ariel Martinez (30:53):
I'm like, and then I started realizing, holy crap, I am the person for this job. Like, I'm like, I'm like, man, I
could learn from these people. So I'm like, so it was like my moment of like humility. I had to take off my
veteran hat. Yeah. And I had to put on my rookie hat on yeah. And start learning. So my approach now is
different. My approach is now I don't need this to let me learn as much as I possibly can. So let me do
whatever they tell me to do. And dude, it was amazing. Yeah. What I learned, I was observing this DP
work, nothing crazy, but just the way he analyzes his angles, the way he sort of decides how to, how and
where to put his lights
Mike Hernandez (31:39):
Methodical about it.
Ariel Martinez (31:41):
His, his it's just, just something that kind of, I didn't think about it. It was more like you said, it's
methodical. And so I kind of adopted that now into my work and I've been loving, I've been posting stuff
that I've been very proud of lately. And I took that from his technique. Wow. You know what I mean?
And I'm like, look at that, you know? So, and
Mike Hernandez (32:04):
Sometimes those things you don't learn in, in purchasing a class out there online, or maybe certain
classes, it's the real world experience. Yeah. Seeing someone who's a professional, what they do. Um,
there's this and I honestly believe there's something to learn from everyone. Oh yeah. No matter what
level or position, there's something you pick up from everyone. So that's so cool that you got something
from that
Ariel Martinez (32:23):
Dude. That was amazing. I'm super happy that I was able to sort of take a step back and, and kind of
analyze the real situation of what's happening here
Mike Hernandez (32:32):
And uh, not to stroke your ego a little bit, but it's probably nice to kind of take a step back from the
usual expectation and be like I'm in a different position here to be able to learn or to feel like almost
starting over again.
Ariel Martinez (32:45):
Yeah, yeah. Because no. Yeah. Cause so once I realized where I was and the position that I'm in, it was
like how excited I was when I first start learning through all these, because now I I'll be honest. It it's
hard to find something that I haven't heard already on YouTube. Yeah. You know, it's like the same
videos that I've been watching since I started. Yeah. So it's really hard. It's, it's rare for me to find
something that really intrigues me and say, Hey, that's great. That's awesome. And I'm gonna use that
technique. That was what I did a, a lot back when I first started. Uh, but it was, I was like that again. I
was like, wow, look at that technique. I haven't seen that one before, you know, so let me practice that
one. That's awesome. So yeah, it was, it was kind of that whole, that whole deal
Mike Hernandez (33:31):
There. Yeah. Like I was on a set once and, and we were gonna use a fish Dolly. First time I used a fish
Dolly and um, and so I, I Googled it and YouTube and Dolly stuff, but one and I got on set and learned
how that thing cranks together and how that thing gets put together and extensions and all these things
and um, charge it up. Like I remember the first time I was like, because I charge it up and I'm looking at it
like crap. I don't remember on the YouTube channel where to charge this thing up and I'm looking like
an idiot. And I'm like, I'm like, oh, you know, bathroom break and all that stuff. I'm like, how, where's the
stupid thing with it. I'm like looking at it. There's like little things like that. But it's like, it's, it's those
experiences. Yeah. That really help you grow.
Ariel Martinez (34:05):
Yeah. How many times this happened? I think a couple times of me, how many times did they tell you
something to do on set? But they say it in such a manner. Like you should know what that is. And you're
like, yeah, I got you on that one. Yeah. And then you turn around like, what the heck is
Mike Hernandez (34:21):
That? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. All the time I went through that so many times, oh man. And you play, you
know, sometimes you wanna play like, and then
Ariel Martinez (34:27):
You turn arounds. Like, so I had a client from, from England right. From London. So, so I had a client, so I
Mike Hernandez (34:34):
Had a where's that again?
Ariel Martinez (34:36):
So I had a client, uh, from London. Right. They, they hired me a lot. And I remember when I first started
with them, they started, um, they, they have different filming terms. Right. But in their email and no in
their con in our conversation, on, on the phone, by the way, everybody from over there from one of
these, so nice. Yeah. So nice, super nice people. They said, oh yeah, just grab a bunch of, um, after the
interview, we just wanna do a lot of actuality. And
Speaker 4 (35:04):
I'm like, they used that term on me too. And I was like, what does that mean? I'm
Ariel Martinez (35:08):
Like, I'm like, yeah, yeah. I could do that. Yeah, absolutely. No problem. What the heck is actuality? Like
Mike Hernandez (35:14):
It's like totally. I was same boat.
Ariel Martinez (35:16):
It's it's B roll. Isn't it? Yes. B roll. Yes. So it's actuality is B roll and oh, so actually actuality is B roll with
audio. So like if they're talking, so basically they're, laed up moving around. If we're, if we're
interviewing somebody with a, with a store or whatever, we wanna capture a lot of actuality, just get
them moving
Mike Hernandez (35:35):
Raw in the sense it's like just raw, raw, you know, just keep it raw. Like just
Ariel Martinez (35:39):
Roll. That's all it is. Yeah. And it's just funny. I've never heard that term before. And then there was a P I
or something that basically meant popup interviews.
Mike Hernandez (35:49):
Oh, wow. What,
Ariel Martinez (35:50):
What, what was the term? I forgot the term that they used, but the same thing, they, they brought it up.
They brought it up, um, in a way, like if I was supposed to already have known what that was. Yeah.
Yeah. And it makes me feel like, geez, should I ask them? Ultimately I ended up asking 'em I'm like, what
is actuality? Yeah. I didn't want to sound stupid. These people are hiring me. I'm supposed to know this
stuff cuz that's kind of our approach. But now
Mike Hernandez (36:14):
I saw it on the call sheet and I just went to Google. Oh yeah. I was like, I was too embarrassed to ask and
I was like, and I found it. I was like, oh,
Ariel Martinez (36:20):
Thank God. That's right. No. And I had to do that a couple times too, but I, I think that now I'm in a place
where if I don't know something it's because maybe it's something goes different. It's it's unique to
them maybe. Uh, but also you should know how to approach it too. Like right. I I've never seen this term
before. Yeah. What is that like now I'm a little more confident in my work to say, okay, I've never heard
that before. Maybe because it's not used very often. Right. But when you're starting off, you still don't
know, you
Mike Hernandez (36:50):
Know? Well, have you ever used sign language? Um, onset, like there's production sign languages? No,
no. There, um, so like on bigger sets of um, like commercial work or at least in studio, um, the main one
we always used was, um, basically I'm go to the bathroom, cover me, you know, I'm gonna hit head. Is
this? Yeah. So here's the concept behind that is you don't want to scream out where client constant
behind the client here, you say I'm going on a bathroom break, you know? And my position could
possibly just be, Hey, who, who gonna cover me? You know? So it's a way of replacing yourself without
anybody on set, knowing. Um, and especially if the director's really in tune with what is doing, the last
thing you wanna yell out is, Hey, I'm going on a bathroom break. First off, you shouldn't be going to the
bathroom. Right. That often anyway. So you kind of wanna discreet manner. So you, yeah, you go like
this and, and then you look at someone they agree or they don't meaning I'll cover you or I can't. So
then you go to someone else and then you get that coverage. Yeah.
Ariel Martinez (37:46):
What I want to know is how this became the, the sign language for bath is that actual, you
Mike Hernandez (37:53):
Gonna have to Google it because I've, I it's never, it's not, it's not actual, it's a production it's production
sign language.
Ariel Martinez (38:00):
I don't want to Google this cause I don't want to find out why that's,
Mike Hernandez (38:03):
It's probably something you don't want know. Yeah. Probably, um,
Ariel Martinez (38:08):
I don't wanna know what
Mike Hernandez (38:09):
That is. And this might, you know, I've always been confused that this has hit, hit the head or, or, or
cover me, you know, so it's probably hit the head. But, um, but yeah, that's always been the sign
language and I'm not a master at I all the science. And there was a, there was a bunch of other ones, but
those are the main one I used cuz I was constantly drinking water. Um, but uh, yeah, there's, there's,
adequacies, there's just different. Um, like you said said,
Ariel Martinez (38:29):
Those are the things that I've never knew that there was even sign language.
Mike Hernandez (38:34):
I did it to you once and you gave me this blank, look on set. And I was like, he doesn't know that's so he
doesn't know.
Ariel Martinez (38:42):
He didn't even tell me
Mike Hernandez (38:43):
Afterwards. I was like, I'll let a ride. You know, he's gonna see me go to the bathroom where a Small's
Oh man,
Ariel Martinez (38:50):
That's so good.
Mike Hernandez (38:52):
That was the blank look was hilarious. I was like, it's like, I'm not gonna explain it right now or in front of
the client. I'll never forget. Also. Um, I had a D I T the data management people and uh, and he comes
and he takes all the cards after the shoot is over. And the client is like three clients. And these are, um, I
won't say the names big time clients they're right there. And very proper, I mean, suits, you know, one
of em was super creative, you know, they got like two suits and then, and I'm standing right in front of
I'm disconnecting the monitor, the, the client monitor and all these things. It's the end of the shoot. And
the D I T um, leaves. And the director asked me, Hey, where's this person? And I said, he's dumping right
in front. Oh man, what I meant was he is dumping the footage or he's offloading the footage. There's
many ways to have come about that differently. And I looked at the client and they looked at me like
with this, like their, their spines went up, you know? And I was like, I'm sorry. He's he is he's he's he's
offloading the cards.
Ariel Martinez (39:52):
Oh my gosh.
Mike Hernandez (39:53):
Gotta be careful. Sometimes what's
Ariel Martinez (39:55):
The sound language for dumping.
Mike Hernandez (39:56):
Yeah. Well, it looks like that. I'm in the position right now for that. I'm just kidding. I don't know. It's go
to the bathroom. It's a general rule.
Ariel Martinez (40:03):
Oh my gosh. That's
Mike Hernandez (40:04):
Hilarious. Yeah. It's like this and it just like that. That's that's yeah. Film school. People are gonna like
freak out. That's not, that's not true. I'm just making that up. Yeah. Gotta have some fun.
Ariel Martinez (40:17):
Yeah. All right, man. Well, I think this is a phenomenal episode.
Mike Hernandez (40:20):
It's
Ariel Martinez (40:20):
Been fun. First of many, we could
Mike Hernandez (40:22):
Go on forever. I know this topic cuz I got like 20 other stories, but it's all good,
Ariel Martinez (40:26):
Man. I know we can because it's still the first, your first episode here. Go ahead. And uh, let's give a link
where can people find your stuff?
Mike Hernandez (40:34):
And so you can, uh, catch me on Instagram, uh, T studios Inc. And also my website, my webpages, TN
studios, inc.com.
Ariel Martinez (40:42):
Perfect. We're gonna be putting all the information on the show notes for this episode should be on
screen as well, but uh, you could also follow the I filmmaker podcast on Instagram. That's where we're
probably most, uh, active and we are also gonna be on Facebook again. It's at I filmmaker podcast.
Thank you guys for watching and listening and we'll catch you on the next one.