The Dreaded G.A.S.

No, it doesn't mean that.

I heard it from Kevin Cooke. I sent him an Email asking about some gear I was thinking about buying, and mentioned some other things I thought I could use in the future, and he wrote back, "ah, the old dreaded G.A.S. -- Gear Acquisition Syndrome".

Sienna and I took a trip out to the township, and while she tortured Echo with a trip to Michaels (it was actually fine, she found a small toy basketball and let him throw it around; that's my boy!), I went over to Henry's to check out some DSLR's and Camcorders that shoot the new high-def, manual focus, super-amazing video that all the kids are using these days.

At the end of the day, I was fully convinced that I needed a $1000 camera, a new iMac, and a whole wack of software. Convinced. Like an addict, I was searching around my studio for things I could sell for $2000. Turns out, I don't own anything worth $2000. Which is probably for the best.

I told Sienna about what I wanted to get, and she said, as she always does, "Sure, whatever you need". There are two reasons she always says this: One - she is very supportive of me and my work; TWO - she knows that anytime she agrees to buy something, my CHEAP alarm goes off and I think of reasons to not get whatever it is.

It's so easy to blame gear or money for not starting or completing projects, but that's bullshit for the most part. If I had the gear I have right now within 3 feet of myself (i.e. my digital camcorder and macbook) when I was 15, I would've shit myself. Shit myself and then shot a feature film about, oh, maybe something about a 15 year old troubled loner. . .

There is a baseline of gear needed to produce video, but it involves linking two vcr's together and you can buy nearly all of it for $10 at value village.

I have been so blessed in my life to have had the means to buy what a lot of I wanted (or thought I wanted) to be creative. But looking back I know that my best always involved struggles with (what I thought was) inadequate technology. My favorite barn flyz songs were recorded on a four track where I had to plan track-bouncing and had no editing abilities. My favorite video work was shot with a 2MP digital still camera on a 15FPS "film mode" with a broken shutter button, and pirated shitty video editing software.

I don't need to be able to shoot 600 frames a second, or have an f1.8 lens, or render videos 10 times faster. I just need to keep my ass in gear and actual do the work. The Peat Bros, who are heros of mine, borrowed a mic from my studio to do some recording. Their audio interface? One XLR to USB cable. One Mic. One single cable. And it sounded awesome.

Fuck the dreaded G.A.S.