Meet the Crew: @barefoot_john
We appreciate you John Morley, not only your insanely creative eye for good shots but also your warm character on film shoots!
Best thing about being a camera operator for Light Years Media?
Purpose. The best thing about being the camera operator for LYM, is the profound sense of purpose.
I love the fact that I get too traveling all around South Africa and parts of the world, connecting and film incredible people and places, as this is a true passion of mine. But it all would be meaningless to me if it was just for that. I work for a company driven by a mission to positively impact lives through bringing light to the world through media.
Oh and we’re all a bunch of surfers so we get to have “board meetings” at the beach every now and then 😉
What’s something you wish you had mastered sooner in your career?
Taking what’s in my hands and just going for it.
Not worrying and fearing what people think; or how you would look holding a GoPro to shoot a interview and using a cellphone to record the audio. Or even the fear of what people would think of your video editing skills but just going for it, creating videos & stories and allowing myself to grow with what I had.
I believe this approach would have allowed me to grow exponentially in experience and creativity much quicker.
Recent challenges you faced and how you overcame it?
I got asked to do a lecture on lighting at the college I once attended. It wasn’t too recently but a story worth telling. It started off horrible, I paused, and prayed with the class and from then on it was a complete success.
Pro tip for new camera operators…
Find DOPs, Videographers, directors whose films and videos you absolutely love and mimic them, then find your own style while doing it. Even the greats like Stephen Spielberg and Roger Deakins did this.
Your footage doesn’t exist unless it is backed up haha
Favorite piece of gear/software?
I’m a big fan of Sony and their FX3 camera is just such a little beauty.