Looking at life through the lens of a videographer
Jenna Seng
September 16, 2019
In 2016, Mitchell Cook began his photography career taking senior photos for his fellow classmates at his high school in Vancouver, British Columbia. After falling in love with photography, Cook began experimenting with video. In 2018, Cook left Canada to be the videographer for the youth missions group “YWAM” in Montana, U.S. Now, Cook has traveled throughout the world with creativity and his camera as his guide.
How did you first get into videography?
I started playing around with it after I got into photography. My photography teacher had me do a final project in the form of a video to challenge me. I fell in love with using video as a medium of storytelling and decided to keep doing it.
What does a videographer’s day look like?
Videography can be kind of mundane on a daily basis. It’s a lot of going through footage, editing videos for hours, sorting project files, pre-planning and scheduling for other projects. Even though it can be a lot of work I love it so it doesn't feel like work.
What’s the job market like for someone wanting to get into this industry ?
The job market is so available! There are so many opportunities for creatives to get into the business and find a niche that they can fit into. It is competitive for sure so you have to be willing to do more work than the next guy to stay afloat in this industry.
Is this an industry you feel can take you places? Have you been able to travel at all with this job?
This industry is one of the best ways to go places. Companies will fly you places if they feel you are integral to building their business. I've been able to travel to Banff, Taiwan, and multiple places in the U.S. I worked with the organization Youth With A Mission “YWAM” as the videographer for 2 years which allowed me to live on base with the participants documenting everyday life in Montana, and then got to travel the world documenting the missionaries experiences alongside them. This is just one of the types of ways this industry allows for travel, and I plan to continue working abroad even more this next year.
Have you got a project you’re most proud of?
My favorite project is a video I made in Taiwan everything about it from experiencing the culture to putting together a series of videos based off of that footage. It was so cool to tell stories with the footage I shot in Taiwan.
Where do you think you’re headed with this industry? What’s next?
Next I think I am continuing to build my brand and my portfolio by doing weddings and engagement shoots. I’m also planning to do some representative videos and photos for my brand. Whatever comes next, I'm excited for it!
DISCLAIMER: for student purposes only.