smoking and film/commercial production

[tatiana]

hi all,

i wonder if someone has the same problem as i will describe here and tell me what the situation in other countries is and what could be the solutions. :?

the first problem i encountered when started working in video (post production of commercials) was that everyone smokes everywhere!

i used to work in a news agency as a photographer and was very irritated every day by this, and now again...

In Russia there are very few institutions or companies (mostly foreign) where smoking is allowed only outside the building or in a special smoking room.
In transport you can't smoke as well, but everywhere else people smoke which could really be a nightmare for a convinced non-smoker.

I do not mention that in a moment the hair and the clothes gets smoked through, which is itself not very pleasant, but with me it also tells on my ability to function well in various meanings (think, work, etc.) :evil:

don't tell me i have to put up with that or start smoking instead. i do not want it and i am not going to. Opening window or conditioners also do not help a lot when smoking people are everywhere. And asking people not to smoke means one has to do it every 2 minutes and of course is not a helpful and promising solution.

Anyway, i will appreciate your advice and comments. Sorry, my first post to the forum is so sullen but it is indeed a sore point.

t

 

[MarkG]

the first problem i encountered when started working in video (post production of commercials) was that everyone smokes everywhere!

Yeah, it's odd. In my day-job working for a computer company, almost no-one smokes. When I work on low-budget movies (many of which use professional crew and actors in their down-time), almost everyone smokes.

I guess it's just the stress of movie-making which pushes people into it... but I can't help but feel that a lot of the aspiring directors I've met could have financed their movies easily if they just stopped smoking .

 

[temerson]

I can write on this from the other side (and don't judge me, please). I used to be an ardent non-smoker. Once I started getting into major productions and bigger and bigger stuff kept coming up, I needed to do something to relieve the stress, so I took up smoking because it was the most accessible form of stress-relief. I certainly wish I had never started, and I always tell everybody, especially my younger friends, that they should never smoke. I try not to smoke in front of non-smokers out of respect, but yeah. On a film set, especially if you are working with people that do this as a profession, the stress gets to you very quickly. And Mark, I'm sure you are write. I've been wondering how many great short films I could have financed with my nicotine budget. It's sad. But, I'm cutting back, and will be smoke-free by November.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

There has always been a higher percentage of smokers in the film industry -- the art types started out of the need to be "hip" and everyone else out of a need to reduce stress (a very poor method.)

Luckily all the no smoking laws across the country, particularly in California, have meant that I don't have to put up with it as much now, thank God. I used to have a camera assistant who would forget and be smoking while he was pulling focus, which I never tolerated (as the DP.) The only person I can't really do anything about is the director, so if some of them want to smoke at the video tap monitor, I try and sit farther away or get my own monitor.

I'm hard-pressed to think of an AD who doesn't smoke -- even now I'm on my prep and as the AD is forced to push out more schedules, etc. he is going through a ton of cigarettes. And this is a guy I've known for seven years who has always said he was going to quit.

Luckily I never took up the habit. My weakness is cholesteral and carbs... but at least you don't harm the person next to you when you're eating a donut or hamburger...

 

[temerson]

I think Mr. Mullen has given me a realization. Everytime I AD a project (am doing that right now) I find myself going to the convenience store at least once a day.

But, the good news is, a lot of famous smokers are starting to cut back. I know that Kevin Smith is in the process, if not done already, quitting smoking.

 

[Digigenic]

I'm not really one to judge, but it is unfortunate to see so many people with so much will and determination to get themselves to this point in their lives where they have the opportunity to enliven so many lives around them, and they can't even break themselves from such a meaningless habit.

But I guess the meaning can only be found within the habit among those who share the habit.

Oh well, for some of them, smoking kind of made them who they are...or who they were in terms of maintaining an image.

Maybe that's all it ever is, the image.
...or maybe it's just the money...

 

[DAS19]

this country was built by smokers. sadly enough it is a worldly past time. I know there are more smoekrs in europe but until a decade ago everyone here smoked until our country pushed on us to stop smoking. I am only 16 and was a smoker for 6 months and then my parents forced me to quit. I like smoking but I can understand that if your not a smoker you dont want to smell like complete crap. in new york you cant smoke anywhere inside of a building. so move to new york I guess is your best bet jk lol but you gotta live with it becuase theres nothing you can do. no jobs are perfect and if your gonna keep quiting jobs becuase of it youll probably end up jobless.

 

[violettak]

Damn..well, smoking isn't the only dangerous habit out there. I'd much rather have smoke blown in my face than be hit and killed by a drunk driver.

Life and the people in it are far from perfect..

 

[Hamco]

I live in New Zealand, where very few people smoke, smoking is banned in all work places, even outside, so its not really a problem on film sets in NZ. I suppose thats what made me really notice it when i was shooting at Universal Studios about 6 months ago, everyone was smoking!, i kept looking around for the no-smoking signs but of course there wasnt any.