STANDING vs SITTING

Doing video production surprisingly is a very taxing job on the body. I've been doing this for over 15 years and making sure your body is in shape to handle the work is an important thing.

On the shooting production end of the process I'm usually carrying lots of heavy equipment from the camera, to gimbals, to tripods and lights. On a full day shoot the body and back will have been put through the ringer. Making sure to have routine workouts throughout the week helps curb these issues.

What is interesting is the toll that the post production process can take on the body. Usually I'm behind the computer editing large amounts of footage constantly. Sometimes I'll go for 8 - 14 hour editing sessions. This happened a lot while working on my full length documentary Finding Home.

I found as fit as I am/was it didn't matter if I was sitting for that length of time. In the past few years I've started to notice the toll that POST PRODUCTION has taken on my body.

I knew I needed a change but didn't know what. One day I was working on a project for a friend at his office and it was a standing desk. I was worried if I'd be able to work all day long like that and still be able to do the same editing tasks needed. At first it was a challenge for the brain to acclimate to doing the normal task I was use to doing when sitting to now standing. After a day I got the hang of it and realized my back was loving it! After a week of standing at my friends desk I was sold.

I went home and converted my desk to a standing desk. For the first 6 months it was amazing. I could stand long hours and have no problems at all. But once I hit past the year mark of standing I noticed my posture was starting to change. I wasn't able to stand properly for those long periods of time and alas back pain set in. Some of this reason could be from a pretty bad back injury I have many years ago and the standing was just not good for it. Another reason could be that I had read if you are going to stand you need to take breaks and not stay in one spot. Well, my editing sessions can go on for hours and when I'm in the creative zone I don't like to move. So I will go hours without moving from the spot I'm standing (or sitting in). After months of I decided for me and the work that I do it was enough....I would have to return to sitting again.

I decided if I was going back then going back in style and comfort was the only option. I looked around and landed on the DX Racer chair. It's typically a gaming chair for hardcore video games who put in long hours on their games but the company made an office version of their chair. I have to say it's the best chair I've ever owned and sat in. No chair allows me to sit for so long and have zero pain after not even standing up once for anywhere from 4 - 6 hours (I'm capable of doing that and do so often.) This helps me to stay focused and in the zone of creative editing which allows me to produce better material for my clients.

The creative process is alway an evolution. It doesn't start or end with what the project is…or what is on the screen…but is a whole part of our being. Everything we do affects our art, including how we position ourselves while we create, it becomes part of our art.

I went from sitting to standing…and back to sitting,…adapting creatively all the while.

I still love standing desks and think they are great. If you're interested in trying one out and think it would be great for your working style here's a great resource to check out on some of the options out there.