12 years ago I helped a friend who’s a director create two TV spots for his reel. Even though it was spec work (free work creatives do to put examples of their work in their portfolio or reel), I put it in my portfolio as work that I helped produce. Given that this was over a decade ago, the work was saved on DVDs.
These spots were da balm. You can watch them below.
I came across some of the DVDs from this project over the weekend while I was cleaning out my desk. They were clearly marked with post-it’s in my handwriting that said “Da Balm Raw Footage” and “Mail Order Groom Raw Footage.” The raw footage is all of the footage that we shot that later got edited to the final commercial.
Did I have any use for this footage? No.
Was my first instinct to check what was on these DVDs? Yes.
Does this mean that I don’t trust my own labels? Oy, yes.
But then I thought about it.
Do I want to set up my DVD/VCR player (Yes, I have one) to play this footage that I probably don’t need? No, and it probably won’t play it anyway, since it’s a different format.
Do I want to bother powering up my old laptop that takes probably about 20 minutes to even turn on and even longer for the DVD player to work? No.
Do I believe what these post-it’s say? Yes. Why would they say anything else? The sticker on the label matches the post-production house who edited the work.
So I waited a day (it was late), I looked at them again to be extra sure and then I shredded them. I have a special shredder that accommodates CDs and DVDs.
Usually when I shred things, I love doing it, but with the volume I’ve been shredding as of late, I just want to get it done and such was the case here.
Speaking of cases, I thought about keeping the ones the DVDs were in in case I needed them. Not trusting that I’d find more (believe me, I have more) if I needed them.
Then, I realized that I’m trying to throw stuff out and few people have need for this type of storage, so into the recycling bin they went and that feeling was da balm.
Do you trust the labels that you make? Are you good about throwing things out with giving them a second thought? Do I need to contact Marie Kondo? :) Tell me below.