Jeff’s dynamic is amazing. Knowing full well the power he was giving me free access to, he handed me a copy of some Unix commands that he found “after some serious searching on the internet.” “Careful with that,” he cautioned in a somber tone. Yeah, no lie, I could really fuck up my computer with this stuff.”
In an effort to gain a better understanding of the plotter’s output, I’ve started making rather copious notes on the changes I’m making to the images I’m working on during rounds. I’ve bastardized my technique from books I’ve read on photography, which encourages you to think about the process in greater depth. It seems to be working fairly well here. It’s now obvious to me that I need to be more aggressive with the adjustments I’m making.
The biggest influence this job has made on me has to be on my ability to make selections in Photoshop. If it weren’t for the variation in approaches offered for each image and the complications associated with these differing techniques, I’d be on could nine. However, Jeff always seems to be looking over my shoulder just as I’m negotiating some obstacle, and he often interrupts what I’m doing by offering direction by correction. He’s not being mean about this, he just knows exactly how he would do it, which rarely matches how I am doing it. Unfortunately, this leaves me feeling like a bumbling idiot.
Things got a little more complicated near the end of day today when Jeff had me sit down for a talk in his office during a round of color correction. He just wanted to be forthright about some factors that would seriously affect my job.
As he put it, when he last spoke to my agent last week, he asked her to “keep an eye open” for someone more qualified to fill the position. While I’m not clear if this was in any way contingent on my mustering out (which had been openly discussed last Friday), he plainly stated that my agent had contacted him today with a new candidate. “If she’s (my potential replacement) is half as good as she (my agent) says she is, I feel I’ve got to take a look. You’ve done a great job, and you’re a fast learner, but, well, you’ve seen the workload.”
Let me be perfectly clear: I’m not bothered by the circumstances surrounding this announcement; I try to keep it professional. I am genuinely happy to be of service as I can, and I know that I have a lot to learn when it comes to this level of specialized, professional color correction. As a student of Science, I’m happy to put my client’s needs above my limited sense of personal priorities. And I am also sincerely grateful for my agent’s responsibility to her client, for her professional authority, and for her
What I am uncomfortable with is the fact that I first heard about this from the client. I’m grateful that he was so forthright about the factors that could so radically change my current employment. I’m grateful that for his sensitivity and candor. I only wish that I would have heard this first from my agent, and that’s a little harder for me to swallow. Being a “Temp” means going to new jobs all the time, never sharing the sense of security found in most jobs, rarely making lasting professional relationships, and often bearing the full force of all professional miscommunications. No matter how thing appear, my agency is my employer, and my agent is my most valuable and substantial resource. Unfortunately, at the moment at least, it appears that the level of professional respect courtesy I’ve worked for seems to be absent in this situation. (Note: The Smart Department has kicked all kinds of ass in this department, and I recommend them highly for their respect.)
Obviously, this is a lot to think about, which is exactly what I’m determined not to do. For the moment, I’m happy to by of service. I’m resolved to dissolving my apparent anxiety with Truth and Love. I’m just gong to have to wait to see how the next steps unfold.
