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I had a dream (well, nightmare) last night in which I looked down to find that my 788t had 4x as many buttons, knobs, switches, led's, and lcd's than usual and I didn't know what the heck any of them did. When I commenced fiddling with them, they broke off in my hands.

I take it 'complicated gadget dreams' are going to replace my 'totally unprepared for physics/calculus final' dreams.

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Great topic btw........ So in my usual work/stress stress dream I end up showing up to set late. Not a big deal by itself but in my dream we are about to roll just when I realize that I have left all my gear at home except my headphones... I try my best to hold the roll as I scramble around looking for gear to borrow from others VTR,etc.. And to top it off its always on a union commercial! There is never a solution in these dreams only Failure.. lol

I think it has to do with making mistakes (like being late) when I was a kid and never wanting that to happen again.

-Jesse

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I think there was a thread about anxiety dreams a while ago. Mine, although rare, usually involve the company being ready to roll and I am not only not ready, but all my cables are disconnected or there is critical gear missing from my cart.

I used to get regular anxiety dreams about 20 years ago when I was waiting tables. The restaurant was closed, but the hostess kept seating tables. All I could serve was soda from the soda gun, but nobody would leave.

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Here's one from the eighties during my time as a fisher boom op on a live variety show.

I'm in the corridor outside the studio when I become aware of the opening theme music, I hear the floor managers voice from somewhere giving the host a ten second count! I burst through the studio door with about two seconds to go, but the opening monologue is at the far end of the studio, The band is finishing up the opener and host begins to deliver as I'm still running towards the boom.

This is when I jolt into the waking world gasping.....what does it mean doctor?

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For me it isn't so much a dream, as a legitimate anxiety that keeps me awake throughout the night before starting a project. The issue for me is when I have a week or more off, and then a very early call time for a project. When that happens, there is almost nothing I can do to sleep properly the first night of the project.

I set the alarm for, say, 4AM. Then I try to sleep and I'm usually wired, and wind up laying in bed thinking about the project and going over all of the preparations in my head the night before. So when I do get to sleep it's usually around 12:30 or 1AM. Then I wake up at 1:30AM, 2:45AM and maybe 3:50AM. Each time in anticipation/worry of not waking up when the alarm goes off.

So inevitably the alarm never goes off that first day. I wind up waking up before it and just biting the bullet, making a nice breakfast and having plenty of time for coffee before the car arrives. That first day I'm not tired at all. Adrenaline. After that night I've worked plenty hard and sleep easily, and then day two is normal and everything is good.

When I do dream about this job, I dream about lots of equipment I can't yet afford. Those are good dreams.

8)

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They never go away. I had a doozy this week, a typical very vivid one with failing incomprehensible equipment, being unable to understand what is being shot and how to record it, and getting into hassles with other crew or production people. A theory that works for me is that these dreams reference the sum of your experience, and your mind can't stop itself from trying to work out a good outcome for bad experiences you had in the past, where maybe you COULDN'T work out a good outcome at the time. It's like a mild form of PTSD, really.

phil p

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There's a sort-of-work dream that I've had for years. Not the contents of the dream specifically but at the end of the dream (and it comes to a conclusion) I get rolling credits. I can't actually read the credits but they roll none the less, then I wake up. The only other person I've know that has had a dream like this is my daughter.

Anyone else?

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For me it isn't so much a dream, as a legitimate anxiety that keeps me awake throughout the night before starting a project. The issue for me is when I have a week or more off, and then a very early call time for a project. When that happens, there is almost nothing I can do to sleep properly the first night of the project.

Doh, I'm right there with ya. I'm trying to sleep, and I start mulling over whether I've packed everything. Did I charge the batteries? Did I fix that Comtek headset cable that went bad on the last shoot? Do I have enough CF cards? I've literally gotten out of bed to check a case to make sure I had packed a spare that I wasn't 100% sure about.

I agree, the second day of a project is generally much easier, in terms of getting sleep time. At least you know what to expect, plus you know there's going to be no gear problems.

I once had a huge anxiety dream in my days when I was running master control for a CBS affiliate in Tampa. It was time for a commercial break, I looked down, and all the buttons were blank! I couldn't figure out how to change from one source to another! I think that job is as close as you can get in TV to being an air traffic controller (only fewer people die if you screw up).

And a mixing nightmare I've had is when I'm in the middle of a take, look up, and suddenly I realize the machine's not in record! That hasn't actually happened to me in real-life yet, but there have certainly been times where I didn't initially see the red light and started to panic...

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You know working in your dreams is no where near as bad as dreaming at your work. Hands up who has ever fallen asleep during an interview.

Two hands up :blink:. In my defense it was after lunch in a dark part of the room in a big soft chair. DP threw a balled up tissue at me and knowingly wouldn't accept the explanation that I was just concentrating with my eyes closed. Must have been the spittle that tipped him off. ::)

Eric

Eric

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I've had a dream where I'm in a production truck directing and switching the show, and none of the cameras are actually following the action or my direction, leaving me with no good shots to switch to. I say a few choice words to the crew over headsets and things shape up. After the show we have a crew meeting to discuss the show and all the camera ops are crying because I yelled at them.

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I have dream or nightmare about one big project.

12 wireless talent, 2 boom, TC bla bla..

First day, first scene, first shoot.

Sound check is ok.

Director: "End action"

I don't have signals from wireless.

Recorder is freeze.

The power unit for mixer is off.

The microphone from one boom is off.

After this, wake up from my bed and tell myself "ok you are dreaming, relax".

:o

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not exactly a dream, but anxiety non the less. I'm driving to the gig on the freeway, a bit behind schedule. Suddenly I think: did I pack that (insert item here) in my rush this morning? Should I cut across 3 lanes of traffic, pull over in a non-stopping zone and check? Or will this just make me even later? Now I'm really stressed.

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