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1st time HMI user
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Well, I sent her a note on Friday asking for a room with windows, and a number of other things, including contact info and address. Her reply was to type the address. That’s it. No hello/goodbye or any info about anything. Sorta typical of our communications. So I think at this point it’s pot luck. I guess I’m trying to ride the line between getting the info I need and not being a PITA and turning her off. (This shoot was set up a by a client, not the school, so the school doesn’t have a lot of vested interest in it).
But I’m sure I have plenty to learn as far as having the clout, sense of entitlement, and clear thinking to ask (demand?) what’s needed to make it successful. Thoughts?
Dan S.
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A million years ago, when I first started out, a gruff — yet wise old sage — advised me never to violate the “6 P’s of success” in this business:
Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Production
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Dennis, thanks so much. I’m going to make an appointment with my tattoo parlor and have it inked onto my forearm. Just below “mom forever.”
In all seriousness though it helps me feel validated in doing what I really want–to plan like crazy!
Dan S.
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I know this is waaaay after the fact, but might be useful for future reference, if this (or another) client needs something similar again…
We seem to have to do a fair number of school or “classroom” shoots each year. That’s especially true if it’s during a political year when we’re churning out tons of campaign commercials and so many candidates (no matter what office they’re running for) have something to say about education. We’ve sometimes joked that we should take a corner of our soundstage and turn it into a permanent standing classroom set.
Due to the particular local rules and regulations we are generally not allowed to shoot inside the public schools here where I am, at least not for a commercial project… especially for political spots. However, those rules of course do not apply to private schools. Ergo, we’ve shot in private schools countless times. Most often it’s a Lutheran private school near us (I believe they have grades K through 9, or something like that). Of course we pay them for the privilege, and therefore they are always extremely welcoming and bend over backwards to accommodate us… always allow us in a few days before to scout, pick what areas and classrooms we want, and are very easy to deal with on shoot days. It’s amazing how much a “donation” of even two or three hundred bucks can make with people’s attitudes.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Dollars??? Wow… I usually just use swag (shirts and hats)!
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Hahaha, Dennis… isn’t that the Joe Francis plan?
I’m all for saving money, but we’d rather pony up and pay someone what a location’s really worth. Especially if it’s someone we’re likely to be hitting up for the same favors again and again.
It’s usually not a big hunk of the budget… and hey, it’s the client’s money, anyway 🙂
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I’ve often found that money can’t buy happiness …but a shirt from GOOD MORNING AMERICA, or OPRAH, or YES NETWORK can get me MUCH more than I wanted!!! ….. 😉
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Hahaha… Maybe I should stock up on shirts…… 🙂
But in all seriousness… it would probably be different if we didn’t work in a fairly closed community where we know everyone and have to work with the same people over and over again…
There’s probably been many instances that people would have probably allowed us to use locations (or do all sorts of other things we need) just as a “favor.” But we’ve found the dangerous side of accepting favors is that you owe one in return. Now, I have no problem with helping someone out, but often there is a fairly huge discrepancy in the “level” of the favor…
Case in point… we once needed a particular location, and found just the right property. The owner positively REFUSED to accept any payment for allowing us to shoot there for a half day. We fairly insisted, but he was adamant about it. So we graciously accepted his generous offer.
Flash forward nine or ten months, and this same fellow (a very nice man) shows up in our office with tons of videotapes (hours and hours of footage of his kids’ sports teams) wanting a big editing project done. He showed us a sample, some other DVD, with the “This is what I’d like for it to look like.” It would have been many many thousands of dollars worth of editing… well over $10K worth, maybe even 20. He didn’t explicitly ask for a freebie, or a deal… but there was definitely a “I scratched your back, you scratch mine” vibe to it. Whereas if we had just paid the guy four or five hundred bucks like we wanted… we could have said no to his project with a clear conscious. Instead, we had to say no to it with a guilty one.
More often it doesn’t get that far, someone will attempt to refuse our payment saying something like “Oh no need, as a matter of fact i have a project coming up that might need….” We make sure to pay those people. Fast.
The same goes for anything else we might normally pay for… including crew or talent. When you put out casting notices, as we often do… I’m always dumbfounded by the huge number of projects seeking talented and experienced actors…. for no pay. Crew members, too. That’s just not right. (Plus you get zero reliability that way… just pray they even show up). If I can’t afford to pay the people that help me do my job (which makes me money… it is, after all, the way I make a living), then I don’t do it. Or a do it a different way. I don’t work for free, and I don’t expect anyone else to, either.
Now where’s my tee shirt???!!
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Actually, that’s really helpful. I work at Scholastic, so a lot of what we do is in schools. In this case, it’s a custom video with a client that works with particular public schools, so it wouldn’t work.
But…even so. Offering a donation of $200 of books probably would have gone a long way in this case. I should have thought of that.
And for other shoots that aren’t linked to a particular school, I would love the idea of having a regular school that we could use that we know the layout and lighting, etc. I’ll keep it in mind, for sure.
Dan S.
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Hi Todd (& others).
Here’s a link to the video I shot a few weeks ago.
https://www.scholastic.com/administrator/education-videos/education-leaders/I’m interested in honest feedback, the good and bad. Helps me for next time.
A couple notes.
Classroom was the most difficult to light. Too much light coming in from windows giving harsh highlights and too much contrast, then light fall off as you go deeper away from the windows. HMIs were coming from the same direction as the windows. Since there was some strong direct natural light, I just shot the joker up at the ceiling.
I liked the interview lighting the best, I think. Overall, I tended to over-expose–not so used to this camera (ex1). Did a little color correction in Color, trying to fix a few highlights.
Also, anoying background hum during interviews. Live and learn. Should’ve asked them to turn off the a/c.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks for all your help. This is the best forum!
Dan S.
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