Wannabes hurting the video business.

[Jorge Molinari]

Thanks Mark. The four aerial shots are a GoPro Hero 3 Black(not the + version) mounted to a DJI Phantom 1 (again, older version) with their Zenmuse H3-2D gimbal. All other shots including the time-lapse are with a BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera with a Lumix 12-35/f2.8 lens. I set the GoPro to 1080p, Narrow FOV, and CineRAW format. I find that under good lighting conditions the GoPro at these settings will intercut with the BlackMagic footage very well.

[Bob Cole]

Hi Jorge,

As for charging: only way to know is to bid too high, lose the job; then ratchet down until you get the job.

But imho, you should stop wasting your time producing ads for local dealerships.

Concentrate on the beauty shots which we all probably thought were stock footage, because they looked great (and far better, to be honest, than the car dealership shots).

You could probably monetize the beauty shots by selling yourself as a go-to person for Caribbean timelapse/stock shots. And you’d have more fun.

If you want to broaden your skills to learn how to make an ugly car dealership interior look beautiful and appealing, that’s your choice. But (a) that’s actually pretty challenging; and (b) I bet there are a thousand directors who know how to do that, who would love to be creating that “stock footage” that you already do so well.

If you are absolutely determined to do commercials, try to integrate your unique talents more closely into the sales proposition, e.g. put a car and a model into a beautiful setting and shoot away. Avoid those ugly dealerships; they aren’t part of your soul.

Bob C

[Jorge Molinari]

Thanks for your insights Bob. Actually in my last two “request for quote”, that is exactly what I did. I’ve quoted closer to where I want to be and in this case lost both gigs. Actually one was a full production, the other was just aerial beauty shots for b-roll, like you are suggesting. No biggie, given my part time circumstance, getting to the market price by losing jobs rather than working cheap is preferable.

I think I see where you’re coming from with regards to doing commercial work; but my ultimate goal is to produce a film someday in the far future. This is how I see it: The closest thing to doing a feature is doing a short. But to do shorts I need to spend money. Commercials are like shorts where I actually get paid. So I get comparable experience to producing a short, and the client pays all the production costs, and I have money left over hopefully pay for my equipment. Ultimately what I want is to get “narrative experience” and $$$ to pay for equipment. So that in a few years from now, I can put back all the experience and $$$ I earned in commercials towards making a feature film. And while I’m well aware my film will be buried under the mountains of indie films that get produced every year, never to be screened, this is something I want to do. Call it a bucket-list type of thing.

[Bob Cole]

Unsolicited, semi-cynical, but semi-serious advice:

I hear over and over about people who try to create a road map toward EVENTUALLY making an indie film. It sounds very logical, but life is short. What you really want is to make a GOOD indie film. And if you want to make a GOOD indie film, you are going to have to start by making a bad one. (That’s what they say about first novels, btw.)

So get started on that bad indie film right now. Don’t spend all of your money and effort getting ready to do that film – just do it. It could be just a “teaser” for that film, if a whole feature is too much.

Then when you’ve seen it, you’ll know how to make the good one. (“I can’t light – need a lighting cameraman.” “My dialogue is wooden – need a co-screenwriter.” “Actor A is good; Actor B is not. Hire Actor A next time.”) The lessons you learn can only be acquired on the job – and probably not by making commercials, either.

You are right that most indie films die a quiet, unseen death. And it’s a very much deserved one. So get it behind you, asap. And who knows? It might be a good film after all. But you’ll never know until you make it.

[Jorge Molinari]

Agreed. A good indie film is my goal. Unsolicited advice is many times the best advice, so thanks. Doing the “preview” is one of the approaches I’ve considered. Anyway at this point all I have is the concept. I haven’t even made an outline to begin a 1st draft of the script.