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What would really make you excited …
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[Oliver Peters] “My clients in many cases pointedly tell me not to use X”
Interesting, as I ask to have X installed and my clients agree (starting that gig end of this week). They trust me, as the editor, to choose the best tool for the job.
In fact I just got an email from a gentleman who just came off of an Avid assistant job on the series, Turn. This guy is an avid Avid die-hard. However, he is setting up a 4-wall room for freelancers to rent out and it has all three A’s plus an R. Editors choice. To me, this is a very smart way to go. Don’t bias your shop out of potential work.
[Oliver Peters] “I now use X on a very limited basis and it’s usually only laptop-based edits.”
Your choice or back to your clients?
[Oliver Peters] “I don’t see one-man bands as the future of video.”
Define “video”. Broadcast TV? Corporate? Educational? Social? There is so much “video” out there. Is your definition based on a budget or ANY budget?
I see the mid-level sized shops having more difficulty going forward, precisely because the 1-man/woman shop can compete on so many levels at an efficient cost and the large facilities can handle large jobs at an efficient cost. The squeeze is in the middle.
Scott Witthaus
Owner, 1708 Inc./Editorial
Managing Partner, Low Country Creative LLC
Professor, VCU Brandcenter -
[Brett Sherman] “I would argue it’s actually a VERY rare combination to do it well.
While one-man bands are not the ONLY future for video. They are certainly a growing part of it and not going away anytime soon.”
I agree with a lot of this; however, these two sentences seem to be in direct contradiction to each other. Hence, I don’t see it as the future anymore now then in the past.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Oliver Peters] “I don’t see one-man bands as the future of video. I see a lot of reformulation, though. Large facilities failing, but also smaller shops growing. It’s very different from market to market, making it hard to generalize.
“I think one-man bands are probably quite a large proportion of the FCPX base, and every time I see my children watching Vloggers they’re using it too.
I love that fact that it’s enabling more people to get into content production whether for profit or not and to be honest there probably isn’t a single person on here who’s really in tune with what the “future of video” might be.
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[Scott Witthaus] “I see the mid-level sized shops having more difficulty going forward, precisely because the 1-man/woman shop can compete on so many levels at an efficient cost and the large facilities can handle large jobs at an efficient cost. The squeeze is in the middle.”
Agreed. The middle getting squeezed is happening in many other areas too like music, publishing, software, video games, etc,..
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I’m Johnny one-note on this, but it’s important to me, and though it’s not “sexy”, I think it should be important to everyone.
Captioning.
It needs to be easier to do open or closed-captions for broadcast or DVD/web work, and I mean not just getting the text in there and lined up, but also, automated transcription from the audio track. The future of video, whatever frame size, shape, or codec, is making the audio keyword-searchable. It’s not just for the deaf, but for everyone.
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Pulling together two threads:
[Tony West] “The take away for me is that things are being scaled down to independent individuals with multi talents.”
[Scott Witthaus] “I see the mid-level sized shops having more difficulty going forward, precisely because the 1-man/woman shop can compete on so many levels at an efficient cost and the large facilities can handle large jobs at an efficient cost. The squeeze is in the middle.”
[Andrew Kimery] “Agreed. The middle getting squeezed is happening in many other areas too like music, publishing, software, video games, etc,..”
A single-person “team” is self-limiting, and truly large organizations sacrifice flexibility. I think the biggest opportunities lie in the middle.
Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive | RenderBreak [blog] | Profile [LinkedIn] -
[Walter Soyka] “A single-person “team” is self-limiting,”
Can you explain?
[Walter Soyka] ” I think the biggest opportunities lie in the middle.”
Once again?
Scott Witthaus
Owner, 1708 Inc./Editorial
Managing Partner, Low Country Creative LLC
Professor, VCU Brandcenter -
[Walter Soyka] “A single-person “team” is self-limiting, and truly large organizations sacrifice flexibility. I think the biggest opportunities lie in the middle.”
I hear what yer saying, but things just don’t appear to be panning out like that. The people holding the purse strings either want something that’s too big to fail or so small that failure doesn’t cost them much.
“Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Four More Directors on the Decline of “Middle-Class Films,” Facing Retirement”
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/quentin-tarantino-ridley-scott-four-846682“Gaming’s Middle Class is Dead: Here’s Why That’s Sad”
https://www.craveonline.com/site/497509-gamings-middle-class-is-dead-heres-why-thats-sad“Life and Death in the App Store”
https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/2/11140928/app-store-economy-apple-android-pixite-bankruptcy“Napster, Spotify and the Fall of the ‘Middle-Class Musician”
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/move-fast-and-break-things-book-excerpt-w480401 -
[Scott Witthaus] “They trust me, as the editor, to choose the best tool for the job.”
My clients trust me, too. However, I tend to work on gear and software owned by others. These are also projects touched by others. So compatibility is important. Right now I’m working a lot out of a shop where – between editors and others who can edit – there are probably 12 people who, at any given time, might touch any of the ongoing projects. Two of us know X and I know it a lot better than the other. We all know Premiere Pro. So it would be ludicrous for me to insist on X for my work there.
[Scott Witthaus] “Your choice or back to your clients?”
A bit of both – see the info above. I’m still 50/50 on the love/hate spectrum with X. In general, it’s less and less useful to me these days, but I still use it when I feel it’s the better tool. There are other reasons, too, that clients ask not to use X. They might be on PCs. They might be from out of town and take the project back home and are on Premiere. They might want compatibility with Photoshop animation effects or After Effects. They might need captioning. Of course, there are a few other clients who insist on Media Composer. I draw the line at using FCP “legacy”, though 🙂
[Scott Witthaus] “Define “video”. Broadcast TV? Corporate? Educational? Social? There is so much “video” out there. Is your definition based on a budget or ANY budget?”
All of the above. If anything, one-man bands pop up most in social. But, if you are a one-man band, you hope to grow. The minute you grow, you need to bring in collaborators. Video is a team sport. Plus there’s a quality issue. I’m a strong editor and colorist, but I am also a pretty good producer and director. But clients don’t employ me for my p/d skills. I can also shoot (rarely) and mix, but I’m not nearly as good at those as a specialist. Most of the successful one-man bands I see generally have a small team of collaborators. Almost no one who is worth a hoot truly does absolutely everything him or herself.
[Scott Witthaus] “because the 1-man/woman shop can compete on so many levels at an efficient cost and the large facilities can handle large jobs at an efficient cost”
Whenever I see companies go that route, it’s for rock-bottom budgets. The results are often substandard and the next time around the client goes back with the established companies. The key for small companies is to be nimble and creative.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Scott Witthaus] “[Walter Soyka] “A single-person “team” is self-limiting,”
Can you explain?
[Walter Soyka] ” I think the biggest opportunities lie in the middle.”
Once again?
“I agree, I think when I client goes somewhere out of house, they do that thinking they have and are paying for the best creatives in that their given field. The know thier getting a editor at the top of the game, but also music supervision, graphics, finishing all from people who specialize it each profession. Not one guy that is bad ass editor, but can manage with gfx, color, and has okay music sensibilities and knows legal specs.
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