[Bill Davis]

There are a wide variety of solutions depending on your budget.

At the top of the heap are the Zaxcom and Lectrosonic digital units. These are the devices used by the pros when big money is on the line. Expect to pay $3000+ for a transmitter/receiver package

Lectrosonics and Sony have the middle ground pretty well covered. $900-$3000.

At the “affordable” end of the spectrum Sennheiser G2 units generally get the nod with systems from $600 plus.

I personally wouldn’t rely on anything that costs less than that since you’re paying for parts and manufacturing on a radio station, a receiver and a microphone head, and much less than that and you’ll be dealing with consumer level products and craftsmanship.

Beware of the temptation to save money buying cheap “prosumer” wireless rigs. These are not reliable, not repairable, and will typically result in you having to replace them in a couple of years. Quality wireless rigs should last a decade and be endlessly repairable. One sign of quality is robust metal transmitter housings – NEVER plastic – and quality, locking connections on the microphone input into the body pack.

Good luck.

[Bill Davis]

Or use the Sargent/BBC method for spot approval – send a new dub of the same spot with NOTHING changed to the folks who rejected it yesterday – and smile as it suddenly passes all their technical standards with flying colors.

((See Stef Sargent’s story in the DV Pamphlet (can’t really call it a “magazine” any more can we?) for Aug 2009.))

[Bill Davis]

DeAnna,
This has clearly been a huge learning experience for you.
It’s also probably been a huge pain in the butt for you. Particularly since you note that the money you’re NOT collecting is important to your family.
So the plentiful advice you’ve been given here is an excellent foundation for considering and re-thinking some of your business practices so that you’ll have less of this kind of thing to deal with in the past.

However, I’d like to address a different area that these things bring up.

What this circumstance and – equally importantly – your reaction to it – will do to your reputation and your business outlook in the future. Yes, it’s true that no business person wants to be seen as a “pushover” who won’t go to bat to collect what’s due. It’s equally true that few business people want to be seen as heartless scrooges who’s first and primary thoughts are ALWAYS about the money.

I’m not going to tell you which end of the spectrum is best – or even best in this unique situation. In fact, in my experience, the spectrum shifts based on a lot of variables. Perhaps a client will stiff you and you’ll learn that they have plenty of assets to use to pay the bill. These people ratchet UP the desire to collect at all costs. Perhaps another client will prove to be someone who’s great idea truely crashed and burned – leaving them struggling to pay even their small bills. This *might* cause you to look at their situation and be more lenient. Or not.

The important thing is to stop for a while and think about what kind of business person you wish to be. Where will you position money in the range of importance available to you? Would you want that last $500 if it shifts serious burden from your kids to the client’s kids? How much?

Again, I’m not advocating a position here. Just noting that most of us entered business thinking that it would be fair, equitable, and we’d be dealing mostly with others of equal moral compass. And we discover that this is not always true.

Personally, I think the lingering hurt you’re feeling about being treated poorly is the MOST valuable part of the whole exercise. And it’s instructive that when hurt, some hold grudges – others forgive.

What’s important is to find YOUR way to move on as quickly as possible – feeling OK about your response – and returning your focus as quickly as possible to efforts that can grow your business – the action that will ultimately do more to “heal you” than spending the next 3 months digging after this old debt. Maybe.

Good luck.

[Bill Davis]

Don’t know why – but my mind immediately saw a graphic version of a simple NEURON the nucleus of which overlays the pain point, then spreads out linking to other nerves the sum of which fractures the existing scene to reveal the new one.

Kinda medical – but isn’t that the point?

Idea worth at least what you’re paying for it anyway.

[Bill Davis]

The only time I ever see someone demanding “certification” it’s on Craigs List – typically as part of a Job Offer Post that requires not only “certification” but someone willing to provide all the professional equipment required, plus uncompensated out of state travel, planetary class creative skills, and a decade or so of top level experience – all in exchange for $100 a day. (and CREDIT of course!)

[Bill Davis]

Instructive reality #1. Go to an auction. Sit around for a while and you’ll discover that the value of anything is directly related to how many people want it. One person wants it – it’ll go cheap. Two people want it – the price will rise. Two people want it and DON’T want the other one to get it – the price will skyrocket.

Instructive reality #2. Your worth to this particular company that wants to hire you – is relative to their PERCEPTION of the value you bring to the company. If they got the idea somehow that adding you to their staff would bring in an extra 10 million bucks a year – they’d most likely happily pay you a million bucks a year to do so. Really.

However, few and far between are the 24 year olds who can bring in ANY extra money just by showing up each day. So they will understandably see you as a DRAIN on their capital. They have to pay you out of their profits simply in order to keep their clients happy – and because of that dynamic, they’re in a position to try to pay you as little as possible, since that enhances their chances of business success.

You can play this two ways. Take whatever they offer you – and find ways to increase their success – then ask them to share with you the fruits of that effort. That’s the traditional way of working up the corporate value ladder.

The other play is to work OUTSIDE their operation and build a reputation as someone who’s work has exceptional value. Then come back in a position where the DEMAND for your personal skills is greater than the SUPPLY of people with a similar skill set.

That’s about it when it comes to getting people to pay you money for work.

Pick and path and let us know how it goes.

[Bill Davis]

This reminds me of one of my post-2000 rules to live by.

In any given presentation, the moment someone voices the term “metrics” I give them 10 minutes to say something that gives me a reason to keep listening… If they fail – I find a reason to excuse myself from the meeting. Nearly all fail.

I understand that meta-data analysis is all the rage. I also understand that productivity analysis is even more seductive when your company grows enough extra bodies so that they all can’t contribute to the creative product.

But I’ve never met a piece of artistic work worth crap that didn’t suffer for any time expended on one of those over the actual doing and refining of the work itself.

This is accounting. Pure and simple. IMO, Accounting enhances the ability to stockpile money brilliantly. And that is enough strength for it’s justification. If you want to do accounting for other things, knock yourself out. But not me.

If I’d wanted to do that, I’d have gone into banking.

FWIW.

[Bill Davis]

Well – yes, it would be “equivalent.” But that’s not really the issue.

You note you’re attempting to achieve “reach” with the light. Light, like sound, is a wave phenomena that generally follows the inverse square principal.

Double the distance from source to illuminated object and the light falloff is 4 times. Triple the distance and the falloff is 9 times. Move from 1 foot distant to 10 feet distant and the drop off is 100 times.

So while doubling the output of the fixture will net you twice the illumination at 10 feet – that will be 2 100ths of the original value. Or not much extra light.

To project light at distance, a fluorescent array is a marginal choice at best. A fresnel lens is MUCH better. An ellipsoidal lens is better yet. Which you choose is dependent on the quality of the light you wish to project – whether you seek softer or harder edged illumination.

Good luck.

[Bill Davis]

I personally own the foam product from eefx. (12×12 grommeted greenscreen cyc.) and can confirm that while after unfolding it may have the visual appearance of wrinkles – as soon as you light it, there’s something about the foam based fabric that diffuses the light in a way that ALL the wrinkles essentially disappear.

I love the thing.

Mine is paired with an Avenger H1200N frame which comes in 4′ sectons so it can be configured as either 4′, 8′, 12′,16′ or 20′ by – depending on the frame sections you use and the fabric options you carry. I also think they got the design of the frame just right since it’s a series of square tubes – but the inserts between the tubes are round. This has been VERY useful the couple of times that wind has compromised my rig and it’s blown around during assembly – Instead of bending the frame tubes, each section is free to twist internally. Smart design. The frame, however is quite heavy – it’s shippable – but I wouldn’t want to take it anywhere as a carry-on.

About my only concern about the spandex idea is that it’s not very opaque – if you need to rig it somewhere with any kind of back lighting present, you’re gonna have big problems. (Watch out for those ballroom exit signs!)

My thoughts…for what they’re worth.

[Bill Davis]

Unbelieveable that this thread hit such a chord.

I’m generally in the “It’s an automatic response – pretty meaningless – get over it” column.

However, since we’re all so intent on parsing every smidgen of meaning out of the original interchange – here’s some grist for the conversational mill…

What does it say about YOU that you got upset at his clearly extremely typical response? Actually, more specifically, what does it say about your “feelings” about that particular client? The amateur psychologist in me thinks you probably don’t feel particularly comfortable with this “producer” and has a smidgen of resentment about his taking the “you’re welcome” credit. So since it’s your business and your call, go ahead and feel free to demote him or her to the B-list of folks you want to work with in the future.

I say this because if the relationship with him RESONATED with you properly, you would never have questioned the “you’re welcome” in the first place.

May be telling you something subtle about them.

Or maybe in his brain, it’s like it is for me when someone says “hello” in a foreign language. If I know the proper response – I’ll gladly parrot it as a form of respect – tho half the time I’m clueless as to what the actual translation of my response is.

And so it goes. (small tribute to the late Linda Ellerby for those old enough to understand)