[Chris Bové]

[Mark Suszko] “Let the girlfriend or whatever have her credit…”

(Hee hee!)

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

Just finished editing “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo” – see it on PBS Sept 4, 2006 at 10pm.
(Yes, that is Labor Day)

[Chris Bové]

[David Roth Weiss] “He feels a certain emotional bond to the previous editor because she ended up with hurt feelings last time around”

This isn’t handing out lollypops at the dentist’s office. He should deal with her emotions in other currencies than credit, if you know what I mean. Credits have nothing to do with emotion. They’re an account of work done. Did he list his Mom as “Creative Consultant”?

Flip side, I do know that in my little world most of the preproduction editing (for funding videos, and even early rough cuts of dailies, etc.) goes uncredited sometimes. He could be classifying all this prior work you’ve done as content that has little impact on the final version. No matter if he’s correct or not, perhaps it’s a situation where he’s simply holding onto his cards tightly – just to see if you fold?

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

Just finished editing “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo” – see it on PBS Sept 4, 2006 at 10pm.
(Yes, that is Labor Day)

[Chris Bové]

Mister T,

“When you start, it’s money or art. Not both.” I did a tremendous amound of editing for free – or for very, VERY little pay. Now I have reel I am proud of. Once I had that, self-promotion became less difficult. Yes, I did starve for a while, but the nice thing about doing free editing was that I had the ability to choose what projects I wanted to work on.

I’ve also found that getting independent film and video work depended very little on education and more upon my reel. If you’re trying to get a regular editing job however – perhaps at a TV station or advertising agency – you’ll find that education becomes more important.

Also remember that editing and graphic arts are NOT jobs where you are the highest creative power. You are hired by directors, producers, clients and executives who make the final decisions… And they have bosses too. Much of your time will be spent doing work that doesn’t get used. If you can deal with that, you’ll do fine. Even Steven Spielberg does work that doesn’t get used. That’s why movies now have “directors cuts” and “DVD bonus material”.

Good luck!

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

Just finished editing “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo” – see it on PBS Sept 4, 2006 at 10pm.

[Chris Bové]

Yeesh… From your wording, it almost sounds like this client made the decision ahead of time to break ties with you. What easier way to do so, than to make things so hard that you take the initiative?

1: Legal recourse? No, you’re fine – just like Ron says.

2a: Cancellations and late deposits? If you’re only going to do this verbally, do so constantly. The 1st sign of a problem, make a big deal out of it. Otherwise, a terse contract illustrating your “rates and conditions” would be fine. Most photographers I know demand 1/2 day pay if cancelled within 2-3 days.

2b: Not meshing with the client? That’s a bit grayer. Unless you’re a relentlessly sought after artist who can afford to turn down anything, I’d say grin and bear their personality shifts for the most part. Here’s a fun example of a similar situation:
— an ad agency I freelance edited for had a client that hated our end product. We fulfilled our creative end to the letter, but a major change in their attitude was clear. Well as it turns out, the client’s new wife (who was not present at any meetings leading up to this) had a couple years of production experience and claimed we were heading in the wrong direction. So, the agency that hired me convinced the client to let us perform one more edit, based on their new direction with the newly written clause in the now ammended contract that if this venture was not up-to-snuff, all services would be considered delivered and the client would be free to pursue other ad agencies. This is exactly what ended up happening. I heard later that the spots were completely re-done, and that new wife did the voice over!

It sounds like this client of yours was receiving some sort of outside pressure, and didn’t have an authentic beef specifically with you or your services on that project. I wouldn’t worry.

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

Just finished editing “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo” – see it on PBS Sept 4, 2006 at 10pm.

[Chris Bové]

Hmmm… if you’re not talking about specific imagery, and just want some generic horror stuff, you might even put an ad in the local paper. Every city now-a-days has indie horror producers that would love the free exposure. You could also put up fliers at the local film schools calling for “The Best 10-second Horror Film”. Contest winners get free exposure… yada yada. (Make others do your work!) This way, you could lay out specific criteria.

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

Just finished editing “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo” – see it on PBS Sept 4, 2006 at 10pm.

[Chris Bové]

… would like to help – especially since you said please – but I’m reading your post for the 5th time, and still can’t understand what you’re asking. Perhaps you could define your need better?

I’m guessing when you say “a music channel”, you don’t mean radio.

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

Just finished editing “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo” – see it on PBS Sept 4, 2006 at 10pm.

[Chris Bové]

[Dave LaRonde] “The companies that find an easy way to translate among all the standards will laugh all the way to the bank.”

Got that right.

Thanks for the response.

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

Just finished editing “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo” – see it on PBS Sept 4, 2006 at 10pm.

[Chris Bové]

Thanks SOOO much!

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

Just finished editing “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo” – see it on PBS Sept 4, 2006 at 10pm.

[Chris Bové]

…yeah… Audio folks sure do love us video editors… don’t they… Especially when we have suggestions! Oooh, they looove that… My favorite response to a question I had was to go to staples.com and order him an Easy Button.

As the world’s biggest offender of forgetting about the processes of audio design, I remind myself by thinking about the Photoshop way of restoring an old photo that’s been badly damaged (something I spend hours a week doing). It’s done by stealing – or “cloning” – other parts of the same photo, of other photos, by drawing new lines and painting new textures, staging new photographs and superimposing parts of them over irreparable areas, and so on. The result looks beautiful and is completely believeable to the audience. Thinking through the eyes of the original photographer though, it’s a complete farce – removed from reality entirely.

So YES, fixing distorted audio is totally possible… and so is removing certain noises in roomtone… by employing the same (foley) tactics of cloning, stealing and re-recording. However, it has little or nothing to do with the original audio clip.

Fix it in post? No. Figure out what to reshoot in post. Or, get it right the 1st time… that’s what my audio Yodas have taught me thus far.

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

Just finished editing “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo” – see it on PBS Sept 4, 2006 at 10pm.

[Chris Bové]

Contact places that offer CC work. Don’t have to be in your city either. Check “Finish” in Boston. Check “FrameBlender” in Toronto. Basement rates are $250/hr (+ $150 for the operator = $400). Day and week rates lower this some… $8k-10k per week? Go that route. Buying ANYTHING is a bad route, unless you develop a clear plan to make back the cash by farming it out weekly. Also… who on your small prod company has been doing this daily for x-number of years? Naaa, go with the experienced “hire” route.

You’re sales staff can blame them and not you.

______
/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)