Tim Wilson
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COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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A couple of comments on various posts so far:
1) Unless you’re an audio pro, Audition’s overkill. If you ARE an audio pro, it’s still around. I’m finding that I get more work, better work, done much more quickly in Soundbooth, even at Beta2. If you haven’t checked it out yet, swing by labs.adobe.com
2) I haven’t heard anyone at Adobe put it like this, but I doubt anyone there is interested in “winning back customers using FCP.” They already HAVE virtually 100% of those customers with After Effects and Photoshop.
Even for Premiere, I suspect that their strategy is simply to build on their current success. In its current Windows-only state, Premiere’s sales are still bigger than every other pro NLE combined. With 50% year on year growth through 2006 (4-6 times the growth of the industry as a whole), there’s nothing but upside with the release of a dual-platform Studio.
Adobe doesn’t need for anybody to STOP buying anything else in order for them to grow their pro video business. It’s never an either/or game in software — any working pro can easily afford BOTH studios, and plenty of other software too. I’m just predicting that Adobe’s studio will be bigger than ever, and with the addition of Mac, could easily blow past anything we’ve ever seen before.
A lot of folks, Mac folks in particular, may have missed what Premiere Pro’s been about this year. A couple of my favorite new features include Clip Notes for streamlined review and approval (see Aanarav’s tutorial on this in The COW library), 4K and sequential stills for exceptional DI workflow (seriously – 4K and DI support), stronger DVD toolset than anyone else (DVD authoring right on the Premiere timeline, plus killer integration between Photoshop and Encore), and 5.1 surround and VST plug-in support in the Premiere timeline. There are others. Add them to unmatched After Effects integration, and I believe people will naturally find themselves doing more and more work in Premiere over time/
Much of this is my connecting of the dots. To get closer to the source, check The COW later today for podcast conversations with Adobe’s VP and Director of Product Management for Dynamic Media — Jim Guerard and Simon Hayhurst respectively — as well as a full interview with Simon for The Creative COW Magazine, also posted later today.
Tim
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[Nick Griffin] “…if I actually had Tim Wilson kind of money”
Start by charging what I did. You’re so much more talented and professionally focused that you’ll make in a month what I did in a year. 😉
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I used to do a ton of real estate video — even had a weekly show featuring residential real estate. I did a tiny bit of commercial real estate video, but it was about the same.
My approach for non-air was pretty simple: straight-up hourly. I didn’t even hesitate to go $150 for high-end properties, $100 for lesser properties, with discounts for return customers. Your mileage will vary. For the TV show, I got each realtor pay for each property they wanted to list, and worked on a per-piece price depending on whether they wanted a 30 or 60 second feature.
The key here is volume. Can’t fill a show unless it’s full, right? Don’t worry as much about individual properties, because you can also get paid for the production of the show itself. This usually comes from the broker, who gets a sizeable slice of every commission (typically half), so they have the incentive to make it work. In fact, in many cases, the broker is the client, not the realtor.
Don’t hesitate to do a project price, though. Realtors like fixed costs, so they know how much they can spend from their commission. You’ll have a good idea of the package price to bid as you learn how to take the following into account.
Spend some time at the property in pre-production, which can’t happen on the day of the shoot. Figure out the key rooms, and make sure you’re there to shoot when the light is most flattering, which may or may not be when the sun is directly shining in. I rescheduled many a shoot because of overcast skies. White skies can be every bit as bad as dark skies.
Always, always manage aperture and focus manually. Automatic settings are a sure giveaway of an amateur. Clients and their customers might not be able to put their finger on WHY the video feels cheap, but this often the problem.
You NEED lights on stands, several kinds of them. I found that soft boxes were great for filling in dark corners, evening out the light in a room. But you’ll often need something stronger if the light is stronger. The lighting is never 100% even, so you need to manage aperture manually.
You definitely want a tripod, lots of slow pans. If you don’t have one, spend what it takes for a really good tripod with a liquid head and spreaders. Don’t skimp here — makes all the difference in the world for smooth pans. (I spent $800 on mine, and often wished I spent more.
You raise the degree of difficulty of pans with the lights of course, so be prepared to do several set-ups in a room. You can occassionally make good guesses about where you’ll shoot from, but you need to be flexible, moving lights for different angles.
Another thing that might sound obvious but isn’t are finish details, especially for residential. Think about the things that add value to the house. Marble tubs (soft lights make texture pop), plumbing fixtures (shooting the toilet is a negative unless it’s outrageous — and some are), walk-in closets, elegant wallpaper (need close-ups) built-in bookcases, floor finishes (again, lights make wood floors in particular pop), might even be drawer pulls in the kitchen. It may be the ceiling too, especially if the lighting is nice.
Be careful around skylights – often some discoloration, leaves on top, etc. Most of these will work best without pans of course. Sometimes digital photos will work better, especially if they’re elegantly animated. In any case, your realtor is an invaluable resource for telling you what the “money” details are.
Dining room tables look better with place settings. Even if the furniture isn’t being sold with it, it looks homier. Kitchens look better with everything put away. Do everything you can to never shoot unfurnished homes (realtors know this), but if you do, lighting and set-ups are all the more important to make spaces look bigger. (All unfurnished spaces look smaller, especially on tape.)
Flower arrangements are essential. They work especially well in kitches. (Trust me.) Get the realtor to buy new plants if necessary, although for a high-end property they usually have. Real ficuses and bougainevillea are cheap enough, and look great. Vertical is always better than short — great for dark corners. Silk is usually okay. Skip plastic if you can. If you can’t, be careful with lighting, and make sure they’re dusted.
Walk-in closets, baths, even some kitchens will HUGELY benefit from wide-angle lenses. I shot BetaSP, so the lenses ran well into the thousands of dollars — totally worth it. I also found tons of other uses for the wide-angle lens once it was in my bag of tricks. Also in my bag. 🙂
For all interior shoots, recommend professional cleaning, including carpet and furniture shampooing. The realtor has almost always worked on this already. Don’t forget the garage floor — something realtors often miss. Lights will magnify every stain and discoloration. For furniture, I wound up turning a bunch of cushions around/flipping them anyway. Regardless, smooth them out — don’t want a pillow casting a shadow on itself.
Exteriors are obviously a big deal. You’ll often need to come back for these shots. Again, lighting is everything. For shaded plantings, I often used lights to fill in shadows. Polarized filters are essential for pools. Seriously, don’t even think about shooting a pool without them. If you don’t have a camera that accepts filters, attach the polarizing filter with tape.
You’ll also need to show context. How close are the neighbors? What’s the street look like? If it’s on a country club, park or golf course, spend some time shooting it. If it’s a gated community, SHOW THE GATE. I can’t believe how many people miss this. Have the guard wave. Seriously. If it’s a gated community, the gate is actually their first door to “home.” They’ll have a relationship with the guard.
For commercial properties, you need to show road access and parking. Doesn’t matter how ugly they are. To a commercial buyer, access and parking are how they have the opportunity to make money, so they’re always beautiful to the buyer. Again, I’m amazed how many people miss this. Of course, if the realtor thinks they detract from the perceived value, don’t shoot ’em. True for all of this, actually.
As with houses, take time to consider lighting. Always ambient, so reschedule if the lighting is sub-optimal (never, ever gray skies, and avoid backlighting). Again, use shot set-up to make everything look as large as possible. Wide-angle lenses rarely work for this — you’re wide open, so it adds a fish-eye. Watch this for fixed lenses, too.
Take the time for proper graphics, animation, and DVD art. (isk art as well as covers and menus. Pay for someone to do the visual work for you if you’re not up to doing top-notch work. For a million dollar-plus property, the images need to look like a million bucks. High-end residential real estate goes well into the millions, so adjust as needed.
Even MORE true for music than graphics. Spend what you have to for the right library. I used the FirstCom library and paid several thousand per year. One hundred percent worth it for high-end properties. When bidding, I got more jobs than I can count from the music alone.
A tip that doesn’t cost money — looooong shots, not short ones. Dissolves often work better. Expensive properties are all about soft.
Once added up, sound expensive for the client? Sure is. Some of them may balk, but I rarely found that to be the case. If you haven’t looked at prices lately, do. I’ve lived in nice neighborhoods where $1 million buys a nice 1200 sq. ft condo apartment. A decent 3-unit building easily ran $5 million and up. Really, really nice neighborhoods go further up.
Even if you’re charging in the $5K+ range, they’re easily spending that for high-end display advertising and a catered open house. Do what it takes to get the broker to share the load. You mileage may vary, but on a $2 million house, splitting a 4% commission between the realtor and the broker means each gets a $20K commission. Commercial real-estate goes higher. Realtors know it takes money to make money, but if you help them to sell it fast, they spend less on ads and open houses.
If you’re working with less-expensive properties, adjust your production values accordingly. Spend your time and money where it will make the biggest impact, which varies by property. Don’t lower your production values too far down, though, or you won’t get much work — and virtually no return business. Getting more work, even if you’re making less in the beginning, is an investment. Once you’ve got a few of these under your belt, you’ll be able to work faster and better, and will make more money as you do.
Shoot, this is darn near an article. I might still do one, actually….
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[George Socka] “You CAN direct people you KNOW to your own web site. The rest of the world, however, will never find you. But Youtube exposes you – and more importantly your client’s message to millions.”
Actually, search engines are one tool among many to direct the world to my website. 🙂 Far better than YouTube’s blunt search tools ever could. I also know what I expect to achieve once people DO find my web page…like pick up the phone. Click to send me an email.
Compare this to YouTube. Blunt search tools at best — much better optimized to browse. Best case scenario: I post the perfect video, and tons of people see it. What then? There’s no link back. I can include a URL at the end of the video, but I have to hope someobody remembers to type it in before they get distracted by that clip of a baby panda sneezing. (Hilarious, by the way. Check it out.)
Go back to the analogy I first raised, to the web ten years ago. Hey, I hear the internet’s hot! Let’s get a home page!
Anybody can do that. The value that we add for our clients is a way to turn that web page into money. Here are a few guidelines for site design….for getting seen by search engines…for getting links from other sites….here’s the part of your message that can work best on the web….here’s what won’t work on the web…. You get the picture.
I’m not dismissing YouTube at all. I’m just waiting for the rest of the story about how to actually use it to drive business to my client’s door. I’ve yet to hear anyone describe a strategy that includes YouTube other than, “hey, that YouTube thing sure is popular!” I see how YouTube can turn that into money. But what about my client? What can my real-world client (not Nike, not Saturday Night Live) expect to accomplish with YouTube? How do I help them do that?
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There’s no reason not to put anything on YouTube. It’s cheap, it’s fun, and you can send your link to all your pals who send you videos of a kitten in a cup, Gnarls Barkley and “My Bubby wishing you a Happy New Year.” (I got those from YouTube’s front page today, btw.)
I really am curious if anybody here has come up with an actual strategy that’s best implemented via YouTube. I genuinely hope so. But I haven’t heard it yet.
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[Arniepix] “If you already have a website, why not just host your video there? If you send your prospective clients to You Tube, you run the risk of them being distracted by all of the other You Tube videos”
My thinking exactly. Even if the only thing you have on your website besides your video is your phone number, you’ve already accomplished something that YouTube cannot, without the distraction of South Park clips.
I’m a new media guy. I dig PVR, PSP, and video for MP3 players. I have no idea why you’d bother with a website and NOT have video on it — no matter what kind of website it is. (And seriously, how many websites do you visit for any reason that don’t have video?)
More than that, I truly believe that if you’re not preparing a strategy for mobile video, you’re in this business on borrowed time.
And believe me, I love YouTube. Just last night my wife and I were doubled over watching Steven Colbert’s speech at the White House Press dinner. In the past week alone, I sent Ron Lindeboom a link to the COW version of the THX animation, got the uncensored “D**k in a Box” SNL video from a VP at Avid, and saw Todd Rundgren’s Utopia performing The Ikon for German television in 1974. Search for “Chris Bliss juggling” at YouTube, set it play it full screen, turn up your speakers and prepare to be amazed — especially if you dig The Beatles. I think YouTube is a miracle, nothing less.
But I can’t for the life of me figure why anyone would try to conduct business using YouTube. So I’m especially interested to hear from anyone who’s tried it — WHY? And if you did, HOW? And how did it go?
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[Mark Suszko] “What kind of thing were you thinking about doing?”
The one and only important question.
YouTube today is in the same state as the web itself ten-ish years ago. The idea had kind of been around for a while, but somebody found a way to get traction — back then it was Netscape for browsing, now YouTube for video.
Back then, people said, “Hey, this internet thing is blowing up — I need to get me a home page.” Then they threw something up in the middle of all the cat fanciers, Elvis freaks and UFO nuts and waited for something to happen. It didn’t.
Today, it’s “Hey, YouTube is happening — I need to get me a video up on YouTube.” Then they throw something up among the mashups, bootlegs, and South Park clips and wait for something to happen. It won’t.
Now, obviously, plenty of people are using the web and YouTube to get something done — but the successful ones decide first what they want to accomplish, and create a strategy to pull off THAT thing.
That said, I don’t think generating lift for a YouTube video is that much different than doing it for a website…but it doesn’t happen by accident, and happens best when you have an actual reasons why that’s the best medium for your message to back up your strategy.
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[Nick Gardner] “my apologies to the forum for being a grinch”
Hey, the Grinch’s heart grew 3 sizes — before he had some Jameson’s!
Hohoho,
Tim
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Don’t forget the “Jobs Offered, Wanted” forum here at The COW. There are a dozen or so jobs posted every week. Not all of them are for editors, but many are. You can also post your own request for work, too.
I’m sure somebody else can actually answer your question. 🙂
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[tony salgado] “Their is no such classification as a almost full time freelancer/contractor as that would be defined as a part time employee. The IRS will not see you as a freelancer…”
The person spending the money is either the boss or the client. You two agree to that. You, taking the money, are either an employee or a contracor. You two agree to that. As a result of that agreement, there are specific implications, including the reporting of that agreement to the IRS by which forms are filled out and which are not.
The IRS only steps in if either party breaks the rules for the relationship they’ve described. But once you’ve made the choice and follow it through, the IRS just collects the money. It’s as clear to them as it is to you.
For example, if you’re an employee, then the employer has to do withholding, they have to provide certain benefits, etc.
If you’re a freelancer, YOU do the withholding on form 505, not the client. You have to fill out schedule C and schedule SE on your 1040, neither of which is required if you’re an employee. As a contractor, there are benefits that YOU decide to pay for or not, with no contribution from the client.
Paid vacation? Paid holidays? Yes if you’re an employee, no if you’re a contractor. The list goes on.
There’s a long, long heritage of companies taking on full-time workers (even workers who are expected to work MORE than full-time) as contractors rather than employees. They specifically do it to save on insurance, benefits, and certain tax reporting burdens that contractors simply don’t require. You see it a lot in the software biz, where I was on both sides of the fence — I was a contractor, and later, as an employee, I hired contractors.
That’s a little oversimplified…but only a little. Everthing was crystal clear. The one time we got audited (my wife and I ran the business together), the IRS owed US money.
To have things super-duper clear, we incorporated and I paid myself a salary –in which case *I’m* the employee, and the client is the contractee.
Jeffrey, there are plenty of threads about the benefits of incorporating (or forming a partnership, or whatever kind of entity you choose to create) and paying yourself the salary in this forum. That’s obviously a different topic, and one worth looking into.
Having been both a contractor and an employee, there are plusses and minuses to both. My favorite plusses as an employee were having benefits including health insurance, paid time off, matching contributions to my IRA, discounted stock, and other things simply not available to contractors. I liked the predictability of checks. I liked the support that came from being part of a team.
As a contractor, I loved being in charge of projects. I loved being in charge of my time, saying yes to some jobs and no to others. The power to say no was sometimes even better than the power to say yes. I certainly TRIED to do that as an employee — and was shot down.
I was never confused where I stood. Neither was the person giving me money. In one case, they had to live with my decision, and in the other got to slap me into submission.
Guess which I liked better. That too is another thread. 🙂
tw