[Gav Bott]

This is huge news for Vegas – excellent work.

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Gav Bott]

I would consider delivering in 1080, SD DVD, and “web sized” format – Govt. always apreciates a “plays anywhere” solution (as does evreyone else).

Which for me means shoot 1080.

Thanks

Gav

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Gav Bott]

I have been heavily influenced by what I’ve read on the COW – grinders articles etc. and it’s completely changed the way I present prospective work to clients

I send a schedule of work with the costs/contract/invoice – it lays out pretty clearly what each part should do and when.

“We will be rough cutting these days – if you want to make changes you better get them in before this day here…..Picture lock down here……….2nd Payment here.”

I find it limits overflow on edit time, lets them know what they have agreed to pay for, and what they need to do to keep things on track for delivery.

Then we both sign it – of course it all moves around in the face of the realities of the project, and it’s not legally binding or anything – but it does give both of us something to return to and work out what actually was expected and paid for at the outset when the inevitable craziness occurs.

Doesn’t take me long to knock out each time – and forces me to think through the project properly rather than sticking my finger in the air and doing a “ah…about this much, if it takes this long…..”.

Thanks

Gav

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Gav Bott]

Thanks John – traffic might help with some of the project wide tweaks.

Steve – I’m not 100% sure what you mean with speach to text helping – could you explain when you have a minute?

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Gav Bott]

I’ve recently quoted on a job a little like this – the start point was “we have about this much, and want something that does this” which makes things a little easier.

It was still short on detail, as others have said above – starting off with a call and a chat about what they actually expect revealed far more than the paperwork ever could.

Once we started that conversation we managed to move on to presenting a “proper” proposal rather than a one sheeter with a dollar amount and a binding signature.

Managing expectations as well as the budget is the tough bit with this kind of work – and of course the panel of exec producers you discover at delivery.

I found the best way was to go in, start the conversation, find out what they are after and then work out if it can be done for the budget.

Expecting a client like this to tell you how many shoot days/locations/graphics etc. are expected is as unrealistic as the initial single sheet quote request I think – which may have been the point.

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Gav Bott]

“so they need to move forward with another production company.”

Bullet dodged.

I’ve had the same as a freelancer. Odd clauses that I wouldn’t agree to (because I wanted to continue working usually). The company’s “legal team” can’t budge, we part ways – then the stories of horror and desperation filter back from the unfortunate that took the risk.

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Gav Bott]

Thanks Edward,

all prolems solved ;o)

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Gav Bott]

Some jobs are worth while putting the extra effort in – some are just work.

It’s not always about the pay rate, but in this case……

Template DVD menus, template motion graphics – make this a lego job not a bespoke product. get the blocks and knock them together each time – for the type of client that it sounds like this is going otu to they aren’t paying for anything better, and are unlikely to notice the difference or expect more.

Bob nailed it.

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Gav Bott]

My post or the OT?

I can’t realy drum up business from this side of the water on the back of his project? Or maybe RC squibs mean something other than radio controlled explosives at your end, if so, sorry, my bad.

It sounded like a recipie for less fingers and more gore than the shoot intended when I read it.

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Gav Bott]

Just a word of warning – if you don’t know a good supplier then you probably haven’t used these effects before.

Squibs can be surprisingly destructive to your talent. Pro’s use all kinds of clever tricks to avoid killing the people that have these strapped to them – I’d strongly recommend you talk to an effects company about this unless you are an experienced FX guy who has just moved to a new country or something.

Kevlar, hard plate etc. are used with squibs for protection, get one back to front/misfire and you run the risk of blowing a neat hole into your talent – this restricts their ability to make it through the scene, and inhibits their ability to carry on breathing.

Explosives aren’t a good way to go for an inexperienced user. Digital effects are much safer if you can’t afford to spend the time training how to use the hard effects or afford a pro.

You probably know all this already – but the initial post sounded a bit frightening taken on it’s own.

P.S. When choosing an FX company it’s usually good to choose a guy with all his fingers.

Thanks

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.