Jeff Cadge
Forum Replies Created
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Hello Shawn,
I wouldn’t spend time filming your apartment but instead find a really nice house to use for your demo.
Explain to the home owner or realtor that you’re an experienced filmmaker and you’re moving into the real estate videos and offer to do this particular house for free for your demo. Make sure the house has something special such as great decor, awesome views etc.. something that will make your demo highly effective.I’m sure you know this but make sure you have a wide angle lens for filming master shots, it makes the rooms look bigger.
Good Luck,
Jeff Cadge
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Hello Javier,
I too experienced a lot of noise on a recent exterior shoot using the HPX300 with ND shooting wide open.
As pointed out this camera was always noisy which is brought out more when compared to the larger sensor cameras.
We now shoot mostly with the C300 which is very quiet and when compared to the HPX300 you really see the noise in the HPX300. This particular shoot we needed a smooth servo zoom shot that the HPX300 provided so we used a filter in FCP, https://www.neatvideo.com/ which help reduce the noise.The filter softens the image which helped us in this case because the person was older and helped smooth out his skin.
Best,
Jeff Cadge
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Hello Adam,
It sounds like they are asking YOU for a buyout rate which is more common in the print world then video.
I usually double my day rate for print buy out, but in the past have had agents triple it for print work.
A buyout in the United States means transferring the ownership of the work to the client to use anyway they want for any product in the future.
I try to negotiate “unlimited usage” instead of a buyout. With unlimited usage the client can use the image anyway they like and they don’t have to pay you anything more in the future. But you maintain ownership of the image or footage.
If the footage is generic in nature you could use the footage in another one of your own projects, a self promotional piece, or possible sell as stock in the future.
The stock usage is somewhat a moot point if you’re dealing with professional talent and their contract or release. But if you’re dealing with non professional actors have them sign your release.
So if they are asking you for a buyout I would double your day rate, and if it’s too much you could reduce the price and offer them unlimited usage.
Good Luck,
Jeff Cadge
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Thomas,
Although your client is soft spoken and like Mark says is lacking “affect” or energy I find his shifty eyes more bothersome then his soft spoken nature, it probably would have been better to have him tell his story to someone off camera instead of looking into the camera which he doesn’t do consistently.
Here are a few suggestions to help increase the energy of the video. Start the video with more upbeat music, with a description of what the company does, combine the B-roll from 1:33 -1;35 with the existing opening B-roll to have a stronger open, segue to the softer music when telling the history of the company, edit out the line about the founder dying and then go back to the upbeat music for the close.
Overall try to cleanup the ahs and pauses of the owner’s voice-over, and take out his question “what is the background of KVK?” By cleaning up and tightening his v/o and reducing the running time it will pick up the tempo.Jeff Cadge
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Grant,
You didn’t give details about what caused this shoot to be unsuccessful.
Was it the choice of talent, the production design or lack of, including sets, locations, props, wardrobe
or the lack of planning needed to cover all the shots in the script in the alloted time?
Like Craig said it’s critical to understand your client’s expectations and to review all the details before the shoot so you meet their expectations.
It’s not your video, you’re a hired gun it’s your client’s video so you have to understand what level of production they want.
It sounds like you might of underestimated the scope of the job, again ask all the questions before hand so you can budget appropriately.
Don’t take anything for granted and remember Murphy’s law.
If all details are closely covered before the shoot: style of photography, talent, props, wardrobe, locations and you’ve budgeted your time correctly you will minimize issues during your shoot.
You can’t afford to pay for reshoots…
Best,
Jeff Cadge
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Patrick,
I would check out:
https://www.fracturedatlas.org/
I switched over to them a few years ago and they’ve really worked out well.
Quick turnarounds for insurance certificates.
Best,
Jeff Cadge
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Like Brad said I would look into what Getty would charge for a rights managed clip with the exact same usage and then charge them the same minus a discount of up to the 30% which Getty would have taken out had they handled the sale.
Tell the client they’re getting a good deal and you know you’re getting a fair usage fee.
Being with Getty for years I’ve done this and it’s worked out well with my clients.Then send the clip to Getty and have them represent your footage on a non-exclusive basis
allowing you to continue to sell it yourself. Sounds like you have a marketable style and Getty
will most likely sell the clip.Jeff Cadge
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When working for a big company we’ll have a contract or PO and I’ll make sure we have 50% before releasing masters mostly for our cash flow, with terms for the 50% balance.
We’ve had problems with independent producers that I would consider under cover grinders whom seem very nice & knowledgeable but have a hard time paying. They usually run their own production companies, with these kind of clients we’ll get 100% payment before releasing masters. When working for an independent producer whom your not familiar with, never take on a job that requires you to hire crew or rent equipment without getting an advance to cover ALL your expenses BEFORE starting the project.
Some bigger clients try to wait until after the production to pay our advance, claiming it’s “in the system” and can’t be paid before the shoot.
Then we say we’ll have to postpone the shoot until we receive our advance and somehow the advance check appears….Best,
Jeff Cadge
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Hello,
That lens is not designed for a full size sensor camera like the D3s, it won’t fill the full sensor that’s why
it’s kicking over to 640x 424Best,
Jeff Cadge
https://www.cadgeproductions.com -
If it’s comedy you probably don’t want the magic hour. If shooting for a middle of the day feel find a bench that faces north or move a bench so it faces north, allowing your talent sitting on the bench to be backlit from the sun. This allows you to shoot a decent wide shot with the sun behind them and when shooting close-ups you can diffuse the sunlight and add bounce fill. You don’t necessarily need lights, check out Terrence Malick’s The New World, I believe no lights were used on the whole film they used mostly backlight and bounce fill.
Jeff Cadge