Jonathan Ziegler
Forum Replies Created
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I agree, it sounds like your Grinder (this is now a term that I will use, by the way – for me a “grinder” was either a career card player a la Rounders or anyone just going through the motions of their life vs. really living) doesn’t realize he STILL HAS TO PAY – the deal isn’t between you and his client so whether or not his client pays is immaterial – the deal is between you and the grinder and when the work is done, he has to pay regardless of whether or not the grinder’s been paid.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Because it’s not always me who’s doing the editing. Sometimes I get it all shot and then it gets sent to an editor and I don’t see a final until its done. If I have a small rough version I can edit together really quick on the iPhone, I have a version to send to the editor so they already know what the final will look like – over a couple days, I’ll forget which shots are which or what I shot. Plus, I can do the edit on the ride home.
Also, it would allow me to have a visual reference so I don’t have to wait for video from the editor. Kinda like using video dailies from a film shoot. Hmmm, can we make the iPhone record from a data stream or hook it to some kinda video out? 😉 I bet that’s do-able.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
What kind of contract do you have with the Grinder? Any? It didn’t sound like there was anything more than emails, but that doesn’t mean there’s no legal obligation for either of you. I would (like a broken record) talk to a business attorney.
It’ll be worth talking to an attorney for a few bucks and see if they can do anything (or even need to do anything). If you go, bring printouts of any emails you have, paperwork, etc. – in fact, if you can briefly explain the situation on the phone (ie: I have a client who is slow on payment, I still have more work to do, they are being hostile and have threatened to sue, what do I do?).
Most attorneys will give you some kind of free consultation (30 min – 1 hour) and don’t forget to ask for their rates and whether they are charging you right now. Shop around if you’re not sure or get a referral from another business owner – call a couple clients or colleagues you trust.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Seems a little choppy in places, some rolling shutter issues? There’s an odd shadow near the top of the frame during the overhead crane shot, too. Reds look super-saturated and the greens look like they could use some work. Could be from YouTube compression, too.
Here’s another short film shot on an iPhone 4: https://vimeo.com/12819723
Maybe that’ll take the heat off of DSLRs for a little bit. Before the DSLR craze, people were already making camera rigs for phones. I like the idea of remote shooting with both cameras and doing a preliminary rough edit on the iPhone.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
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Remember George Carlin’s 7 words you can’t say on television? Most of those still apply today. “Damn” is okay, I think, but some places will bleep out or silence the “god” in “god damn.” We’re delicate flowers after all – prone to breakage at the slightest hint of a swear word.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Hey there, I rarely have problems with the drive making noise. I have a lacie 500gb drive where the fan is pretty loud. I opened it up and it’s a samsung drive which I’ve not had issues with in the past. I disconnect and put in a different drive and the loudness remains. Which means its probably the fan. The fan should be an easy fix and you can likely buy one online stock for almost nothing, but make sure you have the right specs.
The next question is are you having trouble with data transfer, missing files, etc? Can you connect the drive to a different machine or ext case? If you are on mac, test with disk util and see what it says. Backup the drive anyway just to be safe. Failure to keep data backups in this business is tantamount to malpractice.
I use a small “drive toaster” that I can quickly swap SATA drives in and out of using FW, USB, FW800, or eSATA. I like the daisy chain ability with FW800 so that’s what I use and I pick up .5-1TB SATA drives for almost nothing (1TB SATA for about $60-70 – sometimes less!).
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Hi all, I’m researching avenues for selling stock footage as a way to grab a little extra income. I shoot b-roll all the time and with the new DSLRs, the footage is coming out great. I’m looking into selling some on a few sites. In a day I can shoot 5-10 good b-roll clips in my town alone and could be making something from them instead of sitting on them. Sites like pond5 have a self-priced format and the prices seem to be pretty low (but higher than nothing), but you keep the footage to sell elsewhere. Sites like istockphoto get you about 15-20%, but the prices seem pretty low so volume is the key.
Is anyone making any money (no matter how big or small) from stock video/photo? What’s a good price to charge? Where to promote/advertise? I want to keep the rights to my footage so I can put it on my websites for promotion and make $ multiple times. Multiple revenue streams likely? Better to specialize? What about selling Motion or AE templates? Anywhere to sell them like pond5 or istock? or do they have those, too?
I’m thinking I’m gonna capture whatever I can so I may not go out hunting for specific footage unless a client pays me to, but I’m thinking that the selling of stock footage should now be a basic part of my business model whereas it wasn’t before. Any help is welcome on this one.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Hi there, wasn’t sure how all this turned out for you, but I’m researching licensing from a number of sources and found this blog:
https://biz.izzyvideo.com/blog/ – how to make money online from your videos. This site is free for now – if you watch the videos you’ll know they won’t be free forever.
From the same guy that does does izzyvideo.com (video tutorials).
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
I hate to say it, but in AZ that’s about what most employers pay for entry level work. AZ is a right-to-hire (I call it “right-to-fire” because you don’t have to have any reason to terminate an employee other than “we no longer require your services”) state so not much union presence. It keeps wages and cost of living down, but employees don’t stay very long – quickly moving to higher-paying gigs. $10 an hour might be a little low – shoot for about $12-15/hr. Min is $7.25 in AZ now. On the other hand, with lower costs across the board, it’s easier to stay competitive (price-wise) and still make a decent income.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Bill, you seem a bit pessimistic here. I have to disagree with you. One’s business can be run in any way one wants. If you want to focus on the creative aspect of the business and handle customers, then hire someone else to do the accounting and make the business decisions. Remember: you drive the business not the other way ’round.
If you have a clear plan of action and a good strategy and stick to it, you will succeed. You don’t have to be the manager or the supervisor or shift focus from the creative unless that’s what you want. If you’re stuck, get unstuck, make hard decisions, deal with the consequences.
I like this book: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber (about $12 on amazon or you may find one at Bookman’s for those in AZ). It’s nothing specific to video, but it talks about business in general and this topic is handled. The big thing is the book talks about how most small businesses start as employees who decide they’re gonna do what they do already and be their own boss. Then, with no plan, they grow anyway and don’t know what to do once they grow. The business winds up owning them instead and they’re miserable. They shut down the business because it wasn’t what they wanted and go find a job. It doesn’t have to be that way at all.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293