Kai Cheong
Forum Replies Created
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Considering appending this as a video greeting as we pitch for a new project/once we sign on a project…
… and also appending the ‘rough cut lady’ video with our first cuts ;]
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
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Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
In many cases, when the client really doesn’t have any budget for casting & talents, we have to use their own staff for re-enactments and dramatization. I’d say it’s something fairly common that we deal with.
In such situations, I find that the biggest skill the director needs is the ability to make these non-actors feel comfortable and able to trust you. It starts even before the camera rolls. Some light banter, accommodating the actor with your lights/camera instead of the other way round etc. You will need to be more specific about what you want out of the non-actor, sometimes breaking down a shot or emotion.
If it’s not critical that the script is followed down to the last line, we usually keep reminding the talent to feel free to use their own words while retaining they key phrases/idea. Depending on the non-actor, we may or may not line-read for them – for there’s always the risk that they would end up trying to mimic your reading – which will turn out unnatural as well.
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
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Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
If you have some graphics, animations or titles in your movie, it might be worthwhile to re-render your sequence as DV50 then outputting your QT movie from there.
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
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Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
Hi Matt, if you have FCP, you should also have Compressor installed – it’s a very useful tool for such situations and relatively easy to use.
If you drag and drop your audio files from your CD, you could batch re-encode them as AIFF 48k/16bit for editing use in FCP.
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
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Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
Haha, yes, had my share of such ‘encounters’, too!
Yup, sometimes you just need to learn to laugh it off – the encounter that is, not shrug your responsibilities.
OK, I admit there are times the laughing off comes after some serious eyebrow-raising, ‘is s/he for real?’ and trying to mentally run through and justify whether I’ve indeed committed any lapses.
But like your response, the best way is to keep moving the project forward. When you’re in production, you know variables change ALL the time and last-minute changes are no surprise by now. If you run into a flighty client or someone who doesn’t feel they should be responsible for helping you help them… then I guess the best option is to focus on making a kick-ass video – that would boost your own reel ;]
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
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Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
Wow, that’s a great ‘happily ever after’ story!
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
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Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
My pleasure, Ron. We had a tough week when it came to pitching. We went for a ITQ that was opened for only 3 days [the minimum they’re required to have it up], the officer in charge averted all my attempts to find out more details about the project and 2 days after the ITQ closed, the project was awarded to another production company. Then, there was another project that required 2 days of full-day filming of a full-scale emergency exercise and editing to an undisclosed length of time – that went for a four-figure sum.
On the other hand, we had a chance to pitch directly to a quasi-governmental client for a TV commercial but after presenting four well-thought out concepts, we were given an, IMO, unrealistic budget to work with.
But times are lean and we got to make the best of all possible leads.
Though sometimes, one can’t help but feel that some corporations are using ‘times are lean’ as an excuse to try and push down project budgets to unrealistic levels.
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
—
Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
Thing is, are you planning to pick up only Final Cut Pro/editing skills at this point? Or are you planning for the whole works – motion graphics, DVD authoring etc? Because for the price you pay for a set of Final Cut Studio, it would be a waste if you can’t run or are not at the stage where you’re looking to learn the other applications.
So if it’s only FCP you’re looking at currently, FCE might be a valid and budget-conscious choice as you learn to edit. You’ll probably have to check what are the format limitations they have though.
From my experience, a MacBook would run Final Cut Pro decently, even if you’re editing in processor-intensive formats like HDV. That’s assuming you’re not loading up too many layers or fancy graphics.
I think it’s also important you set aside some budget to buy yourself a good Firewire drive for your media, since USB drives are really not recommended for editing needs.
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
—
Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
I’m from Singapore and a LOT of corporate work we [and other local production houses] go for are from the government/public sector. It’s the nature of the beast. And they adhere strictly to a RFP-like electronic system [which is referred to as ITQ or ‘Invitation To Quote’ for projects with budgets under $70k; anything higher would be a call for Tender].
Like Mark said, this is really a flawed system for creative services. I’m sure it works much better when it’s used to purchase technical services or inventory items – which it is also used for.
Like it or not, we have to continue pitching [well, more often than not, we don’t even get a pitch or face-to-face session… so it’s an electronic proposal and quotation] for these projects as part of business.
What we try to do is to always give the issuing personnel a call to suss out as much details as possible. Often, the RFP document is not well-prepared and does not provide enough information.
We always try to find out what their budget is but unfortunately, they’re usually ‘not at liberty to discuss’. On one hand, their rationale is that it’ll protect their interests since production houses will definitely quote near their budget if it’s revealed. On the other hand, it becomes almost like a lottery for us.
On more than one occasion, we have quoted for projects that went to some other company that quoted a low four-figure amount! In times like these, I’m glad for clients who actually revealed their budgets – so we didn’t have to waste time and effort coming up with quotes and concepts when we know we are not the kind of production companies who do work for such low amounts.
Our integrity to do quality work at a reasonable price is too strong ;]
And we’re in this for the long haul.We have a standard proposal when responding to such RFPs – and it always stipulates number of shoot days, shooting format, number of drafts of scripting, whether VO is required, whether language versions/subtitles are needed, number of edit and viewing sessions and final deliverables needed etc. We also have our own T&Cs attached and also a note that the concepts proposed is our intellectual property and cannot be reproduced if the project is not awarded to us.
It always helps everyone when the client knows what they want the video for. It’s part of our job to advise on how to craft the message but there should be some basis to start with.
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
—
Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2 -
Assuming most of the grading is done within FCP, I would begin with the 3-way color corrector for a primary grading. Get your blacks/whites within levels and make sure your footage has a consistent color/tone.
Then it’ll be easier to move into the secondary grading where you give your film a specific ‘look’ – the hues, vignettes, grains etc.
For the fancier grading, I’ve had good experiences with Magic Bullet Editors and their Look Suite favorites as a jumping off point.
Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
—
Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
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MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.2