[Mark Suszko]

But an ad blocker doesn’t remove your being promoted at the top of the search string when Google responds to a search.

I think the wider issue is that this may not be a thing people shop for on Google. It MAY be something they search for directly on Youtube, however. Just a hunch, nothing I can prove.

[Mark Suszko]

Small thread-jacking for something Todd said:

We often get the call “Have you ever worked for a ….” with the potential client asking ONLY about their particular line of work, even though from a visual and storyteller sense many others are virtually the same. But virtually the same is not the same as the same, and some people just can’t see it.

So VERY true, whatever segment of the biz you’re in. If you’re a carpenter, they’ll ask you: “Do you use a BLUE hammer?” And you say; “My hammer is red, but it’s the right weight and type for this job, which I have done three hundred times, with a list of happy customers a mile long.” “Oh, no, ” they come back: “We were really looking for blue-hammer-wielding types only for this; the job we based everything on used a blue hammer, sorry. You’re welcome to bid again when you get pro stuff.”

I don’t know what tropism is at work here, but it seems that there is always someone high up the approval chain who is completely lacking the ability to conceptualize, to imagine, to extrapolate. Invariably, they at some point have to okay your project, but won’t pay for anything they can’t see. And you can’t make the product until somebody pays for it. Mock-ups and demos might help, but as often, I find, create new problems because the unimaginative person will invariably fixate on some tiny, irrelevant detail in the mock-up that won’t be in the final anyway.

I feel the need to watch this again, suddenly….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[Mark Suszko]

I’m a broken record about this idea, but often you make the best contacts at a company, not thru the front door, but by dealing with the charities these clients support. Some pro-bono web psa work for a charity that’s the CEO’s favorite can become the calling card that gets you past all the gatekeepers at the outer levels. And even if it doesn’t pan out, hey, you did some charitable work.

Greg, have you considered making a spec demo for one of these target clients? Particularly for an area they’re not yet focusing on? Say, web-based product assembly or “how to use” kinds of things? Present it with an estimate of how many you can produce as a package deal.

[Mark Suszko]

Is there a particular type of client in mind? Banks/Financials, Industrial fabricators, franchised service companies, what?

What I’m getting at is, maybe you’re trying in too many directions at once. Is there a *particular* industry category you want to try and specialize in?

Because BIG companies don’t hire out video work the same way Mom and Pop’s do. Mom and Pop go by yellow pages ads and Google searches and look at production services like any other commodity product you buy by the pound. Executives don’t do it that way.

Executives ask their “people” to find out “who did the Xyz campaign for QRS company?” Or: “Find me somebody that can duplicate the look of EFG’c commercial.”

And BIG companies also look for vendors who understand their particular industry niche, they are prejudiced against providers that do stuff that’s “off-brand”. If you are known for weddings and real estate portfolios, it can be a tough sell to be taken seriously for a corporate gig for a shareholder prospectus.

As you’re finding out, it’s not like calling out for Pizza or picking a plumber, where ad campaigns that keep you “top of mind” can create sales leads.

[Mark Suszko]

If it will come back to you from the artist for more integration, I’d say keep everything ProRes 444, rather than going back to the Alexa’s original spec.

[Mark Suszko]

You’re forgetting the greatest Foley scene in film history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7ca8fMJh00

Bonus: the intercom guy at the end is also Brooks.

[Mark Suszko]

The good news is yes, you can recover the footage.

IF you can get your hands on a Panasonic DVCPro deck, which can be set to play back multiple formats of DV.

Or, get the same exact camera or it’s matching deck, those will be able to play out correctly.

[Mark Suszko]

You can ask any experienced pro editor who’s worked in Broadcast or feature film, and they will have a story or two of shots that were really gorgeous, but ultimately had to be cut. And yes, you sometimes have to tell a client the flashy thing they are asking for isn’t appropriate, and of course, you have to make a reasonable argument for the specific situation.

But drone shots are not magic. Just as jibs, cranes, sliders, steadicam, shaky-cam, gerbil-cam, whatever the gimmick of the week is not magic. They won’t save a crap script or bad acting or direction.

[Mark Suszko]

I once used a DVR for this: you put the DVR into record for at least your audio, then use the playback-while-recording feature to add whatever amount of delay you need. If you hear a bad word, you can cut to live, then resume the delayed recording, or just hit the “skip” button on the DVR to hop over the naughty part, covering with a graphic before resuming the delay . Awkward, but no-cost.

[Mark Suszko]

She’s telling you that you may have a job, if they decide you’re cheap enough, and while their making up their minds, if it’s not too much trouble, don’t gook any work for those days, while they keep looking for someone cheaper. Which is incredibly cheeky of them, but that’s what you get in a market where there’s a glut of available workers. As is the part about working occasional overtime for free.

Part of this is standard mind games, intended to intimidate and panic you into volunteering a lower rate than you need to charge.

Be smart about setting and keeping to your rate: it is very hard to start too low, then try to negotiate your way up. There are a plethora of tips about how to do that in the archives of the Marketing /Business forum.