[Mark Suszko]

Do you mean to say that you are actually grabbing footage from these films to use in the training? Like the “Coffee is for closers” bit from “Glen Gary, Glen Ross”? (Yes, some sales managers actually think that’s a motivational video.)

Or do you mean by “themes”, the music from those shows?

Neither of those is really legal to do. Some people might argue the parody exception under Fair Use law but that’s a slippery slope to build a case on. Your main goal is not to make a social comment on the original film in this case, it is to appropriate a familiar creative work and populate it with your own actors and lines to forward a new agenda. The excuse of not showing it anywhere but internal to the company actually works against your case in that instance, because a real parody would be meant for a more public audience. That’s my opinion, anyway.

But why have this problem at all? Aping old or current pop movies in your training is kind of a hack thing to do, and it is very hard to pull off right. What you usually get out of doing that is, people ignore the training and concentrate on comparing your imitation to the original, and since you probably didn’t spend as much as they did to make the original, your show is going to suffer by comparison. Such projects are sometimes seen as vanity exercises where the boss with Hollywood dreams gets to cast themselves as the hero in a famous film. I think the training suffers when that happens.

You also have to take into consideration that the TV and movie audience is fractured now, and you can’t count on everyone getting *every* movie and TV reference. If I write a joke for the CEO to talk about drinking his rival’s milk shake, nobody really GETS the gag unless they’ve seen “There Will Be Blood”. If you make a joke to me about something from the TV show “Lost”, I won’t likely get it, because I never watched it past the first episode. And these movies and TV shows come with their own themes and subtexts, that may or may not be congruent with your organizational message. If I’m using a gangster theme in my training video, is the audience supposed to think we want them to act like criminals in their day to day bank jobs? I’m not saying never ever do homages or parodies, but that doing them well takes work and more thought than some would expect.

Can you do a good job by generalizing and just imitating a genre’ instead of a specific film? I would think so. But I would advise against going down this creative road in the first place to avoid all the problems I mentioned.

[Mark Suszko]

That’s not ethical, nor good business, either, if it locks you out anyway in the middle of a gig one day. Sends the clients the wrong message about you: “Oh, pardon me, my borrowed, unpaid-for software timed-out, just give me a minute to cheat it back into operation and we’re good to go again.”

Yes, probably they wouldn’t ever catch you. But what if they did? What if you get into a situation where you have to explain what you need to do to “beat” the piracy protection to somebody like another operator on the set? What if you need an upgrade or bug fix?

The folks that make this software in their spare time need to eke out a living too. Without a continuing flow of payments from users, they won’t last to support and improve the product, which hurts all the user base.

Pay the man, if you really want to use his stuff. Bill the clients for it, like you’re supposed to. That means you’re not out anything.

[Mark Suszko]

Glad you liked that. Mies said: “Less is more”.

I’m home on vacation this Friday and Monday, call me then, I don’t take freelance calls at my day job.

[Mark Suszko]

Yes, particularly for a single-camera shoot, you HAVE to come to scout out the rehearsal, so you can check the angles you want to shoot and see what the staging of the participants in the altar area is going to be like, where you can plant mics or get additional audio off the PA system, etc. Zero hour on the Big Day is too late to find out the third groomsman is going to be blocking your only shot of the vows, that the church wireless is on your same frequency, or that the minister has a rule about where you can and cannot be. Everyone is going to see and get used to the fact of where you intend to plant the camera, so bring at least your sticks with you and plant them where you want to be shooting, and see if everyone is okay with that. The atmosphere at the rehersal is relaxed and open; if you have issues or questions, people can work it out… but on the Big Day, emotions run rampant, nobody will know anything, nobody will be available when needed, nobody will have the time to find something out or do some last-minute errand, all brain cells of everybody involved will be tied up with the event itself, and if you wind up needing some special help then, well you are SOL. When you shoot single-camera, you can’t rely on a lot of cutaway to save you if things go wrong. So to keep Murphy off the guest list, better go to the practice, is what I advise. You don’t have to stay all night, an hour or less will do it.

You have a chance at the rehearsal to clear up any hidden “gotchas” about position, lighting, house rules, etc. and at that point you have the best chance of getting something changed if it is going to be a problem. You’ll also get to see and I.D. most of the key members of the wedding party, including the grandparents, etc. and the lady that is paying you, usually the MOTB. And while you’re right that you can work things out with a minister or etc over the phone, there is no substitute for in-person relating and discussion. People can picture things wrong in their minds while talking on the phone. Descriptions can be imprecise regarding light levels, access to AC power and PA system, distances, access doors, etc. Better to really scout it at the rehearsal, I say.

One of the reasons I no longer do weddings is the emotional toll on me, the worry and triple-checking and backup planning to make sure I didn’t mess up was very draining, as if it was my own wedding, every time. Like they say in news, “the barn only burns down one time”, so you have to get it right the first time, every time. What some think is being over-prepared is me just giving the job the attention to detail it deserves, to give the results the client and I expect. It is that kind of effort that distinguishes a single-camera job by a pro from Uncle Charley and his home movies.

That’s in no way meant to be a knock on how you pre-paln or how you choose to do your multicam work. But I would opine that a multicam job by it’s nature gives you a little more insurance of getting the thing done, just because you’ve got more angles to play with. Me, if I stop rolling, I have to “edit-in-camera” and always plan my start-stop choices, composition, and timing so the original tape will view just fine without any editing needed.

[Mark Suszko]

On top of all this good advice, look back at your production workflow from last year and see if there are places where you can do the job with less effort and time wasted, now that you have the experience. How can you do the job more efficiently this year, so that you are making more per hour in profit?

[Mark Suszko]

*(cough)*

[Mark Suszko]

“Kahunas” are a term for respected religious/tribal leaders in Hawaiian native society, roughly akin to priest or shaman.

I believe you mean to use the Spanish word, pronounced; “co-HO-nays”, referring to the source of a man’s virility.

Sorry for the OT, but this is a pet peeve of mine.

[Mark Suszko]

None of it protrudes into the aisle. I was not one of those paparazzi type like some still photogs that precede the bride all the way up to the font, walking backwards and flashing all the way. That’s disrespectful and looks unprofessional, IMO.

But I do have my sticks as close to the edge as possible. You can do some tricks with the positioning of the tripod legs to give you the room you need. One is to put one or two legs over the top of the pew into the seat in front. Assuming nobody sits right in front of you.

I make sure the tripod is there and visible way before anybody else comes in, and if they still choose to sit right behind me, it’s their problem. But I don’t normally stand for the whole thing, I can either lower the head once people are seated, or adjust the viewfinder so I can watch from seated position. Since I have the focus manually pre-set, I just have to watch for framing. I also attend the rehearsals, usually with the camera, not to shoot, but to get everyone familiar with what I look like and where I’m planning to be, and to get square with the officiant and their house rules. Anybody that doesn’t take this extra step is going to suffer problems on the actual wedding day, I guarantee.

[Mark Suszko]

I think rather that the lesson here is to know who the real client is before you tey so hard to please some low-level crazy person, you need the REAL client, I.E. the guy what signs the checks. It was unfortunate that you didn’t know you weren’t working with the real people in charge. It has happened to me before as well. I have a little haiku on my wall for this:

When I said “approved”,
it’s not like that is the end;
five more must sign off.

There is no sure fire way to know who the real authority is every time out, when dealing with a large organization. But one way is to see who actually signs the bill/check for progress payments. THAT is the person you really have to make happy.

[Mark Suszko]

I usually pick Groom’s side, center aisle, about the fifth row from the front. I didn’t do handheld of the procession in, I shot from right there on the aisle, with the same POV as a guest would have.

Shooting from Groom’s side favors the bride’s face when they turn towards each other for vows and ring exchange.

I do handheld before the ceremony, but carefully braced and well composed. I will get the seating of the Parents and etc. handheld maybe, from the front somewhere, plus some subtle cut-away material for possible later edit use, if the situation allows. Then I get into my pew and stay put.

I Don’t go off my sticks until the procession out is done.