[Mark Suszko]

Not personally yet, but have seen some done well and a lot more done badly. You could look up the horrible car crash of an effort Sony did for the Christmas PSP rap viral as one bad example. It became famous as a laughingstock and got a lot of play that way but the effect was negative. You could look at the “Lonelygirl” project which was made to look amateur, but wasn’t. Carleton Draught’s fabulous ‘Big Ad’ spot was a broadcast spot that was given very limited airplay by choice, so as to keep it from burning out early, but they played the heck out of it over the web as a stream to keep a buzz going all year.

If you are considering this channel, ask yourself what you’re selling and if this is an apropriate venue to say something about your biz or just an attempt to do something cutting edge (like Sony tried) without a real reason to do so. If for example you’re an editor and you want to put out a calling card for your editing skills, something like the re-edit of West Side Story into a horror trailer can create some buzz. Go look that up on ifilm.com if you haven’t seen it yet, also the re-cut of “the Shining” into “Shine”; a family fun film…

The guys who made that short subject, “405” was it? Where the jet lands on a freeway and the nose gets stuck on a hapless car in traffic… they made that whole piece to demo their Fx and production skills to the LA market, so that’s a perfect viral.

The first issue for a viral is it has to appear totally anonymous, so you don’t make it obvious who released it but you leave a trail of crumbs for people who want to find you to track. When folks put out an accidentally blatant viral it immediately loses street cred. Something about the voyeuristic thrill of discovering something on your own and sharing it around an “in crowd” I guess. But inauthenticity is often easily detected by the youTube crowd and they are merciless when they find a trickster.

Where this anonymity “rule” can be broken is if it’s a straight news event or if you really want to make a special point about the authorship as part of the statement. I’m thinking here of protest videos, political statements, and sample clips from your in-progress documentary production that just might happen to still need extra financing. You just can’t make it a straight-on commercial, that would be death, IMO.

What kind of thing were you thinking about doing?

[Mark Suszko]

Al, as far as billing, know your day rate and hourly rate before you commit to a figure. Just because this may *seem* easy, don’t commit to a flat fee. Set an hourly rate with say a 2-hour minimum.

For your lighting question, softboxes should work fine unless the item being hand held creates a glare problem. Even then, adjusting angles should get you out of trouble.

There are numerous ways to get the animation into your edit system.

For speed, I use an external scan converter and thus I get it as useable video right away. To an extent, you get what you pay (or rent) for with scan converters. The really expensive ones do make prettier output, but if you are talking something of powerpoint quality for graphics, you can often make do with a hundred-dollar model. I use both a 6-thousand dollar Scan-Do Ultra as well as a 99 dollar cheapie, depends on the situation and the need. other means include screen recorder programs like you mentioned, however, some times the nature of what you’re doing on the computer can be disrupted by the additional processing and storage overhead of the screen grabber program, and I hear many laments about the size of the files thus created.

Don’t forget to plan for good sound. Sometimes for a demo like this the best thing is to pre-record the audio and then mime the action to a playback of it, since all you are seeing are the hands. Other times we had a person read the script out loud alongside the action, then re-recorded better audio in post to match. What you do may depend on how well parts have to synch up or match a set timing. Just dont ignore the audio, as it is one of the features that make pro work stand out from wannabees.

When you shoot, use your compopsition skills and shoot with the edit in mind. That means multiple takes at different angles and camera distances, and plenty of establishing shots that keep the viewer well-oriented. Build in cutaways and other classy touches to distinguish your work.

[Mark Suszko]

Grip trucks vary, but butterflies, scrims and reflector boards should be staples in most any truck. Ask ahead. You’ll need lots of extra stands to hold them, or friends willing to stand very still for long periods of time:-) One of the problems with reflectors is you will have to re-adjust every five minutes or so as the sun moves, so it will be take, re-set, take, re-set all day until you get a take you like. The biggest bear to me for location shooting is good sound, though, and this will not be a problem for you on these jobs.

You can economize and take your pickup to Lowe’s or Home Depot or the like and buy 4×8 foam panels sheathed on one side with a foil backing, these can make good reflector material in the field as they are light but way stiffer than foam core sheets. A stake or pipe section pushed thru them into the soft ground and you have a way to aim them hands-off. For butterflies you can make your own frames out of PVC pipe or thin-walled electrical conduit, and a diffusing material from a sewing store, like tulle or ripstop white nylon. Tyvek housewrap is good sometimes, but more expensive in large sizes.

As to the lights, well, I really can’t get more specific from where I’m sitting, maybe you need one or two for a certain shot or to add fill in a sunrise/sunset shot, maybe you can make it all work with bounce boards. Look up the ratings on the genny and remember to allow extra capacity for the extra lengths of stingers you run from it, and their gauge. Since audio is not an issue, you can keep the runs really short, and probably run 2 small HMI’s off the genny no problem. For this kind of thing you’re doing, maybe a Joker-Bug is all you really need. Be really careful around the shore with this stuff, best you have a real electrician with you if you’re going to use the lights near the water.

As to the pontoon boat shot, you would have to have a guy in the water with the aquarium-cam, with his feet firmly on the lake bottom, so you’re talking no deeper than maybe 4.5-5 feet. I can only speak for myself that for a low budget job like this I would risk it myself. If you’re just not comfortable enough for that, you could buy an enclosure, B&H sells tons in the hard shell and bag styles. But that’s gonna be really expensive for a betacam. Maybe you shoot that spot, or the water part of it anyway, with smaller DV camcorders, is what I’m thinking.

You could also just make a little periscope and use it in reverse: looking from the boat down to the water line, and keeping the cameras dry… Any image reversals can be fixed in post.

[Mark Suszko]

If your client is willing to pay what you ask of them, if it’s a little or a lot, what does it matter to them how much you are paying the subs working for you? Granted, you should probably keep your markups under your hat, and not take them to a greedy excess. And if you are paying below minimum wage, shame on you. But the client is paying for an overall package. If your price to them is competitive and the work product is acceptible, and everyone is getting paid what they contracted for then what is the problem?

Just think about what you will say if/when the client finds out what something truly cost you. Will you be able to defend the amount of your markup under the umbrella of “administrative overhead” or even just normal profit margin? If so, you’re fine. If not, the client may figure out you are overcharging more than necessary, may or may not be insulted, and start to shop around based on price.

The idea is that no matter how much cheaper one componnet or service alone may be obtained, it’s the overall integrated and delivered PACKAGE we’re talking about, and if that is giving value for money.

[Mark Suszko]

Charging a flat fee is almost always a mistake, charge an hourly fee with a defined minimum. For example, $50 per hour, 2 hour minimum. You also have to have a policy for how many approval/change steps you’ll do, and if you charge for that.

[Mark Suszko]

Why shoot the spots in high def if the cable channel is only playing them in standard def? Ask the cable company for the delivery format they take.

Local spot, I’d shoot it in beta, second choice DVC-Pro or DV-CAM.

You might be surprised how much grip gear it takes to shoot something “natural-looking” outdoors. Overhead butterflies, scrims, reflectors are what you’d use the most, though an HMI or two may come into play. You’ll need hefty power for those, but these spots look like they don’t have any on-camera sounds or dialog delivery that can’t be looped or foleyed in post, so generator noise is not going to be a factor.

Plan to bring along polarizing filters for working near the water. A set of grads and a matte box would be apropriate.

Underwater photog may be overkill for a local spot unless you find a local dive nut that will handle this part just for fun. An old trick to get on-the-waterline or just-below-the-waterline shots on the cheap is to put the camera inside a dry, empty, leak-tested aquarium, then float/hold the aquarium in the water and adjust in depth and angle so the lens is on the level you want. Lens must be right up against the aquarium glass wall or you’ll get reflection trouble. Of course, any little mistake and you’ve dunked the camera, so be careful!

The hardest gag on your list is the guy getting drenched by the waterskier. This could be dangerous if you are trying to shoot from the water side and have the skier and boat come between you and the shore. You’d need real pro boat drivers and skiers/stuntpeople for that. If the terrain was such that you could hang the camera on a jib higher than the skier or boat could hit, that might work. Or you put a stepladder out in the water to make a stable platform, place the camera on it, lock down a telephoto shot and back away until the skier goes thru, maybe, but that’s still a big hazard to the boat and skier. Slightly less dangerous would be to replace the skier with a person driving a jetski, as we remove the tow boat and rope from the equation. You still can get the big on-shore wake splash of the golfer you were looking for, maybe better than a waterskier could do, and it can be done at lower overall speed, which reads better on camera and is safer.

Shooting that from the land side certainly can work and that would be somewhat safer all around, and cheaper and safer to the camera. A raincoat for the camera would probably be enough unless you’re shooting too close.

The first “corona style” shoot should be knocked out in an hour. Set it up earlier in the day then shoot it at magic hour before dusk. Figure a half-day for that shoot altogether.

The pontoon one? Didn’t give me enough detail to make a good guess, a loose guess would be a half-day.

The golfersplash needs most of a day, if you’re going to try multiple takes, plan for extra sets of dry clothes or a way to clean/dry on site. Plus away to re-groom the area of the shot after each pass. You will need to coordinate the shoot with the lake patrol or local authorities whatever those are, for safety and legal purposes and just because it’s th right thing to do.

As to rain-outs, you still need to get paid for the gear rentals and the folks who gave up the chance to do something else productive in order to be available for you. Discuss what’s fair, half-day or full-day if postphoned for weather. Book two shoots about three days apart to cover the weather. Where I live the cycle is pretty much seven days, so if day one is cloudy/rain day seven will likely be as well. That’s wjhy I say three days apart, gives the front time to move thru before another one comes in.

[Mark Suszko]

Since the groom will always be next to the bride for any parts where either talk, an omni lav on him is usually sufficient in my experience. This will usually pick up the offician as long as they are standing next to the couple too.

A second mic will typically be needed for the pulpit and for the lector and soloist. Some guys run a minidisk recorder or iriver for these extra sources and line the audio up later in post. Consider the more separate cameras and audio sources you bring to the edit, the longer it is going to take and the more storage you’ll need.

Hiding the omni lav just inside the groom’s lapel blocks the wind well, you just need to tape it and the wires so as to prevent noise from rubbing against the cloth inside. Also don’t put it too far inside the coat or you’ll muffle it too much. This takes some trial and error, so make sure you practice it during the rehearsals. People sometimes forget and treat omnis like directionals. You can point the omni away and down out of the wind and still get good sound many times.

Check the directions people face against the expected sun and wind. Sometimes you can avery a big problem witha little change in arrangement discovered in rehearsal. I used to just have two channels, so I’d do camera shotgun on one, wireless lav on the other. With multiple mics, I’d run a mixer ahead of the camera input.

[Mark Suszko]

Revisions, errors, and omissions:

The amount billed for the edit includes a first rough cut for approval, one revised cut based on the notes from the approval screening. Any versions after that point are a separate deal. Define closed-captioning asked for after the fact as a new job. Define alternate language audio track versions asked for after the fact as a new job. Repeating loop copies asked for afterwards, or back-up versions without any graphics, again, if asked for after the fact, a separate deal. Asking to go back into the master and blur out a face or an object that was supposedly cleared in advance but turns out not to be: new job, billed accordingly.

As far as errors and omissions, if the client spelled it wron inthe text files or on the paper script they gave you, the client is responsible for the extra time and money to fix it. If the mis-spelled or wrong chyrons or graphics or missing shot is YOUR fault, you eat the cost of the corrections.

[Mark Suszko]

ADHD? Oh, GREAT, ANOTHER format to learn to shoot in!

🙂

Seriously, if you think you have one of the “flavors” of Attention Deficit, there are self-evaluation quizzes you can do on the web, anonymously. I tried that once, after finding out my boys have it, and turns out I have always had a touch of it, but never got diagnosed or prescribed anything for it, just managed to create coping mechanisms to live with it, leverage it. “High functioning”. But it created a lot of childhood unhappiness and unpleasantness I’d rather not have to put my kids thru. I can only imagine how much more awesome a career I might have had if I’d had the option of modern meds back then. I was dead-set against them in the beginning, but have seen marvels accomplished with careful and well-informed application. Anyway, you may well have it, with or without the hyperactivity component, and one of the things you get from it is a laser-like, Rainman-like focus on something, if you really LIKE it. For everything else, meh, not so much. In me that manifests as sloppiness with paperwork and filing.

Considering this, my job fits my needs like a glove: plenty of variety, moving from one kind of work to another, writing, directing, producing, editing, shooting, animating, whatever. And each program or subject we work on is different enough to keep my interest and add to my store of trivia. From how to land a twin-engined plane at night to how to plant no-till beans and corn. I’ve had this same job 21 years now, got many reasons I didn’t try harder to move up, one is I’m definitely a risk-averse person now that I’m a family man. I no longer jump to volunteer for aerials hanging out of choppers with the door off and no harness.

Anyway, I read your lament with interest. I noticed something.

Most guys your age seem to attempt to solve this wanderlust problem with a blonde and/or a convertible. Or risky dabbling in derivatives and day trading or Rogaine. But let me put on my fake Doctor Phil moustache for a sec, and point out to you that, of all the business changes you made over time, that didn;t seem to “fix” the itch, you were still always left with one particular constant.

You see him when you brush your teeth.

It may not be fair to expect the work alone to make you happy o complete, of itself, though that’s always to be desired. Are you sure *you’re* happy with *yourself* ? Maslovian Heirarchy of Needs, etc. Maybe unresolved issues from the surgery a while back? Could be many things.

This has gotten pretty personal, so before I overstep any more boundaries, let me just say I wish you the best and hope you can work this out either on a business or personal level. You have been a presence on these pages so long I feel like we’re same-block neighbors, is why I was so forward to say this stuff.

So, SNAP OUT OF IT and GBTW!!! 🙂

[Mark Suszko]

No, no NO, David!:-) You have it exactly backwards. Never charge a flat fee, sometimes a flat RATE is okay.