Scott Sheriff
Forum Replies Created
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[Tim Ryan] “A friend also said he was pretty certain the graphics are added in post. I couldn’t figure out how they got such perfect color correction on both the fingers and the iPad.”
Not that hard if the raw footage has a decent exposure and the highlights are not completely blown out. You can CC selected areas with mattes/masks and CC selected colors and areas of illumination on an individual basis. Combining these techniques gives huge control over the post color process in the hands of someone that is good at Color, Resolve, etc.
Or they could have composited the shots. Or done all of the above.[Tim Ryan] “On the other hand, some of the Apple shots look like the don’t add anything in during post as there’s a reflection on the tip of the subject’s fingers.”
Could have been added in post.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Mark Suszko] “The final third plus any overages is due when you hand over the master or other deliverable, and note, you DO NOT hand that over EVER until you get paid. You also watermark or otherwise brand any sample footage you hand over “for review at home”. If all they want to do is review it, the logo bug or time code window on the screen will not be a problem for them. If they complain they want to see a “clean copy”, before they decide to pay you, they are vey likely going to rip you off, so demand payment in full before you hand over a clean copy. Ask me how I know ths happens:-)”
This is good advice.
And if you put a TC window on your footage, make sure it is well into the frame, so it can be squeezed out.
I shot HD footage of a MX event on spec for a guy, that had SD footage he had been using in his spots for ever. His intention was to redo his spot in HD for next season. After the gig, I made him a TC burn DVD of the raw footage, which he said he really liked. No mention of doing any editing, which the guy knows I do. So next season comes along, and I get a group email about the spring MX, which included event dates, air schedule, an attached poster for approval before going to the printer, but no mention of editing the spot. About two weeks before the event, I get a call from a local station in a panic wanting a copy of the raw footage I shot because all they had was the old SD footage, and a DVD with TC burn on it. When I told them that they or the client had to pay for the footage, they said they didn’t have any budget to do that because they were posting it for free to get the air buy. No soup for you.
Had I not TC’d the clients DVD, I’m sure they would have pulled it off the DVD and used it for the spot.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Steve Martin] “Do you guys typically charge full or discounted day rates for travel days.”
I understand there is a big justification for charging your full day rate for travel, but I still don’t do it.
I charge a discounted rate, plus mileage, and/or direct travel costs that are not supplied by the client. After 5 hours, I switch to a day rate with a per diem to cover meals, hotel, etc.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[shane jenny] “This proposal is for a 30 second web commercial and includes two high-definition cameras, two camera operators, production, and post-production. A sample render will be available for preview via web 1 week after shoot. Approval will be requested. Final output will be available for download via web.
Rates
A-Camera Operator $300/day
B-Camera Operator $300/day
8 hours of editing $50/hr
Re-edits $50/hrProduction
Crew will need 2-3 hours of setup of audio and lighting equipment at location prior to shoot.Post-production
Post-production includes editing of footage, color-correction, color-grading, incorporating graphic elements, and royalty free music.”I think your rate for camera is low. 300 per day to operate is ok, but what about for the camera itself? Lighting, bulb time, etc. Shoots put hours on the camera and lights, and use up expendables and your only charging about the norm for walking in and operating gear.
What is your charge for setup and teardown? This looks like your doing it for free. If you are, you will still have to pay the crew.
I wouldn’t use the term re-edit. Editing, is just editing. Having re-edit on here is redundant.
No mention of audio at all.
A two camera shoot, with a 2-3 hour set up, you might want to think about getting a PA.
You mention color grading. Do you have experience doing this, and have the proper equipment? If so, you are undercharging. If you are planning to farm this out, you are undercharging.
Who is writing this? Who is directing this? Who is producing this? Is it all on camera, or is there going to be VO? Who is going the graphics? Who is acting in this? If the actors are supplied by the client, and they run you over on shooting time, who is responsible?
What about travel time?
What about expenses? Who is feeding the crew? If you have a 2-3 hour setup, and an all day shoot, there will have to be meal and snacks provided.
How are you outputting this, and what is the charge for that?
What are your terms for getting paid?
More questions, than answers.If you are going to do things a la carte, it is best to have an inclusive list of services, with your hourly rates. This should be well thought out, and priced so you don’t go broke. Then you can just send this to clients, along with your proposal of how long each element will take.
The other way to do this is with a fixed price bid, and list the amount of each service you will deliver. If you run over and it’s your (or the crews fault) then you eat it. If it’s because the client wants more than originally planned, then you charge from the rate sheet.IMO, I think you are way undercharging on this, and it doesn’t seem well thought out, or very business like. Not trying to be mean. But if I put myself in the clients shoes and received this, and something like what some of the other guys here, or myself would send, yours wouldn’t make the first cut.
A proposal needs to be very inclusive and detailed, which this is not. It needs to be like a mini business plan.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Mark Suszko] “Youtube DOES have a private mode setting, it is pretty plainly marked in your interface on the page. Only people with the exact URL can see the clip that’s been marked “private”. When that’s approved, uncheck Private and change it to Public, no need to re-upload.”
It has that feature, or it can be set to allow only other YT users to see it. The client will have to have a YT account, and you ‘allow’ them access. As long as they are signed in, they can see the video.
As far as having to re-encode your work over and over as changes are made, this is something you should be billing for unless it was something that was your fault.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Aindreas Gallagher] “Do we not have any culturally insistent and persistent craft delineations?”
We do, but some just conveniently choose to ignore them, because they want to operate in a ‘anything goes’ manner. They see standards like proper lighting, using the tripod, clean edits, etc, as restrictive and old fashioned. Although I suspect it is more about lack of knowledge, or not wanting to put the time in to do it right. So now we have untold hours of material put out everyday that looks like home movies, with a bunch of plugins slapped on them.
That is one of the things that always amuses me from the ‘mad skills’ crowd who rant on about doing great storytelling with any tool, which is that they see editing as an art, not a craft. They want to live in this subjective arty world, free from standards, and criticism.
Sure, if you are a good editor you can cut something interesting machine to machine if you have to. But do you want to use an inferior tool just to prove a point, or show your ‘mad skills’? An artist can paint with his fingers, a brush or even throw paint at the canvas. And he can use found materials, paint, or even poop, a canvas or a sidewalk, because no matter what he does, he calls it “art”, for which there is no standard to say it’s not. The artist doesn’t even have to be human. Several zoo animals have sold paintings. A craftsman doesn’t work in this type of environment. A craftsman still knows what the proper tool for the job is, even if he finds himself in the position of having to make do with less. A craftsman works to an established, and definable standard, that is easily judged by his peers. A craftsman will always choose the best tool for the job, and is not concerned with being hip, or trendy, or how cool a tool is. His concern is with quality, and the ability to do what he needs to do without making excuses.
So there are those that want to be artists, and those that want to be craftsmen.
And going back to FCS vs X. I find it interesting when anyone criticizes X for lack of standard professional features, and the proponents use the ‘it’s the man, not the tool’ argument to defend X. But if it’s the man, not the tool, then why do you even need FCP X so desperately? And if you’re an artist why is it so important that your peers like and accept FCP X as your tool of choice? IMO these positions seem to be in opposition to the ‘it’s the man, not the tool’ argument used to support FCP X.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Jon Fidler] “How does politics actually fit into storytelling though. I mean unless the subject matter involves it, like the tv show Rome or something like the office where work politics is the forefront of the story, other than that im lost.”
Writers, producers and directors are constantly using the story or character development to advance their own politics, and often not in an obvious political story. This is nothing new, and is more common, than not.
TV shows like All In the Family, Barney Miller, MASH, The Andy Griffith Show and Family Ties, or movies like The Day the Earth Stood Still, Air America, and Catch-22 are some examples that come to mind, but there are plenty of others. And then there are some that are more upfront about the agenda, like DR Strangelove, Paths of Glory, The Manchurian Candidate, Johnny Got His Gun, and Fail-Safe. But even at that, non of those are ‘political’ films, but are well known for pushing a political agenda. Of more recent films that have been criticized for a deliberate political undertone, Avatar, Crash, District 9, and Happy Feet come to mind.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Tim Ryan] “I’ll asks a more specific question that might be easier to answer. Assuming you’ve got this type of experience, what type of lighting would YOU use to at least try to light the subject’s fingers in such a dark environment?”
That would depend on the exposure latitude of the camera and/or how the scene file is set up, and how much detail I want to see in the dark areas. It would also depend on what the post production color correction workflow is.
I general terms, maybe a large butterfly/overhead, and a few small Fresnels, and some flags/fingers.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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I agree with what Bill said. Self illuminating, and reflective items makes it more of a challenge. One of the key things is to control dark reflections and specular highlights in reflective objects. While on any one of the ipad spots on the apple web site there may have not been a lot of instruments used, but probably a lot of controls. So having a grip truck full of choices makes this type of thing easier.
And with the budget apple has, you can bet this was color graded by a high end shop. And you need to use a camera that you lets you make custom scene files.
Based on what you said about your gear, you probably don’t have everything you need to even come close to this type of look. You can always rent. Getting the look of the ipad spots on a limited budget is going to be tough, because it’s not just the lighting, but the entire production process is high end from start to finish, which is how they get the richness in the images.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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It’s in the project properties.
Either choose a preset, or make a custom if there isn’t a preset that suits your project.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?