Steve Kownacki
3
COW Coins
2
Premiere Pro Coins
Forum Replies Created
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Thanks for your condolences Nick.
Once in a lifetime event & a foray into 4 future sessions. This was more critical for audio than video to capture groups of people’s discussions. All I have of the first 90 min is a mix of 8 mics with 30 people talking all at once. The part that was recorded came out exactly as anticipated. The client is more curious about the group discussions that are now lost. (I am weak in the knees to say the least.)
Steve
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I use one of these with an analog phone line. Practice with it first of course.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/284518-REG/JK_Audio_INLINE_InLine_Patch_Telephone.htmlSteve
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I suggest getting paid for your work and not “partnering” with an instructor that “has a killer local following and she should sell a DVD.” As with most (not all) partnerships like this, you bear the brunt of the cost and they do the marketing and sales and…. you know the story.
I did one aerobic video years ago – got horrible reviews as I searched online years later! Not anything with production value (of course) but fitness is a killer market. Viewers hated the “old warehouse” look (not my call; poll your audience first) and the personality of the instructor. The participants must practice, Practice, PRACTICE! And know the routines inside and out. You and your client should spend a few days reading online reviews of the best videos out there – Sony spends upwards of $500K on a Buns of Steel video. That is your competition.
Use a wireless belt pack designed to be submersed in water; bring a backup too. Use a headworn mic with solid ear clip, also designed for wet/sweaty applications. Look at the best videos out there and use what they use. High SPL for when the instructors are yelling, maybe a different mic for the quieter, cool-down periods. They sound different at different levels. The beltpack will need to be moved many times based on the routines – side, back, brastrap, etc.
We played back music from a CD player at a quiet level in the room for the routines (so low you could barely hear it on the mic, hence the reason for the participants to know the routine) and then mixed it in later during post. Against my judgement they had one track on a cassette – this was a nightmare! Cassettes do not play at the same speed across players. Syncing later took forever. Now I’m dating myself when I did the video. Ha!
Shoot in an environment where you control all lighting – windows will kill you as the light shifts and color temp changes. Shoot at night if you have to.
I shot the segments out of order (see lighting changes above): Cool down first, then warm up stretches, gradually reaching the tough stuff last. This kept the sweat levels down and their energy decent for the 7-hour shoot day. If they have budget, shoot on a few days, lots of outfit changes, and the participants are truly committed to the gig.
We had a successful yoga video with a respected RN/Holistic teacher, same rules applied.
If I think of anything else I’ll add. Have fun & good luck!
Steve
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I searched tiffen & B&H, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. I have a tiffen univeral mount that you are talking about. It’s an 82mm circular clamp with a thumbscrew that fits on the outer barrel of a lens and is the Series 9 holder for loose filters. Not sure if I want to sell it, but I can look at it tomorrow for a model number to help in the search.
Steve
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This has got to be the handiest feature of the new displays/TVs! I’ve done this a number of times, here’s my notes:
Make sure they get a name brand like SONY, Samsung, etc. The players seem to be more robust than the VIZIO-types.
The name brands all seem to have a “loop playback” feature built in. (I do not know how you could possibly make a file self-looping)
Look online at the model they are considering, make your file and go visit a retailer to test it out. I usually tell my clients to buy a Samsung as I have one in the office and can confirm the file with them watching it.Look very carefully at the manual for supported file types. AND TEST, TEST, TEST.
Example
https://www.samsung.com/us/support/faq/FAQ00047282/51099/LN32D550K1FXZA
One drawback is that if they have more than one monitor there is no way to sync them together.With a wifi-ready TV, you could browse to a website with an embedded video that could loop. Of course data usage may kill them if using a hotspot; but they may already be paying for internet access if at a trade show for instance.
And make sure your client has EXTRA REMOTES! Many of the TV menus can only be accessed with the remote and if they forget to pack it, lose it or it’s stolen – no video no more.
One client had an off-brand model that only took WMV (or some PC-only-type of file) with no looping function. And a 2gb file limit. Ended up putting a lower-res video on the drive as a single file that simply played about 20 times. When the menu came on the screen, they had to hit play again. I’m sure the guys in the sales booth at the trade show were thrilled.
Oh yeah, the other reason for testing is to make sure the USB stick you have actually fits into the TV. Some jacks are in strange places with tight access and larger sticks simply will not be able to be plugged in. Be a hero and have a short USB extension to give them. They’re about $2. Also makes accessing the jack very easy.
Steve
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Thanks for the heads up Jason!
Steve
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I have 2 clients that must pay anything under $1000 with a CC. (Yes, I try to bump up the budget first!) Large corporations and each of them “didn’t trust” paying with PayPal. Sheesh. So I have a Square https://squareup.com/ account that is used 3-4 times per year.
Clients give me their number over the phone so no swipe, which increased the rate to 3.5%. For these clients, they do plenty of other work with me so the fee is no big deal; but it is $35 on a $1000 sale. That’s a huge fee if you’re not expecting to be paid this way.
Plus some bookkeeping entries to balance the income and bank fee accounts.
Steve
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Todd, I’m always hesitant to employ a “creative” or “writer” due to each of our clients having different requirements – a car spot writer may not be good for medical or electronics. Plus, in this ever-wavering volume of work, I try to watch the commitment to permanent overhead.
I think many of your best assets you already work with every day. As the rainmaker, take your crews out for dinner and tap them for ideas. If you get work, they get work. They may not be the one to completely flesh it out, but they can give lots of creative advice so you are not the one scratching your head all the time. There’s lots of buy-in when someone else ideas are being produced!
I also have some partnerships/associations with smaller agencies that I Produce for. We get together as needed to generate creative ideas for one another. Sometimes it’s worth paying them to actually write my treatments, storyboards & proposals.
Steve
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Is the gain turned up in any way? Can you post a pic?
Steve