[Timothy J. allen]

Welcome, Mike! We are glad you are here!

By the way, I hope you are an Andrew Dice Clay fan. I hear he’s presenting at our next leader’s staff meeting. 😉

(p.s. I checked with my wife before posting this and she said that it’s o.k.)

[Timothy J. allen]

Good advice, Walter, but I have to nitpick one thing…

You said “Networks pay a blanket ASCAP and BMI licenses so they can use whatever they want, however they want.

While it’s true the networks (and affiliates) pay blanket licenses to BMI and ASCAP, they still can’t use “whatever they want, when ever they want”. While the agreements do give them more leeway, they actual rights they are afforded are listed all in the fine print of the license(s).

For instance, when I worked for an ABC affiliate, I was still not allowed to use a Red Hot Chili Pepper’s song for a client’s used car spot. The client thought that I could, since the station paid the blanket license, but the short story is that the publisher of the song would not agree with that specific use. (I didn’t use it, and the station’s legal team backed me up on that decision.)

There are also still cases of songs that are not under the umbrella of BMI or ASCAP anyway. To use a song in a spot, you still need to get permission from the creator/publisher of the music.

Now the rest of this post is not directed to Walter, but to those on the thread who say “don’t worry about it”…

As someone who entered the TV Production industry first as a studio musician, it pains me to see so many people ignore the law if they think that they can. They seem to forget that there are people out there who’s dinner depends on if people actually follow licensing agreements. Yes, it can be complicated to secure rights, but IT’S WORTH IT TO DO THE RIGHT THING. In my experience getting permission on the front-end is not nearly as difficult as navigating a lawsuit would be. When I’ve used licensed music (other than stock libraries) I’d venture to say that half the time, I don’t end up paying any substantial additional fees other than the ASCAP or BMI ones.

I do not use music that I don’t have permission to use. If someone wants custom music, there are plenty of options to give them what they want legally.

-Tim

[Timothy J. allen]

Good call, Nick! I’d also be interested in seeing what they say about this.

[Timothy J. allen]

Every new thing you learn will make you more employable. If that’s where your interest lies, you should go for it!

Do you already have a solid grasp of 2D graphics programs, such as After Effects and PhotoShop? It will help if you do. If you don’t, I’d personally go that direction first, since the return on investment is faster and the skills gained would be versatile and fairly transferable.

[Timothy J. allen]

Well, we are getting Interplay anyway, especially now that one of our staff members is one of the first Avid Certified Support Representative certified in it.

Hopefully after installing it, we’ll never have ANY video or audio tech issues again, we’ll all get our work done in half the time, and we can spend the time we save towards ending world hunger, telling funny jokes and truly understanding why shows like “Teletubbies” became so popular.

(Not necessarily in that order.) Maybe I’m a bit too optimistic? 😉

But seriously, we won’t get to use ScriptSync until we install the upgrade to 2.7. and we’ll start using Interplay. We are planning on that happening next month. Once I use the software, I’ll write a review for the COW.

[Timothy J. allen]

Jacki,
I’m in Texas, so my specific advice regarding who to use probably isn’t applicable for someone in Atlanta. Insurance-related laws and prices run the gamut, and are really dependent upon where you live.

Here in Texas, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Fortis both offer plans for very small businesses. They are still more expensive than large group rates. When I was totally freelance, with no other full-time employees, I joined the local union and got better insurance rates through them. IMHO, this was the only thing that made being in the union worthwhile. (In that place at that time.)

There is probably some good news on the horizon for you, since the governor of Georgia is evidently trying to get the state to bear some of the cost for very small businesses to have health insurance.

Here’s an article about some recent developments on that front:

https://www.gov.state.ga.us/press/2007/press1502.shtml

… and here’s a website that might be able to give you better quotes than what you already have. I haven’t used them, but at least it gives you a place to start.

https://www.nasro-co-op.com/health/state/ga/index.shtml

Good luck!

[Timothy J. allen]

Do you really have to even give them a reason? Why not a simple, “Sorry, we can not support that particular campaign at this time.”

I believe that being true to your convictions is more important than a paycheck, and I admire your choice.

I wonder though, would you do it if it was for Kraft Cheese? (They are owned by Phillip Morris – last time I checked.)

[Timothy J. allen]

Jacki,
I think it is a fair question. I’ve often wondered why I don’t see more women in the field than I do. I also wonder why I don’t see more male elementary school teachers, nurses or dental hygienists. In video production, there are women that do very well, just as there are men who do well in those career paths that women traditional gravitate towards.

I guess you’ve read by now that it seems to simply comes down to the fact that those who step forward to do the work, and do it well, can succeed. I really haven’t seen a glass ceiling in this field other than individually self-imposed ones.

I think the COW is not atypical regarding diversity range compared to other technical online forums. (We have the same issue at NASA with trying to recruit female engineers and scientists. We get some brilliant minds, both male and female, but more males still apply for the jobs than females.)

I’ve worked with women who were really good editors (and videographers) and some who weren’t quite as capable. Of course, I’ve worked with more men that were very good at what they do AND more men who weren’t as good as women at what they did. That’s because 85% of the people in my past jobs were men.

Editing is a strange job in that you have to gravitate and balance between being technically, artistically, and socially competent. Miss out on any one of those and you aren’t as likely to go as far – male or female.

The fun thing that I’ve noticed in reading these posts is just how many of us have had female bosses. I’ve held at least a half dozen positions where either my direct supervisor or their supervisor (usually both) were female. They’ve all been pretty good bosses, especially the ones who had worked their way up through the ranks and had editing and shooting backgrounds. The main jobs I see women hold in the Video Production industry are supervisory positions, such as production managers and company owners. I just don’t see that many women stay in the *middle* of the job title/pay scale.

Why? My guess is that it’s because they stepped forward to do the work, and they did it well.

-TJA

[Timothy J. allen]

The main thing is to keep the mic away from the clothing. In’ sit down interviews, where I know which direction the talent will be facing, I can hide them pretty well under collars, etc. I’ve sometimes used the small metal cage around the mic element to eliminate some noise, but placement is still the main thing.

The best method to attach the mic will depend on what the talent is wearing. If they are wearing cotton shirt with a collar, it’s fairly easy to hide it under the collar with a “vampire clip”. I wouldn’t use that type of clip on a ladies silk blouse, however, because it will damage it.

Sometimes, it helps to face the mic element the other direction (towards the body). This will affect your EQ, but it can eliminate those rustle sounds. It’s best if you allow some time to hold a proper mic check where everyone understands that the purpose is not only to get good audio levels, but to locate the best place for the mic. Sometimes this may not even be on the shirt, for instance it may be in their hat!

I’ve long thought that if a company made “pin on” mic elements disguised as tie tacks (like American flags or custom company logos) or disguised as part of some small unobtrusive ladies necklaces, or even a corsage, they’d make a lot of money. For that matter, I’ll bet wedding videographers would love to have a black bow tie or two with built in hidden mics.

Hmm. Maybe I should start a side business… 😉

But I digress…the other rule of thumb is just to make sure that you get enough ambient audio to cover those spots where you get noise, but they weren’t talking. When you get that audio, make sure the person wearing the mic stays in the same place where they are delivering lines. If that location changes during the scene (if the walk while delivering lines or enter another room) get it from each location. Some people don’t realize that the “ambient noise” can change over the course of shooting a scene even in the same location. Even the humidity in the air can change the inherent pitch and timbre of ambient audio, even if you are in the exact same location.

-TJA

[Timothy J. allen]

Hello, David,
I’ve also enjoyed your contribution to this forum and I’m really happy to have you here.

Your article in the My/June article of Creative Cow magazine was spot on.

As you know, no matter what the budget, it’s important to balance the three sides of that “golden paradigm” for your clients and really communicate the tradeoffs.

I hope to discuss your article further in a separate thread, but for now, I’ll just say “Welcome”!

Timothy Allen