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Everybody in this business has a favorite story. If you've been in this business as long as I have, you have a book.
Here are just a few stories.
Lately, people are milking the recession to unheard of levels
I got a call the other day from a "Business Woman" who was putting together a
Reality Talk Show. She stated that she already had two Channels that were very interested
in buying the show. She wanted me to whip the production together, shoot with
3ccd cameras (3), use wireless mics (6).
I asked if she wanted to switch the show using triax hookups or to shoot and
edit. She wanted to mix on the fly, so I told her that she would need to go with a triax system.
If you don't know about this, you plug in firewire connectors into the camera and terminate at a switcher.
Now the person on the switcher can choose which camera to take a feed from and send everything to a
video deck. In one action, you have mixed the show and are ready to go to TV.
After going through this with her, she stated that I would have to work free, but she would share the
profit from the sale of the show 50%-50% with me. I told her that I would need a contract.
That was the last I heard from her
I've spent the last 30 years of my life learning my craft. I've done everything from
clean the bathroom to run the floor (which means that the buck stops with me)
How dare some wannabee producer try to get people in this business
to give up their time and energy so she can make a buck.
Whenever I do a shoot,
I usually get a client to sign a contract and send me a 50% deposit before I sign on,
but in a moment of weakness, I took a two half days ( 4 hours per day) shoot at the last minute.
Did you ever get that "If it looks too good to be true" feeling?
Well, I stored the thought in the back of what's left of my mind and started to put my gear together.
For this shoot, I needed a:
Canon XLH1,
2 60 minute HD Master tapes
tripod,
Direct DVD burner, (you get a unedited DVD of the shoot within minutes)
I like this even better than recording direct to a "Firestore",
Westcott 8'X10' Green Screen,
my Green Screen Frame,
a pair of 750 watt Tota cans with umbrellas and stands
a Lectrosonic 400 series Wireless system with a Countryman lav mic
I have PortaBrace cases for everything so I was ready to go.
The next day, the guy calls me to change a few items
Nothing to big, just adding a second shooting location.
(No additional fee offered)
Ok, no problem.
The next day he called back to cancel one of the days
"That's ok" I said. (I'm a real sweetheart)
Last night at 11:30PM I'm starting to get some sack time
and he calls back again to say that now we're only using one location,
but it's at a major convention center in Downtown Chicago.
I hung up the phone and went back to sleep.
at 7:15AM I headed out for a 9:15AM Call
Traffic was bad and we finally got to the shoot at 8:55AM.
I am looking for a loading dock person to get my gear off my car and up to the
shoot location, but everything was closed.
I called the client, but he never answered the phone.
I drove around looking for anyone to corner so I could go up to the shoot and tell him that I was unable to
park or to unload my gear.
Remember, I have seven cases to move and although I carry a four wheeled dolly/cart
I was unable to find anywhere to stop and unload or even to park
and push everything to the shoot location.
The client never tried to contact me to find out where I was.
After 90 minutes, I simply left and went back to my facility
40 miles to the North.
When I got back, he had finally called to wonder where I was.
I picked up the phone and called him again but all I got was his answering message.
I wasted five hours of my day and $6.00 in gas.
Well kiddies, the moral of this story is to: Get a Contract and find out in advance if you can get into a location.
I had mentioned to him that it would be difficult to get into this location, but he assured me that he had taken care of everything
Because of the nature of the economy, I call other Video Facilities from time to time.
The other day, I spoke with a company in the Downtown Chicago area.
They were very interested in speaking to me, so I grabbed a couple of demo DVDs, got into my car and headed for the meeting.
I was greeted with a smile and a handshake and we sat down to talk about how I could help this company.
Within a few minutes, I realized that something was amiss.
Rather than speaking about what I could do for their company, they were more interested in what I was doing and for whom.
I went over a few of my most recent projects and resumed speaking to them about what I could offer their company.
I was told that they had all the help they could use, but they would contact me to rent some of my equipment from time to time.
Then I was dismissed with " I have to start editing a project" and out the door I went.
The company could have gotten this information on the phone or by going to my web site.
I did not have to waste my time and money going to their facility.
The Moral: Find out if a company is looking for information or help before you waste your time.
I won't make that mistake again.
I got a call from a student filmmaker. He wanted to edit some footage shot on a Panasonic Hi-Def P2 camera.
Great, I said, grab the camera, the P2 cards and come on over, "Don't you have a P2 reader" he said.
"No I don't" I answered, "but we'll fire wire right into the computer. "Oh, we rented the camera and don't still have it" was his reply.
Then he hung up the phone.
My client base is still SD, but if you are shooting HD and have a camera, I can capture the signal.
Or, if you have a budget, I'll rent the P2 reader. Either way, you're covered.
I just got a call to do a last minute shoot starting at 8PM.
I was asked to bring a camera (Canon XL- H1 HDV) tripod and some lights.
"Ok, no problem" I thought. I loaded up the station wagon and away I went.
The room was lit with 60 watt bulbs which are very yellow to my eye.
I did a quick "white Balance" for the room and we started shooting.
"Don't you want to set up some lights" called the director.
"Here. I said, look for yourself" and he came over to look through the view finder on the Canon.
The room looked at least 30% brighter. "It's the Canon Lens" I said, "they're great".
I finished the shoot without using any extra lights.
I got a call from a semi-major company who wanted to cut a 60 minute show to 30 minutes for viewing on TV.
I had to trim the show and add commercial breaks "Can you tell me how much the trim will cost?" she asked.
Based on what she laid out to me on the phone, I gave her a four hour time frame and a price.
When she showed up, she had eight boxes of Beta-SP tapes (her masters). "Ok" ,I said "Let's get started.
From the start, everything changed.
She didn't know what material she wanted to cut out and wanted to do a number of different tests.
Then, since the show was in Spanish (Mexican), she wanted to do English sub titles
(all in the same four hour time frame that I quoted) .
I told her that this was not what she had stated before and as you can imagine,
the four hours had come and gone.
I stopped the session and stated that she had used up her time
at which she stated that I told her that I could do the job in four hours.
I replied that she had never stated that she was actually rebuilding the entire show.
Finally, I simply stopped and told her that if she wanted the show finished it would cost her more money
and take at least four days, not four hours.
Brother, you should have heard her mouth.
She called me everything she could think of in two languages,
threatened to call her good friend at a major TV station,
and I would never work again in this business,
"Don't you realize that I have been a producer for twenty years in this business" she said.
I though that she may have done something in this business for twenty years,
but it wasn't being a producer.
I did not go into what I thought she had done.
So kiddies, never quote a finish time and quote a price
unless you have it on paper and signed off by you and the client.