HelsinkiZim

I wish we as consumers would react more vocally and in unison when the oligarchs play these petty games of taking away their toys. They should compete for market share by innovating rather than denial of services. I am sick of still having to find ways around limitations in all these ecosystems, when I know full well that everything I want to do could be fully supported on one PC, phone, camera, etc if the companies that slogan themselves as trying to change the world stopped trying to slow it down to maximise revenue. Bah humbug:/ Edit: ... and when a camera gets 'hacked', the consumer is telling the company to its face that it has not utilised the full potential of its offering and the response should not be to bury its head in the sand.

Like most people I have been spotting trends in what makes a movie successful these days. It seems like scores from review aggregates like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic can kill a movie dead in its tracks, straight to HDrip. The only hope a movie has of beating bad reviews is by hammering us with marketing for about 2 years, and this seems to only work for movies with big budgets like Batman vs Superman Dawn of Justice with loyal followings. Independent films with bad reviews seem to have no chance, even with cult success these days. Are all films these days stillborn without good reviews in tandem? Is there any point to making independent films with the odds of success worse than putting it all on black in some random casino in Vegas? Chances are probably better playing your local lottery and staying at home all day, no?

There is a great sense of tonality in this film, as you have been told already. I really enjoyed it! It feels like a good start to a bigger journey that I would happily tag along for the ride. In addition, it is a great testament to the narrative possibilities of the mk3 in the right hands. As for feedback, I was looking for an arc or a twist that pays off on the suggested relationship between the crumpled receipt (or popcorn?... it wasn't clear) and the texts. The theme is not that clear as to what the situation is, is it a thriller, love story or drama? Shorts don't necessarily need 3 acts, but there usually is a payoff that brings it all together and lets us know what is actually going on on a 'global' scale in relation to these characters you have introduced. It doesn't (I think) need more shots or details, just maybe more subtext in the text messages, more descriptive cuts and a more committed playfulness with the true (?) macguffin of the earrings. Through the earrings you are telling us everything about these people, their relationship, desires, past and future. The actor and direction (your skill) cannot really be faulted imo. Hope you meant you wanted feedback when you asked for it, thats mine!

Very nice images you captured! I would swear you had a slider and a jib, no? If not, good job! Did you go Natural or Cine D?... Pistol grip or two-arm gimbal?... Post stabilized?

I have formed an opinion over the years that humans are dumber than ants. Ants will religiously find the shortest possible route to food. I know this from my many years in Africa waking up to lines of critters leading to the smallest crumbs in our house. If you move the food you see, they will form a new path to something you didn’t clean in a corner. This can go on for days. Humans, on the other hand, will continue to go to the old source of food until they die of starvation. We are horrible at adapting to change. I feel our industry is smack in the middle of our own mini industrial/ agricultural revolution. We struggle because logic says you either go cheap (quantity) or go bespoke (quality) - but with todays kit you can seemingly do both. It defies the logic of everything we were taught at film school (if any of you got the lecture about the triangle with points of time, quality and cost - you can only choose two?). We are basically being Uber’ed. The question for me is, what new path should we be following to ensure we are all earning money in 10 years time? Specialise or diversify? Owner/ operate or rent? All of the above? Hmmm…. For those doing weddings and events in London, I would love to hear how the industry has developed. I filmed weddings and events in London circa 2005 and found that the sweet spot for securing clients was around 800 pounds. This was okay for me as it was a part time business as I had a full time job, but from all the folks I knew who were doing video, they either dissipated or moved to photography. With editing and filming the amount of time invested was crazy for the money, especially as you needed 2 cameras and at least an assistant to make anything cohesive and enjoyable to watch. There were a few players who demanded fees in the thousands, but for the average videographer I would guess its a zero sum game unless you can deliver the goods with SEO. I was on page one for a few months and got around an enquirer per week - one out of 2 turned into a meeting and most meetings turned into a booking. How are you folks coping these days with bookings, time management, marketing and profit? edit: FYI at the time I was all ego and no skill, and was basically learning as I went along. I would NOT advise this for anyone getting into filming peoples special day. Many successes but also many upsets (I remember coming home from a 'consultation' and having to google what a Jib was - the shame). I guess 10 years, many shoots and a masters degree later, my business competition is now who I used to be. edit: I also think I may be building a rep for verbose posts, my apologies, but its in my head and it must get out. I have no other industry friends in this city yet.

Thank for bringing this up, I think it is important to have dialogue about how people are making a living in the current video market. To an outsider, it sometimes may seem less achievable than it actually is. So thoughts of those cashing checks, however much they may be shrinking for some, are very encouraging. I can't give an opinion of where I live as I have just arrived. I have some ideas and assumptions, but that is all they are until I start pitching and networking. My question for you would be, if you had to start again from scratch in your city today - what kit would you invest in straight off the bat and what would you hire? I have come to the opinion that buying a camera is the last thing on the list to buy. (edit: given sharp devaluation and different needs for different briefs)

I think I wasn't clear, I was referring to sound in the headset - in the VR world, so if you turn your head and walk to another part of the room the sound of, say, a running faucet in the kitchen gets louder the closer you get to it. Or a conversation in a corner gets clearer when you move towards the chatters. I think for narrative human based VR, sound management would be key for an immersive experience... probably more so than anything else. I'll check it out now. The gamer benefits are pretty clear as VR is a natural progression from what have been developing in that arena for a long time. As to narrative work, as you mentioned, a 'choose you own adventure' style movie or short (with real humans interacting) would be a genuine breakthrough. Some people tried it with dvds and first person POV (I know porn tried it a loooong while back with My Plaything DVD series and it sounds like they are going to be the first to commercialise VR, so we should see what happens).

... also, does anyone see how a narrative would work in VR unless the audio changed with your perspective and proximity to what you are looking at? Is this something you can do... if you could, then it would be amazing to have mutiple things happening at once and you can walk around a scene and check out different storylines and view points.

Maybe I am a bit dim, but can someone explain the difference between 360° video and VR... or are they the same thing? Is it like how corporate video production is content creation, or commercials are branded storytelling - essentially millennial terminology that is 'sexing-up' producing a shoot with a 360° camera? edit: or is VR the technology that allows you to pan and zoom into a 360° video by moving your head (like you are a human mouse)? I am honestly a bit confused, I am looking into it now but any thoughts from someone who knows would be appreciated.

I saw this earlier and thought how bad things must be if users are telling their viewers to go to Youtube. It's not a good sign. But, I think it must have something to do with 4k. I first heard about 4k 2 years ago after being out of the loop for 4 years or so. When I looked into it everything was suggesting that there was no need to worry about updating or future proofing equipment because 4K would take a while to roll into the mainstream, like true HD did. But damn, a year later... 4K is here. I don't know if 4k is the viewing standard yet, but I imagine everyone and there mother is uploading 4K files to streaming sites and behinds the scenes they must be shitting their pants when they get their bandwidth and maintenance bills. This is probably how Vimeo is responding to cutting costs somewhere that doesn't leave bob, sue and peter out of a job or raising their prices... which would spark a mass exodus... which would leave bob, sue and peter out of job anyways. They must be going through a scary time, I have been a part of a company going under and it was not fun. Alphabet on the other hand can add another couple of zeros to their Youtube losses and play the long game. As we know, they have all the monies.

Yeah, the NX1 looks pleasing like canon... vs nightmare-in-post-to-get-to-a-look-like-canon. It's all moving back to saturation and sharpness from what I can see these last few months.

I don't mean to offend but everytime I see your profile pics I think of Howard Stern and Seth Rogen. In a really good way though!

Yeezus, tell me about it. Life of the artist.

That was great! Made me think of Predestination a little bit and the whole theme of time travel as a non stop loop. Is that what you were hinting at? I really enjoyed that...

Thanks for your feedback. Yeah, I looked into Redrock One Man Crew Director http://store.redrockmicro.com/OneManCrew.html , I just wished I could ascertain if it did a vertical 'jib' shot, but it unclear from the website. Its a pretty big rig to tilt on a single tripod? In my view the extra cost could possibly justify itself if I consider the cost of having a camera assistant on the shoots that need 2 cameras for an interview. I was just hoping for some slider knight in shining armor that I hadn't heard of. But as always, we have to pay out the nose for actually functional and sturdy gear. I am learning to accept this. I would build my own kit, but the time I would spend figuring that all out would be better spent elsewhere, like with my drone or stabilzation systems which are not necessarily must haves for my professional work (more like icing). For this I am happy to just get a solid system that does what I need it to do for one fiscal cycle, with warranty and equipment insurance. By the way, have you used or heard of Syrp Genie system https://syrp.co.nz/products/genie? Edit: Edelkrone seems the way to go. I will look into the sound issues to see how the can be circumvented or gated in post. Thanks!

I would like some advice as to which (automated) slider system you would suggest I invest in. It is for corporate work - real estate, interviews and the occasional timelapse. I won't have an assistant so I would like to focus on camera A while the slider does the work in an interview scenario. I like the idea of the curved slider for interviews with mechanics that keep frame of the subject (curved, or not?). I also would like to buy a straight automated slider for more traditional tracking shots. But is there something that does both? What are you all using on paid shoots? I would like to spend less than a grand on both, or it. But as always cheapest option that gets the job done is paramount. Thanks for your advice(s) in advance.

I would like to start a list of youtube channels that we frequent for our education. I'll go first: ARRIChannel Cammon Randle Cooper Films Dave Dugdale DigitalRev TV DP/30: The Oral History Of Hollywood Every Frame a Painting Mattias Burling MrCheesyCam Tom Antos RocketJump Film School

This is officially off topic for all but Kaylee, but- I would love to see some of your work, do you have anything online? One of the biggest disappointments for me is not having watched enough video art work at my time at SAIC. Their video data bank probably could be the worlds largest source of inspiration for creative video producers, period. http://www.vdb.org/ Advertising agencies know this, but not many others follow video artists as much as they should. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160205-when-ads-go-too-far I remember spending hours in the video data bank screening room (circa 1998) watching Mathew Barney, Sadie Benning, Vito Acconci, and a host of other video artists and being blown away. Although I never really fully explored the creative side of video, and went into corporate and events (weddings), it really was a exciting time in my life making video art and analysing pieces with my peers. The last artist I remember going mainstream was Bill Viola. I went to his exhibit and it was a whole world devoted to his weird and wonderful snippets, all projected onto walls, canvases, cloth and floors. I would love to experience something like that again. Are their other artists I should look into that are currently doing interesting work besides yourself? Are there any forums or communities where video artists commune online? if so could you send me some links?

Paraphrase: Capitalism; we dig, dig, dig and kill every last resource... when will we realize that, in the end, we cannot eat money. That is going in the journal.

I think people tend to compare what's happening with film with music. i think they are 2 different beasts. I am trying to put forward a mature debate, but I am sure there are some that will frown upon it: but I think we should really, dare I say, look to the pornography industry to predict our future distribution models. They rode the wave of piracy and managed to form some sort of general order. I am sure all the top steaming companies and film distribution companies have an employee that follows developments in this industry, or they should. I can almost guarantee VR will be big there first, even if we try to ignore it, and smart money would watch what happens to that industry to see how VR will develop. We forget they were also the first with successful VHS, dvd and streaming distribution models. I watched a documentary by James Franco about Kink.com and they are killing it financially because they focus on one niche. Not a great documentary so I wouldn't recommend it, but it seems the only porn sites that can still command a premium monthly membership are sites that are super focused on a particular demographic.

Edit: i found the article I wanted to share that got me thinking about solutions last year! These guys made a film for 12 000 dollars and marketed it to the dancing niche and made 50 000. There, I have proof finally that it may work:/ https://library.creativecow.net/williams_gex/microbudget_filmmaking_benefits/1 I think you have the answer right there. Creative niche productions. If you thought of a film for the art audience, which you know and understand, and created a fan base (not a large one) - instead of one big film or show that conquers the world, you could service your followers with many low budget productions that you market directly to them. We all know that low budget doesn't need to be crap quality anymore if you chose your talent and locations wisely. I'm trying to be positive, I know it seems like we are in a dying industry, but why don't we accept video is now a commodity (and not an specialised product) that is trending to free. We can start to try different approaches and reprogram our dreams. I really think we should look at what people are doing with ebooks, many have made a living. Ebooks are not so easy to sell anymore, but video may be at the stage it was 5 years ago (Circa 50 Shades of Gray was the high point of self publishing I think). Before you create a film you should already know how you are going to market it yourself. Check out sites like warriorforum, blackhatworld and stacktahtmoney to simply get an idea of how some people are marketing low cost products online in the trenches (ebooks, pinsubmits, game downloads, facebook ads, etc.) which is where we are, and not through traditional channels. I must stress, these guys are selling stuff most would call spam. But a few have managed to make good livings and that is a fact. I know its so odd for most to look at film without emotion like this, but I really think we need to start adopting these kind of hats if we ever want to make a living selling creative work. Im sure corporte video will remain unchanged, but creative projects are in dire straits. Even the OPs article says distributors are expecting the filmmaker to market their film. This investor says flat out that the gap between the strategies of filmmaking and internet marketing is a major hindrance to their combined success, because nobody is fully embracing them both at the same time. http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2015/02/08/why-most-online-video-companies-will-fail/ The filmmaker creates a product that is final and cannot be changed and the tech guy is obsessed testing different angles and strategies until they hit ROI. Unfortunately, when a filmmaker tries to create and market their product they cannot adopt that mindset and vice versa. No one can figure it out and I think we should try. I have a feeling about this approach, but I may be wrong and wishfully thinking. In that case we are doomed, or im not smart enough to give you a suggestion.

You should seriously consider creating a course. There are probably a lot of young people that would pay to learn the secrets of youtube success. A lot of the training currently given is regarding how to emulate hollywood productions, from Tom Antos for example. But a down and dirty youtube 'sell out' course I haven't seen. I have seen courses for how to use video to sell other products, rank video etc. But not for how to create bespoke videos purely for views and ad bucks. Then again, this would take time and effort and the rewards would be once off, but you should consider it if/when your niche starts to die down. And you have already learnt the first rule of fight club; don't reveal your niche.

I'll play! I say something in the toddler zone. Am I warm or way off? My kid is 2 and I am constantly amazed at the ingenuity of some of you youtubers when it comes to kids videos. A video of a person opening surprise eggs to reveal toys has 223,181,749 views in less than one year. Anyways, thank you for your response. I think it sheds light on some other areas of video that people sometimes feel intimidated to explore. For some its easier to imagine making a creative short as creatives are naturally introverted and prefer to work without criticism until final delivery. that kind of continual dialogue with your audience, with comments, instant view counts to measure success and such would shut most people down. But it actuality may be even harder to crack the mainstream path than 'selling out' by following the whims of the audience.

Sorry folks, I should have posted it in the creative section of the site but only realised after I posted:/ It probably seems cryptic because I was in that industry as a hobby for too long and filming seminars for 'gurus' who were selling the DVDs. The marketing BS speak sticks with you unfortunately. Whether methods actually work is a crap shoot. I agree that the way you mention is most likely the only true and tested way to find success, as it has been since the industry began. But I just remember there were always niche distributors for horror, blaxplotation, etc that targeted the straight to video market. I was wondering if everyone is focusing on the larger picture and ignoring niche opportunities that can be marketed in a more affordable way than trying to reach the mainstream.

Someone on Quora pointed me to this site https://www.vhx.tv/ maybe its the one you are talking about? But I still think you would be better off self publishing. I just saw this article today about ebook self publishing and think it holds true to video http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35482345