If your not listening to the Freakonomics Podcast your missing out on some interesting insight.
This recent episode of Freakonomics Radio was an interesting one about customer service which is what a good freelance editor delivers ontop of the technical and artistic skills. The Social scientist prove what most in our industry almost always fail to appreciate, cost and quality are related.
When I get request for a quote occasionally some potential clients will inquire, "why is your quote and rate higher than.." Then, I explain that it's usually a worst case scenario guestimate, factoring in some contengency time and trying to anticipate some problems that has occured in my past experiences.
About my rate, I use the analogy of a general contractor quoting for some work on your house. "Never use the cheapest quote, that guy is usually the problem/unexperienced craftsmen."
Unfortunatly, sometimes some clients don't take my advice and the outcome is usually not satisfatory and they inquire a few months later with a request for a Fix-this-mess-Quote.
The Guidestones project has been a getting lots of great reviews. If you haven't checked it out. Join. I give it my "Sopranos recommend", watch 3 epidosdes and if you hate it, stop watching. it's not for you.
My previous Blog post about the Guidestones postproduction got me some great verbal feedback (write something in the comments if you like this or hate it). People seemed to enjoy getting a behind the scenes look at the process. So, when I got an episode to post up on my reel I decided to go back through my notes and communications with the director about episode 35 (officially released as Episode 29 in the series) and give some more info on the Behind the scenes of a low budget post process, the story end of it anyways.
Because Jay Ferguson, the director/producer, was around the globe shooting, we used the email for notes/feedback. I would assemble and rough cut based on the script, try to sort out any tech or MIA footage with the post crew. Then post up a locked Vimeo version of my cuts for him to screen from wherever hotel/motel he was in the world.
So, I initiated my search for Guidestones notes episode 35 (released as ep 29)... "nothing". Curious.
I am an email hoarder, so I went my backup email program that I use as a catch all/archive... "nothing". Well, technically not nothing. This email:
Date 17 April, 2011 8:32:27 PM EDT
"This is cool....toss some dramatic music in and we should see what happens....do we need a couple feet / blurry running shots? At the end?" J
If anybody knows Jay, he isn't a man of few words. So, I looked at the early episode notes (ep. 1-8), to compare. There was lots of back and forth for the first 2 episodes but a significant falloff on volume after those episodes. The notes transformed or evolved into a more coach on the sidelines of a game style or even better it was more like a conductor of an orchestra; "Faster", "Slower", "Good".
At some point in the process most of my successful projects have had this type of relationship. Trust.
A good director/client after the "tonal" tweaks of the beginning starts conducting not micro managing a.k.a. "use this shot", "cut that head move out" , (insert your favorite post production cliche). They trust you to put forth the best shots, performance even reference music. Not Blind Trust but a confidence that your choices are valid.
I have been a little lucky and I realize now that I seek out that type off relationship and if my gut tells me that this is not going to be that type of situation. I walk away. And in all fairness, me and Jay have worked together for a while, so this type of Trusting collaboration happens a little earlier in the process. Or in this case, I can jump in as the process has already started. (see previous blog).
So, when you look at the evolution of the episodes cuts ,you don't see the obvious drastic changes in alternate cuts, but the more critical eye can see the subtle tweaks, push and pull in the story and pace. More importantly you still see that the essence of the episodes and its initial rough cut story. The tone is still in there (my responsibility on this project). The color on the walls of the house has changed but the support beams have not been touched.
A things that I thought were interesting: Final is 1 minute shorter than rough but pacing is the same, music tone changes feel of final scenes and reaction shots change interaction of characters (I think if you watch the series you'll get it). Here is the final episode.
As a filmmaker, I find this type of subtle comparison more helpful than the wacky scene that obviously doesn't work that was left on the cutting room floor (see Bill Paxton scene in Aliens).
I have had this Blog post in draft mode for the last few months now. As I was finished listening to Episode 53 of The Back to Work Podcast, I realize that I was listening to the "Return of the Jedi" podcast for freelancers editors.
Which means that Ep. 51 is "The New Hope" & Ep 52 is the Pana-ultimate-cast "Empire Strikes Back"! So if your only going to listen to one of te podcast's, you should listen to that one. My struggling with this post was finished. I am not a writter, so why not just leave it to the pros. They pretty much hashes out all my thoughts and more on the subject of what I like to call the "Invisible".
Please read at your own risk the draft of my thoughts on Freelance intagngable that most Productions don't take into account when picking someone to craft their project in the most important final stages.
(Begining of Draft)
I was recently chatting with a peer of mine about software (FCP X and 3D packages), post work in general and the state of working freelance in the film industry when I started to talk about that INVISIBLE factor. It is the invisible advantage that hiring someone like me (meaning someone with a certain level of experience) versus someone who can just operate a software package (Thanks Mr.Jobs you made my life easier but you made some people think that they don't have to "study" film to make film*).
I know that this is treading weird waters as I find it hard to write about this because it isn't a tangeble. Also, I don't think that there isn't a place for the "machine operator" as I call them. Moreover, I don't pretend that I don't opperate the machine and you should strive to know your tool to it's fullest so that it isn't stopping you or slowing you down from the task at hand. BUT, I know that most of my regular clients appreciate the INVISIBLE that I bring to the table. I think Malcom Gladwell touches on this on his book (which I haven't finished reading yet).
I don't really have to explain this to my current repeat offender clients but the new clients that come for a quote always seem to look at it from a dollar and cents perspective. Rarely do they look at how far their dollar spent is going to seen in the result of the footage.
One last thing on this I-Factor, the I might be for INSURANCE. What I always say to my clients, is that your paying for insurance that if there is a "road block" or something doesn't go as planned, you loose some footage,... any of the thousand of situations that happen on a film production. The more experienced, seasoned individual has that set of invisible tools to deal with that situation.
The sad and sometimes frustrating part of this is that the productions that don't run into a bad experience never really see the advantage of the INVISIBLE; since they completed the show, commercial or movie without the drama of a disater but one will never know how great it could have been if they hired someone with the INVISIBLE.
* What I mean by study film is not necessaraly go to schoold but read, eat sleep film. Really study it as a craft.
(end of draft)
The Invisible factor: Puppet elevate's the average actingfrom Good to Great.
I appologize if this isn't the most polished post, but like I said, I am not a writer. My stregth is writting with pictures, a soundtrack, ect... I am just "Shipping it"!
I just finished watching the Guidestones web series. It such a great interactive journey that I won't try to describe. They explain it better than me...
Last year, I was brought on board of a project from one of my old filmmaking friends, Jay Ferguson.We have worked on many projects over the years and our relationship goes back to film school. (now that is a long time!)
Jay had already consulted with me about technical issues surrounding the production when it was in the pre-production phase. So, when he invited me on the project, I knew that this project seemed to be rather unique. I was busy at the time but I accepted to get involved because he always seems to work on those "out of the box" projects that I enjoy working on. I was brought on with about one third of the project was already in the "can" and Jay was busy shooting around the world, literally (United States & India).
So, my job on this one was to put the narrative storyline, pace and tone of the episodes together. Pretty basic stuff, or so I thought. Besides the challenge of packing in a story in 3 minutes, it became apparent that the story had an online element that branched off into various media that had alternate cuts. My first impression was "what great high end production value of footage for a webisodic". Also, the acting and story were ambitious and complex and I could see how the active interaction with the web searches would add to experience of watching the series.
Dug up some early cuts of concept stuff that I worked on as I was setting up the feel and pace. Here is a Prologue that I cut that ended up on the cutting room floor but you can still echoe's of it in the opening of episode 1.
On the technical side, rarely was a scene that didn't have more than 2 cameras rolling and the episodes ranged from 3- 1 min which has it's own challenges because the scenes were cinematic, intense and had to be watched in short span of time and convey a puzzle piece of a narrative nugget. So, most of the time you had to edit 2 or more angles that were not coverage angle in a standard shot counter-shot but used as a filmmaking device. Jay explained to me that it should have a feel like they are always being watched, so I used lots of partially abstructed and odd camera angles as possible, coupled with a lot of cuts. When you sign up to watch it you'll appreciate the scope.
Here is another version of the Prologue from the cutting room floor.
We ran into many speedbumps like media management (Multiple editors in remote locations), multicam sync or various camera formats, back up data and general workflow sync as episodes finalized. In hinesight, I see now that most of the solutions were right out of the Making of Cold Mountain book with some modern fixes that are unique to Final Cut Pro Studio 2.
Basically, Guidestones is made up of over 50 episodes which the running time exeeds a feature length and has all the added problems of the online environment. One of the more subtle challenges was making sure that the web nest eggs were in place and all the media was managed to not leave out any elements. We used some master documents and some very key members of the post crew glued the project together and aided me in getting my part done. (Thom Smalley, Jenna McMillan, Sam Thomson and many more after I did my part)
I only worked on the project in its infancy when I look at the final project it is has "graduated University"; but the skeleton is still intact of my contribution (which is interesting to see). Moreover, the visual polish, soundtrack, sound mix, motion effects and graphics are motion picture quality. So don't expect a handycam, low budget or Youtube cat movie experience. I found some interesting rough cut ideas that we worked through, interesting to compare with the final episode.
It is true hard to describe the experience of watching the episodes but I highly recommended it since it is for the active viewer. I just finished watching the episodes in the push format via email as it was intended to be seen. Very engaging.
This year was a bigger projects year but less volume which is good for my creative health. After buying a house/relocating my office space and doing some renos. The year ended quietly.
Here is some of the work I produced this year but unfortunatly, 2 of the bigger projects are under Non Disclosure Agreements, but I will post up when they are released.
CRIBSIDE.CA: By far the best thing I worked on this year since it wasn't purly for entertainment but for a good cause. A small group of pastionate Fathers (myself included) collaborated to produce a Website to help new Dads, please pass it on to expecting Fathers and Mothers.
SHAW FESTIVAL 50TH ANNIVERSARY PROMO: A Historical Review of the Shaw Festival.
OTMP: Short series of films exploring Ontario Tourism
Now I should get Back to Work (also the name of a great productivety Podcast that I have been binging on as I renovated) and find the next Great thing to work on... Have a great year!
As the Holiday Season nears; I remember last year's Christmas eve, when my wife and I were preparing the house for Santa. I suggested to my wife that we put on a Christmas movie to play in the background. I was all Grinched out and I like to watch Albert Finney's Scrooge in the morning. So, leafing through my DVD binder. I stumbled upon a hidden gem. Yippikaye Santa!
Honestly, it started as a "husband joke" but the more I made my arguments the clearer it became Die Hard is a Christmas movie!
It' s got all the element of a Christmas movie.
1- The basic plot is about a Jimmy Stewart-like Father who is trying to run back to his familly after he realizes the mistake that he has made. (This sorta gets lost in the gun fire, running on glass and exploding Building.) Also, a little girl (aka Cindy Loo Who) who wants a Christmas miracle.
2- Lots of christmas music (Winter Wonderland, Let it Snow and the timeless Christmas in Hollis by Run-DMC, classic)
3- A Grinch like bad guy who try to stop Christmas from coming (The Germans and the Black nerd from Matlock) by stealing the loot/gifts.
The Studio's Scroogy greed is to blame for not releasing this Mistletoe classic in its rightfully season. I remember first watchting this movie in Summer Blockbuster season. Christmas in July?! Pure Greed. 20th Century expect a visit from 3 ghosts on Christmas eve.
It seems that I am not the only one that thinks this is a Christmas Movie.
Also check it out for it's great Speilberg hermetic story telling (John McTiernan) and Jan Debonts bold use of Anamorphic flares... but I wouldn't want to spoil this holiday classic.
