Going Pro: A New Series

This series is about how to start a successful video production company in 40 weeks.  Forty seems like an odd number in this situation.  Sure, it’s four groups of ten and there are plenty of lists of 10—ten best, ten worst, ten tips, ten commandments….  Groupings of ten just work.  But that’s not why I picked 40 weeks.  It’s the length of a human pregnancy, the ultimate metaphor of creation.  And that was one of the little earthquakes that rattled my world: my wife had just gotten pregnant.  (Okay, that sounds like she did it all by herself when in reality I’m at least 50 percent responsible—50… 50… hmm, that’s a good number.)  

 

In 40 weeks I had to not only start a company, but make it successful.

"Let go of your day job; 

live off your videography"

What do I mean by successful? I believe that anyone who makes money at their craft—whether it’s $25 a shoot or $2500—has earned the right to call themselves a professional. But I’m setting the bar higher for this series.   By successful I mean you’re positioned to let go of your day job and live off your videography work. 

This Going Pro series outlines the steps, theories, and practical bits that went into my 40-week evolution from part-time photographer to full-time videographer/photographer.  It's not a road map, precisely, because there are many ways to make this journey. It's more like a suitcase for the journey.  A suitcase that someone else has packed for your journey, full of surprises-- and hopefully vitally useful items.  The series will spread out over the next three months or so.

To accomplish this in 40 weeks you must have some knowledge of videography.  If you don’t, you better add another “pregnancy” to your timeline in order to get up to speed on the technical aspects., because this isn’t for absolute beginners.

Nor is this for established cinematographers (in fact, I hope some of them chip in to make this series more useful). This is designed for skilled crafts-people who are planning to make the leap into a professional career.  This includes the business structures, strategies for reaching clients, the products I use the most, and advanced techniques that will help separate you from the hobbyist.

"Nuts and bolts of business and art"

So I won’t write about 3 point lighting; but I’ll may discuss 4-point lighting, which is the difference between an amateur lighting design and a beginning professional.  I won’t talk about how set up a website; but I may write about what should be included and how to coordinate across web platforms.  I’ll dig into the nuts and bolts of contracts; I’ll balance production approaches with business methodology.  But mostly—and I hope most usefully—I’ll give a blow-by-blow account of the steps I took to establish a production company. I believe a honest personal account can yield more gems than a dry instructional guide… and is harder to come by even in these days of self-promotion.

I’ll post at several times a week.  It may take a few entries before the meat and potatoes of “how to” start to appear.  But trust me, there’s a method to the madness of going pro. 

Next post: we’ll get in the time machine. We’re story-tellers; we need to start at the beginning.

Aputure VS-5 Monitor - 180 Review

These days I feel that most of my video errors in the field are due to the small screen on the A7sii. Under intense working conditions it’s impossible to see everything you need to in the viewfinder (my preferred method) or LCD.  Back home scrubbing the footage on the computer I suddenly discover tangles of wires, a passerby in the distance-- or worst of all, a piece of my own equipment in the background....

The Aputure VS-5 is a 7” monitor that’s designed to solve that problem.  How well does it do?

First off, any many have noted it’s packed with professional tools like Zebras, Vectorscope,  Peaking, Histogram, Monochrome, Waveform, and False Colors.  The 1920 x1200 HD display is beautifully sharp for a 7-inch screen.  And it’s plenty bright to my eye.  It has both HDMI and SDI inputs, making it functional for professional cameras.  Aputure is known for being customer centric, and they don’t disappoint here.  They provide everything you need to maximize your experience: sun hood, carry bag, and a variety of cords.  Everything except batteries, which I find a bit odd.  But! it uses the omnipresent Sony NP-F/FM/QM Series type batteries, so they’re cheap and you may have a few of them lying around anyway.  I did.

The unit is surrounded by vents around the side, and I was surprised to find it gets a little warm.  Not hot, mind you, so it’s not a problem-- but warm.  The menus are easy to use and navigate.  The unit feels reasonably sturdy.

For all those pluses, there are some drawbacks and considerations.  While some of the tools-- Zebras, Peaking, and Histogram-- I find to be incredibly useful in the field; others like Vectorscope and Waveform are tools I traditionally use in post.  The way I shoot, I don’t expect to use those two in the field.  It takes a very controlled environment to adjust for waveforms.  Because I shoot with a Sony A7sii which has zebras, peaking, and histogram functions built in, my monitor is most useful for seeing the big picture and sharing with the producer. In other words, the "non-professional" tools.

The Aputure doesn’t have built-in LUTs for SLOG, so if that’s something you rely on you’ll be frustrated.  Even worse, SLOG footage becomes unsuitable for the producer’s eyes.  The unit also suffers from a slight lag.  It’s more of an occasional distraction than debilitation, so some folks may not be bothered by it. 

Should You Get One?

As always, the answer to that question has a lot to do with how you shoot.  For $500, the Aputure has a lot of professional features and is well-built and well-designed.   If you want those features it's a great unit and a bargain.  I like that it provides a well-designed sunscreen... one of those equipment bits that are frustratingly expensive when bought separately. 

If you shoot in less controlled environments however-- weddings, events, or just in situations where there isn’t a lot of time (which is typically the case for me)-- you probably won’t use those features.  And your camera may already have them built in.  It’s definitely an investment, and to me it feels like the VS5 falls uncomfortably between a $200 budget monitor and a $1200 monitor/recorder that also give you better footage (rather than better viewing).  I’m not sold on it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not right for some people.

180 Review: Redragon Gaming Mouse for Video Editing

Video editor controllers like the Shuttle Pro 2 and the Palette are designed to speed up your work by putting all your short cuts, macros, and controls at your fingertips.  I recently upgraded by laptop editing system, which is a vast improvement in every department except the touchpad and mouse.  The Left-Right buttons are stiff and overly specific.  Working on a budget, I decided to get the Redragon Perdition gaming mouse a go.

What I like:

• All the controls are in my right hand.
• 16 programmable buttons.  That’s pretty much all you need.  I can “Control + Click + Drag” all in one motion.
• Five profiles, which means I can have one profile for my editor, a second with shortcuts programmed for After Effects, and another for daily computer use.  I don’t know what I’ll use the other two profiles for.
• Good cheap entry into video controllers
• Color-coded profiles help you keep track

What’s less than perfect:

• Most of the buttons are under my thumb, which makes my forefinger tense up for control-- which sometimes results in an unplanned left-click.
• I wish it had a second scroll wheel for scrubbing through the timeline 

What’s up for grabs:

• I can edit more quickly and fluidly on the Redragon mouse than I can on my stiff-moused laptop, but the jury is still out on how it compares to a well-designed laptop. 

Final thoughts:

The Redragon Perdition mouse is a great entry point into the controller world, and I’ll definitely be using mine.  I’d prefer having most of the buttons on a finger keypad rather than under the thumb, so I may explore some other options after I’ve mastered this.  It’s great for learning your shortcuts and macros.

Whoa! What happened?!?

How come nothing got posted since July 28th? The answer, of course, is the image above... a new addition to the Walker family.  Evander Ecco Palan Walker arrived on August 17th and that pretty much took care of my postings for a while.  But big changes are afoot for this blog in 2017.  The announcement won't come until February, I suspect, but new directions are in the works that I hope will reinvigorate this blog (and your photography-videography passion).  I am by no stretch of the imagination a newborn photographer (and my hat comes off to all of them), but until then....

Two Types of B-Roll

Up until this past week I really only thought of B-roll (the non-subject matter footage in a video) one way.  It was a filler meant to add depth-- through contrasting visuals or supportive ones-- to the main footage.  It was a moving snapshot: the fidgeting hands of a speaker, the cut-away to what they're describing.  All of these are shot one way... as snapshots.

But in working on my current project, a promotional video for a local company, I realized that my footage needed to be much more.  It needed to tell a story, too.  To do so, I needed the footage to follow basic shot format: a wide establishing shot followed by close-ups and points of view. The sequence of shots needed to have the same continuity; I couldn't jump from an establishing shot to a close-up of an entirely different moment.  It needed to cut on the action.  The narration was in support of the b-roll, not vice-versa.

Not all B-roll requires this level of structure; often times, the simple "snapshot" does exactly what it's supposed to.  But now I'm on the lookout for times when the b-roll is the narrative, rather than the support.

Editor in Chief - Hilton Worldwid Anniversary Video

Tim from Hilton Worldwide approached me with an unusual project.  Okay, it was unusual in several respects-- first, that an international company based outside of Los Angeles, the film and video capital of the world, would reach out to a small videocompany in Oakland; second was the nature of the video itself.  They wanted to create a 50^th anniversary tribute for Greg, one of their vice presidents, utilizing cell phone video greetings from employees all across the U.S.  From the outside it wasn’t so unusual... but lift the hood and you immediately see the problems.  Multiple “videographers,” using a variety of poor equipment, in a wide range of environments, producing a breathtaking spectrum of quality. What videographer could say no?

My first goal was to try and create some consistency in the video itself.  So I created a “best practice” guide for my crew of amateur camera people.  It looked like this:

It’s impossible, of course, to turn novices into experts with just a set of guidelines.  And there were dozens of “rules” I omitted (some to my downfall... such as “no vertical videos”).  To boot, some folks roundly ignored my guide, shooting from the hip, so to speak.

Step two was a framework for the responses.  Tim and I talked about the tone of the piece, who Greg was, his outstanding achievements, and work habits.  Tim wanted something filled with humor and appreciation.  Originally, there were to be eight pairs of people on camera.  I created sets of questions (no more than 4 per person), and we divided them across geographic regions.  The number of people quickly multiplied, as did the length of the piece.  Soon, I had over an hour of footage from 25+ individuals.  Audio levels ranged from barely audible to loudspeaker, and background noise from air conditioner hum to convention floor.  

The trick, then, was to construct as much “story” as possible among the different speakers.  I divided the video into topic sections, and focused my edits along common themes, letting multiple people tell the same story whenever possible.  No one was ever under the illusion that this was going to be a polished “showroom” piece.  But Hilton was thrilled with the final result; the rough edges were authentic and heartfelt rather than glossy.  The sentiment was exactly what they wanted to convey to Greg, and the “tone” said “Hilton.”

Color Grading Slog Video - Without the Headache

For me, Slog profiles are both a siren and a curse.  I'm drawn to the promise of greater dynamic range and the protection from blow-outs; I'm demoralized by the difficulty of transforming Slog 2 and Slog 3 footage into vibrant, rich video.  Admittedly, I'm not the greatest of color graders; most of us aren't.  In fact, I suspect that much of the "stylized" color grading I see is simply an effort to cover up the fact they couldn't create a natural looking image.  I'm sick of green-hued images.  But I can't throw stones because I have the same difficulty-- even after 20 minutes of futzing with levels, color wheels, and contrast, I'm dissatisfied. So what the heck is wrong with Slog footage and how can I grade better and faster?

I don't have an answer to the first question.  The problem is probably me.  To give myself a break, photos are rarely as pug-ugly as Slog 3 images, and the tools in Lightroom and Photoshop are much much better.  But I have figured out a great way to quickly grade my footage to an even more satisfactory level than before. 

Personally, I think the Sony a7Sii color is a bit wonky.  Not all the time-- but sometimes there's a muted hue, and it's on full display when you color grade from Slog. So here's a technique I've discovered:

1. Before shooting your footage, take a photo of the scene.  Make sure it's properly exposed, since your camera settings for Slog may be too far to the "right," i.e. slightly blown out for still photography.
2. Now film in your Slog profile of choice.  Whenever you move to a different scene, take another photo.
3. Import both the photo and the video into your video editor; I use Sony Vegas Pro.
4. I believe all the major editors have a color-match function.  In Sony Vegas, open the Color Match FX to apply the photo color to the video. Be sure to tick the "match brightness" box.  It should look like this:

 

If you're unfamiliar with this tool, I'd suggest Google for a more complete explanation.  But quickly, the Source Image will be your photo (the color you want); I make sure the still image is on the Preview screen and then click "Preview" to capture it.  The Target is your video; I bring up the video on the monitor and hit Preview in the Target box.  The color adjusted image will appear in the Result section. 

This will get you 80% of the way there.  Typically, I use the Levels FX to bring the image into perfect exposure.  If you don't know how to use a Waveform scope, learn, because it's amazing.  And for a little extra punch I'll boost the overall saturation using the Color Corrector, and individual colors using AAV Color Lab.

Here's a before image of the footage:

It's the typical washed out footage of Slog 3.  Now here's the color matched and tweaked image:

The great thing is that this only took an extra 15 seconds during filming, and about two minutes of grading in post. After tweaking the levels and saturation, the resulting image is better than the original photo.

While I've known about the Color Match feature for a while, I only now just thought to apply it to my Slog footage utilizing a reference image.  It's really the same technique film photographers used to employ, taking a Polaroid to check exposure.