Visualnary

Sorry for the lack of posts of late, it’s been a very busy time, a lovely summer break and finished off with a hacker attacking this site (and a number of others I am helping with). Sorry about that, all should be back to normal now.

Copyright is at the core of any creative’s profession. It makes sure we get paid for what we do. I am not going to enter the discussion on what is wrong with current copyright laws (and it sure does need some fixing), but have a brief discussion on what to do if someone actually steals your content. Lorelle from WordPress has written a very good and practical article on the issue, focusing on a blogger’s perspective.

First, gather evidence. Second, get in contact with the offending party, I would always stay civil. Do all your communication in writing. If the party chooses to ignore your demand, you can either hire a copyright lawyer, or if you are a member of a professional body/union, get them to sort it out for you. I think it is important to not let it slip.

Tags: copyright, protection, theft

Scott Simmons wrote an open letter to cameratechs, Please label tapes and disks: An open letter to DPs, camera ops, DITs. He pleads to label tapes/harddisks in the following matter:

a descriptor of the project

date of acquisition

resolution w/ progressive or interlaced

frame rate

acquisition codec

camera used

contact information for questions

notes

So a tape label might look like this:

Fluffo corporate video
6/25/09
1080i
29.97
HDV
Canon HV20
Michael Bey cell 555-1212
director shot 24p

All pretty reasonable, and should be adopted as common practice. Actually, I would suggest adding ratio, operator and sound information.

Download the pdf

I prepared a simple form in the popular .pdf format that you can download here: Tape card

I also added a line for ratio, pre-filled some standard values, and added some info as to sound. Feedback is very welcome!

You can print out a couple of these sheets, cut them in fourths and have them in the camera bag. Even when you are in a hurry, you can quickly give valuable information to the hard working editor. (If you have an inkjet printer, it might be an idea to get those labels photocopied, so that they will survive the rain you and your camera will have to endure.)

…and since we are into co-operation: An open letter to editors

Dear editors, it would be great if you could give us camerafolk some feed-back about the raw footage. Both what you liked (we are humans, too), what is useless, what would make your life easier, and any other form of constructive criticism. (And if you could make a copy of the finished edit in the highest possible quality, you are entitled to some serious cameraman love )

Tags: camera, camera report, diy, document, download, editors, eng, free, help, helper, label, labeling, pdf, printout, report, saviour, sheet, shooting, tape report, tapes

As a follow-up to yesterdays’s post on Clients not paying, here is one from the writer’s perspective – but that one works just as well for any one who has ever worked for “deferred payment.” I’ve done that mistake as well, and of the maybe dozen (mostly short) films I’ve done that way, I ended up getting paid exactly zero times. And I have never met a single sould who did end up getting some money from a deferred payment job.

If you need the experience, you may consider working for free – just do not fall for the production assistant’s crap promising money down the line. If a film by chance should turn out to be a financial success, any self-respecting producer will immediately start a new production company, sell all rights to the film to this new company, and can rake in all profits.

And when it is time to make the next, proper budgeted, film, guess who they will not call? You. Because if you work for free, you can’t be any good, right?

Harlan Ellison with sharp, sharp teeth

Ellison is a veteran Hollywood writer, and even he get occasionally asked to do freebies. Here is an extract from the documentary “Dreams with sharp teeth”

If you are intrigued as I was, have a look at the well made trailer:

It made me order the DVD.

Tags: deferred payment, fee, film production, free, freebie, harlan ellison, low budget, paying, payment, producer, production