can you share or help me with getting Natuer Footage ?

M

mfilms

New member
I’m an aspiring filmmaker. I live in NYC.
I have been working on a documentary project for the past year.
The proj ect is about Omar Khayyam a 11th-12th Century Persian poet. It’s about his life and his time.

You can learn more about the project on this Temp. web site.

www.net2infinity.com\khayyam

I’m also working with 6 musicians who are making original music for the Film. These pieces combined with voices of Khayyam’s poetry are going to be used in the documentary as well. This is one small sample of the music (30 seconds)

http://www.net2infinity.com/ss/zulal30.aif

The music is going to be used over the nature footage to create a sense/fell of khayyam's poetry.

Why I’m contacting you?

I’m looking for nature footage that deals with 4 elements that Khayyam talked about in his poetry

Water – Wind – Fire – Dust/Earth

To make a long story short. After a year, I’m broke. I cannot travel and go shooting nature footage on location. So I’m in desperate need of nature footage

I shot in 24p & 60! 4x3 using dvx100b NTSC.

I like to know if you can share some of your footage for film credit and copy of the film?

I have approached all the big houses begging for footage in exchange for credits and thus far I had no luck ..

I require about Total 15-20 minutes of footage of the following or anything similar to these scenes. (not from each 2 – 3minutes from each of these scenes would suffice)

shot of fire – natural fire – or man made fire
Shot of wind – Or dust being carried by the wind
Shot of leafs, flowers. Flower petals floating on a lake or river –
Shot of waterfalls –
Shot of flower beds across the plain – or mountain
Shot of deserts
Footprints on the sand
Sunrise – sunsets
Bodies of waters
Winter Storms
Winter shots – Covered landscape


I know you must be busy with your own projects, but could you possibly help me or know people who can .. please let me know ,,


Thanking you in advance
 
hey there,

just an idea, if you don't have any luck, buy a few artbeats dvds. Might cost you a grand, but it would definately fill your need
 
With all due respect, I feel you are expecting way too much. Especially for free.

If you want the footage, you should pay for it. I am not surprised at the response you have been getting from all of the "big houses". That footage was not created for free. It has value and you should be willing to pay for it if you really want it.

To expect an offer of named credit and a copy of the finished product as payment is an insult to the amount of effort which went into getting the footage in the first place.

Maybe if you had put your priorities in proper perspective, you would not have wasted time with so many musicians...or maybe your project ,at this point, is better marketed for radio rather than in a visual medium.

You admit you are new to documentary production. It's time you learn some basics.

All of us start out with a budget, big or small.

The idea is to complete your project within that budget.

If not...your doc never gets finished.

But you know that now.

My suggestion. Get the financing and buy what you need.

You are wasting time and hurting your final product expecting "free".
 
Lensmith said:
If you want the footage, you should pay for it. I am not surprised at the response you have been getting from all of the "big houses". That footage was not created for free. It has value and you should be willing to pay for it if you really want it.

Maybe if you had put your priorities in proper perspective, you would not have wasted time with so many musicians...or maybe your project ,at this point, is better marketed for radio rather than in a visual medium.
Click to expand...

Dude, that's way harsh. I know the point of tough love and all that but if this person is asking for help then yelling at them doesn't really improve matter. A concise "You're probably not going to get the stuff for free" would do.

As to the footage that you need I might be able to show you where to get some of them (website that offers free samples and such). Just PM me and I'll see what I can do.
 
jade8472 said:
Dude, that's way harsh. I know the point of tough love and all that but if this person is asking for help then yelling at them doesn't really improve matter. A concise "You're probably not going to get the stuff for free" would do.

As to the footage that you need I might be able to show you where to get some of them (website that offers free samples and such). Just PM me and I'll see what I can do.
Click to expand...

My thoughts were not intended as "harsh". They were intended to help a person understand there is more to doing a documentary than making music or panhandling for important video needed to finish their labor of love.

One of the biggest problems with people who make documentaries is they never finish them. They waste time. Both their own and others by not doing some basic, realistic planning.

You may or may not be surprised to know there are all kinds of people who claim they are making a documentary, yet feel they also don't have to worry about paying for anything. It should all be "free" because of their "noble efforts".

Some simple realities will help keep others from making the same mistake and, by knowing this, actually complete their projects instead of having them abandoned due to poor planning.

Did the company who makes the camera they are shooting their documentary with give them the camera for free or did they pay for it? Either buy or renting it?

Did the company who sold them the gas to get to and from different locations give them their product for free or did they require a fair payment in return? Did they get a free car?

Did the airline that they flew on to get to their foreign country location give them the ticket for free so they could produce their documentary or did that big bad airline stand firm and made them buy a ticket just like everyone else?

The list goes on and on. Why then do many of these same people now feel they can get something that cost money to produce for free?

Maybe I should be going on here asking people to give me their camera gear to use for free so I don't have to buy my own. Maybe I should just expect all camera people to give me their footage for free so I can produce my own projects. Why do they deserve any compensation for taking the time out of their lives to get to those locations and capture good quality video, then preserve it as well as maintain their camera equipment for future work. They don't deserve any money for their hard work...or do they?

I feel they, and I, do.

Especially nature footage which takes even longer to shoot because of the need for more perfectly timed conditions rather than news events which require a different skill set to accomplish well.

To call that "harsh" only coddles those who have no business even starting to produce a documentary.

Go into the project with your eyes open and a real plan to finish what you start.

Hand wringing about "no money" falls on deaf ears for many of us.

I'm all for creativity and addressing important issues. To expect others to do the real legwork needed, then turn it over for free or a worthless screen credit...means your documentary probably won't get finished the way you had hoped.

Part of the reason I bring these thoughts up is because of our never ending arrivals of small time doc makers here in Central America. There are some very good ones who I've met and helped. They didn't come with buckets of money...but they did have a realistic plan to complete what they started. I even keep in touch with them on this board. They have earned my respect because of the way they plan and actually get the job done...and, no, I didn't charge them for my help.

Sadly, there are many others who outnumber the good ones with unrealistic expectations and then get mad because the world doesn't give them the important elements they need...for free.

I'm not looking to be mean. I am trying to be realistic...which makes some people uncomfortable.

Blaming the "big houses" for not being nice and giving away product for free, or getting mad at me for being "harsh", misses the point. The smart people will read the advice and plan better, achieving their real goal. The will actually finish what they started and, hopefully, do more creative work in the future.

Don't count on "free" to get your doc done and seen by others.

Ever.:)
 
At the risk of steering this thread the wrong way, I actually do not disagree with most of what you said, only in the way that you said them. Yes, I am aware that many filmmakers never finish what they started due to poor/unrealistic planning. Yes, I know that most of the things we need to make a film we can't get for free.
However I believe that trying is part of the effort. As a filmmaker my first priority is to get my film done as cheaply as possible without compromising the quality. And if that means exploring all my options with regard to free stuff then I would do so. Beside, I hardly expected that these filmmakers have been sitting on their butts waiting for a handout while we argue.
Your post, while containing some very realistic and useful lessons, is worded in a way that is unnecessarily demeaning of these filmmakers. When people post on a forum like this asking for help, the last thing they probably expect or want is someone calling them foolish or incompetent. I appreciate that you wish to give them advice and all I suggest is that you word what you say so that you don't end up talking down to them.
 
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We aren't arguing.

My intentions are not to be a mean person.

I'm rather direct. And that bothers some.

Not any of my friends from New York though.

Something about not wasting time and getting the job done.

Key word being "done".

I'm happy we agree on some things.

Now if we can work on helping those with thin skins....:)
 
I concur with jade, however, I agree more with lensmith. Asking for such a thing is akin to asking a merchant to give his goods for free.

@jade, your point of asking him to go to a website and rip off samples might work if he's doing a really small thing like a school video, or random family video, etc. However he seems to be making at least a semi serious documentary, and using those could get him into deep trouble. Just in another thread i saw a reply, i quote
'Documentary filmmaker was told he would have to pay $5000.00 to license a phrase uttered by a subject in the film. The boy said "everybody dance now" (the line from the old C&C music factory song). No music in the background, the boy didn't even sing it, but he had to remove that scene or pay $5k to license it.

I wasn't aware that a 3 word phrase like that could be copyrighted.

They also had to pay for the licensing of a ringtone that played for 6 seconds in the background. Makes me just want to stick to smaller indie bands who are more than happy to get exposure for their music!'

Imagine the situation he'd place himself in by using unlicensed samples?
 
Yeah, I read about that same incident and I couldn't believe how far people would go just to make a buck. But what I was suggesting wasn't actually free samples, but rather film resources sites (such as videocopilot.net) that provides free clips with a permission for use in any project. I believe there was a thread some time ago from someone running a stock footage site that offers a time lapse cloud video clip for free; whoever it was says that they'll try to provide one free clip a week so I was going to suggest seeking out that thread. I assume that this mean that the owner has given permission for fair use of his clip. As to the free samples that you were referring to I'm actually unclear as to how legal it is to use them in a commercial project. If they're provided as samples then shouldn't we be able to incorporate them?
 
The original poster was a drive-by user looking for freebies. He/she has 3 posts to their name but is looking for handouts...? Lensmith was spot on. There is nothing wrong with helping people out and offering free services/content. Personally, though, I'm only comfortable doing that for those who earn my respect and a single drive-by post by an almost anonymous "member" doesn't meet that criteria.
 
What I love about this forum is that people will help you out even though you're a newbie. To me the number of post that a person have made doesn't establish their professional qualification or their dedication to filmmaking, as evident by the growing number of established filmmakers that I see joining this board.

If I can help someone out I'll try to the best of my abilities. I don't really get why we're all judging these filmmakers over their post; seems to me like they're just exploring all of their options finish their film. If you can help them out then you should; there's no point in telling them that they're being lazy/stupid for even asking. None of us have even MET these people for god sakes! For all we know they could be working their ass off right now looking for sponsors or finding other ways to finish their film.
 
jade8472 said:
To me the number of post that a person have made doesn't establish their professional qualification or their dedication to filmmaking, as evident by the growing number of established filmmakers that I see joining this board.
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I wasn't judging his/her qualifications as a filmmaker or producer; what I was judging was his/her commitment to this community - dvxuser. There are those who drop in to "take" but do not "give". And regardless of one's skill level, everyone has something to give - even if it's only opinion about others' footage. Coming in having never posted before asking for free footage is a bit overbearing in my opinion.

JADE8472 said:
None of us have even MET these people for god sakes!
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That's exactly the point. Who is this person asking for handouts? Either spend some time on the forum helping others before asking for serious favors OR offer compensation of some sort (even bartering).
 
mfilms said:
I’m looking for nature footage that deals with 4 elements that Khayyam talked about in his poetry

Water – Wind – Fire – Dust/Earth
Click to expand...

There are resources you can access online. Just make sure it's Creative Commons (public domain) if you need free stuff. In general you can get free public domain footage from archive.org the Prelinger Archives. I don't think they have what you want or the quality, but it's good stuff for documentaries.

Here's a site that has footage of locations.
http://footagefirm.com/freeclips.asp

Do a search on Google for Royalty Free Footage Downloads. If you keep looking some stuff will turn up. You should hook up with some motion graphic artists they might be able to create that stuff in apps like After Effects.

You can create water in After Effects or a 3D application. The same with Fire and Dust. Earth? Rotating sphere can be done in any basic 3D app with an Earth texture applied and then rendered. Wind? I've never seen footage of wind. Do you mean trees blowing and stuff? Just stick to the search engines you should be able to get some of what you need for free. Good Luck!
 
jade8472,

I totally agree with you. There's no reason to be harsh when someone asks a question. There's an old saying that I think should apply to online forums as it does in real life.

That saying is, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

What better place to exchange ideas, information, and even footage than a site with filmmakers from all over the world. Yeah, when I read some of the post it was like they were doing this :kali: to the guy who started this thread.

Filmmaking is such a competitive industry and it's evident in some of the responses. I knew this guy who was really good in Maya. I was new to Maya at the time and I would ask him how he did certain things in it. He always responded, "If I show you how to do it, then you would know." Meaning, if he helped me then he wouldn't be so special anymore.
 
Lensmith said:
Sadly, there are many others who outnumber the good ones with unrealistic expectations and then get mad because the world doesn't give them the important elements they need...for free.
Click to expand...

I kind of know what you mean, Kind of. Usually, when people get stuff for free they get cocky and feel like they've taken advantadge of the poor sap who helped them out. It's the old you see a fool you bump his head motto. However, I don't think this guy is trying to do that. Based on the link to his site I think he is trying to create a legit product, and ran out of funds for whatever reason.

If the guy who posted this thread is willing to share footage with dvxusers maybe they'll give him some stuff he needs. The barter system. Trade footage with someone who lives in the forest and needs footage of NY. I'm sure they're on here.

At the end of the day, free stuff isn't guaranteed. The best thing you can do is be creative. Come up with alternatives to what you can shoot. Go to Central Park and shoot the wind rustling tree leaves. Go to the Hudson River and get water. Take a ferry to Niagra Falls if you need footage of waterfalls. Just be creative.

For Example:

In the documentary "Riding Giants" they didn't have footage of the original guy surfing this huge wave.
Instead, they had a 2D guy sketch out some rough storyboard panels which they turned into an animatic. It worked really well because it was unconventional. You have to be willing to set tradition aside and get your project done by Any Means Necessary. Heck, Download a hir-res clipart of a rotating Earth. Be flexible not everything has to be PBS.
 
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Well, I think everyone is right. Certainly, I would never go into a documentary without having anticipated the need to shoot crucial cover footage. And GenJerDan is right in reminding the original poster that nature footage can be shot even in NYC.

But I also think there will always be the elements of "beg, borrow or steal" that has been the way of the underfunded artist forever. If this guy can get some folks to help him out with some footage - and look right above this post, he did - then more power to him.

I'm working on a documentary and am contacting people (not on this site, don't worry) regarding personal archive footage that I'm hoping to use without pay - not too much difference.

As for Lensmiths question,
"Did the company who makes the camera they are shooting their documentary with give them the camera for free or did they pay for it? Either buy or renting it?"
- see the "making of" featurette for "Dark Days". The owner of a camera store in NYC was so impressed with this beginning filmmaker's passion and noble intentions, he let the guy use a 16mm camera for months, down in the dark and dirty Amtrak tunnels - for free.

The bottom line is this - if you're in a bind and you need something that you yourself don't have the resources to create and you don't have the funding to pay for it - it doesn't hurt to ask if there is someone out there who is willing to help you out. In my book, that's called being resourceful.

And, really, what's the worst that can happen? Some schmo might read you the riot act about how you're not doing it the "right" way. But then you just dust yourself off, go to the Creative Commons site that ece generously informed you about, get inspired by ece's ideas of things you can shoot in your own backyard, contact poya to see what he or she has to generously offer - and move ahead with your project.

And best of luck to us all.

Robert
 
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They can go to places like http://www.revostock.com and get NTSC footage for $15 a clip.
They have most of what they're looking for.

I get emails all the time asking to cut rates or donate footage. I used to try and work things out as best I could.
Finally my wife stepped in and said no more money for toys unless they can pay for themselves.

Some people get downright angry when I refuse to just hand over my clips for their good cause.
I'd love to get a Cartoni Focus head for my system but so far, Cartoni hasn't been to willing to fork one over for free.

I realize money is tight everywhere but everytime I head out to Yellowstone or some other location, it costs me thousands of dollars in transportation, lodging, food etc. I can't recoup that by giving away footage.
Is it really fair to the people who do pay the going rate that I just hand over the same clip to someone for free? I know I'd be ticked.

NY is a beautiful state. Put the film on the back burner and go shoot some footage in your neck of the woods. NY has everything you're looking for.
 
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