•• Every One Wants Freaking HD...or do they?••

Coco Bermudez

Coco Bermudez

Well-known member
I am looking for people's perspective on this issue. More and more I find potential clients requesting their projects to be shot in HD. But do they really know what HD means?

I have not made the jump myself because I am squeezing the life out of my trusty DVX100A. Recently I just got bit in the butt •big time• by loosing a 15 day shoot for a manufacturer. They wanted their complex to be shot entirely in HD. I kept trying to figure out if they wanted the "true" HD or HDV...understanding full well that HDV is a subset of HD. They had no answer (which I find with most clients when I ask them this question) So I went ahead and made my quote and I had to included a bid from a local cinematographer that shoots HD with a Varicam. The total bill with pre and post production came to over 150K. I thought I was in...but I lost by a few thousand of dollars when my competition offered to shoot using a JVC GY-HD100.

At the end...the job was gone...nothing I could do. Dollars spoke louder than talent. Now I find myself on guard not knowing what to do. As I said...more and more people ask for HD. Is it ok to shoot with HDV and claim it as HD eventhough it is compressed or is there a solution for this? This reminds me when I first started to migrate from Beta to DV and trying to explain this to clients.

I figure many of you must be going throught the same issue at hand.
 
I doubt you'll find anyone actually shooting uncompressed HD. By your standards the varicam isnt HD either - its DVCProHD which is also a compressed version of HD. I dont see any problem with shooting HDV and telling people its HD.
 
For a job like you described I cannot fathom why HDV wouldn't work. Sure, a Varicam would look better -to us- but well shot JVC110 footage would be good enough for those just knowing that they "want HD."
 
Why fight it? Get and HD camera and be done with it. Like there's no budget for a 6k camera in a 150K project?????
 
Super8 said:
Is it ok to shoot with HDV and claim it as HD eventhough it is compressed or is there a solution for this?
Click to expand...

There is no 'solution' because there is no problem.

HDV IS HD.
Period - no further disclaimers needed.
I'm not a huge fan of the codec myself, but that doesn't change the fact that 720 lines is 720 lines... and 1080 is 1080.

Are there some HD codecs that are better than others?
Certainly....just like there are SD codecs that are better than others.

Just like there are cars that are better than others...but like it or not, a Geo is car just as much as a Mercedes is a car.
 
none of my clients *need* HD... but they want it. And my job, as the producer, is to give them what they want. i've had stuff for web delivery they wanted shot in HD, why? because that's what they heard is all the rage. They don't know what they need, but they know what they want
 
not only do my clients not need HD, they dont even need video. They want both though and I have both and they have money and I want money so it all works out great :)
 
mrWr0ng said:
none of my clients *need* HD... but they want it. And my job, as the producer, is to give them what they want. i've had stuff for web delivery they wanted shot in HD, why? because that's what they heard is all the rage. They don't know what they need, but they know what they want
Click to expand...

A sales friend of mine always says "sell them what they want, and give them what they need"
 
Luis Caffesse said:
A sales friend of mine always says "sell them what they want, and give them what they need"
Click to expand...


Good quote; however, I wouldn't go as far as saying pitching HD and delivering 320x240 is the right way to go.

edit - I know what the quote means; I don't know why I'm trying to find a way to contradict it... :huh:
 
HD today is a buzzword like Avid was 10 years ago. People didnt have to know what it was to want it beause their competition utilized it. Done deal based on that alone. I sell the heck out of my HD production but ironicly, never in my life have I spat out a project on High Definition.
Buzzwords are very profitable.
 
I don't shoot SD anymore unless my clients REALLY want it. But of course, I only charge $100 more to shoot HD over my normal SD day rate. True, while pretty much everything I shoot goes on the web, it's main screening is on DVD--which HD really looks a buttload better than SD. It's the same thing as shooting 35MM film for TV and only TV. It just looks better.

Matthew
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top