My latest work: a series of 60s biz profiles

A

averan

Well-known member
I've been keeping busy producing these 1-minute long business profile videos for www.TurnHere.com and its been a great learning experience.

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I'm shooting everything with my modified Cine-V scene file, at 1080_30p, editing in a 720x480 project (for SD delivery).

Equipment used:
HMC150 w/ AT875r shotgun
Zoom H2
my version of the Zaza slider
custom pvc handheld rig

Youtube clips are created by exporting 720x480_30p(29.97) avi from Edius, using MS codec, then converted to 640x360_30p H.264 using TMPGenc with a -70 gamma shift to correct for that ugly washed-out look.

These shoots are challenging. I've got 90 minutes on location to get my soundbites and broll. I usually take about 2 hours, but hope to get better. After shooting, I've got 48 hours to edit and deliver the final video.

Just like weddings, these are great opportunities to test ALL your shooting/producing/directing skills in a real-life situation with limited time and almost no pre-production planning or scripting.

Obviously I'm still developing my skills, but am more and more happy with the results with each new project.

Would love any constructive feedback, especially as relates to producing videos like these and cool tricks to get great quotes and shots that really sell.
 
Hello Averan,

Very nice videos. My only suggestions would be a small on camera light for adding some light to the face when someone is wearing a hat with a brim like in the skateboard video. I would love to know what it is like shooting for the turn here company. I would love your feedback on a video I did recently for a photographer friend. Here is the link:

http://vimeo.com/6891740

I am planning to move up from the canon to the hmc150. Thanks!
 
thanks larrys.

i forgot to mention that i also used an LP Micro, and am pretty sure I used it on that shot.
obviously it didn't do much, which is my main complaint with that $300 piece of equipment! :( will be getting the Comer someday to replace the weak LP Micro.

shooting for turnhere has been a learning experience. i'm becoming more content with the arrangement as i get better at the format and am able to quickly and efficiently shoot and edit to meet their quick turnaround of 48hours (90min on-location). the gigs aren't much pay....about 1/4 of what i'd charge if it was my client, but if you can keep it simple and get into the fast workflow then the work can be fun and even profitable.

it certainly has saved my butt from tortuously slow economic times and forced me to improve my production efficiency. they template the whole process and really work hard to make it easy for the shooter/editor.

thanks for taking the time to comment.
i'm amazed by how videos like mine don't get many comments....people here seem to prefer weddings and skate videos. ;)

liked your video. curious about the blown out highlights...seemed it was intentional, which worked. liked the audio you recorded of the photog working with her clients and the baby. would've preferred to hear the music playing during the interview, but with lowered volume. i used to shoot on the canon hg10 before my hmc150, so i love seeing others working it with the canon cams!
 
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Averan, thanks for taking the time to watch my video. Yes, the highlights were intentional. Yeah, I could have used some music during the interview, I will try it on a new promo I am doing for the same photographer.

Also, I really like your use of the slider, you actually made one yourself? You know, each of your videos are a one minute documentary film. I think it takes great skill to be able to tell a story in one minute, you have done it very nicely. I especially like the little details you show in the video with the woman who does hair removal. There is a great quote "We think in generality but we live in detail" and I think that is one of the most important story telling techniques in documentary type shooting. These one minute promos are great exercises for this. So, I don't know what a lot of video pros think about shooting these kinds of things, but I think they are a great chance to keep in practice for bigger projects, putting ones equipment to good use and getting paid at the same time.

Also, how are you using the h2 recorder in your shooting?

I am really fascinated by this "turn here" operation. I never heard of them until I saw your video. I looked at their website, pretty brilliant idea this guy had to act as a middleman between people who need to get into video ads for their businesses and videographers who need more opportunities to do professional work. I'd love to know a little more. Would you answer some questions about this for me?

So, you actually edit in addition to shooting? Are you then also the one who puts the video on all of the websites for the client as promised on the turn here website? If so, Turn Here is really acting as an agent for you and finding you clients to shoot for. Or once edited, do you then turn over the finished video file to them for upload to all of the social networking sites? Also, how busy does Turn Here actually keep you, are they getting that many clients on a regular basis? Do they have companies for you to shoot for on a weekly basis or is it much less frequent?

And how do they screen videographers? Do you have to show them any samples of your work? Do they have any requirements for the kind of equipment you have to own?

I hope you keep getting a lot of work with them, as you said, it's good to be working! Thanks so much.
 
Nicely crafted videos Averan. My only thing is the audio. Not sure if it suffered in the rendering process but to me it was not crisp enough. It seemed to carry a lot of low frequencies and didn't have any punch from sort of 10k and up, almost atoning to a slighly muffled sound.

Great work though, keep it up. You made the topics all seem very interesting.
 
yes Its a hard thing to tell a story in a minute...well do it effectively. U did it well IMO. Keep up the good work. As Shaun said the audio sounds a bit muffled. My other gripe is alot of Zoom...BUT thats just a personal preference.

Keep doin ur thing.
 
thanks shaun1970 and jambredz.
i'll keep an ear open towards improving the audio. i may have overdone the lowpass in my attempt to help remove some of the extraneous high frequency noise.

the audio is something i'm still working on improving. with the next one i'll try keeping more of the full range of frequencies and only apply minimal noise removal and compression.

jambredz, i know, i used a lot of zoom in a couple. as i get better shots with more camera movement i'm able to avoid zooms, but still find them effective for a certain videos that need punchy/poppy in-your-face sort of visuals.

larrys, i'm using the zoom h2 as a digital audio recorder connected to a lavalier on the interview subject. i still don't have a wireless system and therefore have to sync sound from the lav in post.

basically, TurnHere secures the clients, manages the project and handles distribution. they contract out freelancers to shoot and edit. your only interaction with the client is during the shoot. they've been using Fedex (they pay the shipping) to mail in dvds with the project files, but are switching to an online upload system instead.

depending on what area you live in, they can keep you pretty busy. there are some guys that make a full-time job of it. i've had 5 shoot/edits in the last 2 weeks. they call you when they have something, or, i've found that if i call in myself i can usually schedule a few shoots. basically, it can be as busy as you want.

also, they have a promotion going on right now where Turnhere videographers can go out to businesses directly and offer a free 6-month trial. you still get paid to shoot/edit and the business gets to try out the video ad with no obligation to buy. its a good way to get more work.

in order to work for them, you have to sign up first and have at least a 3-chip camera with a light and lavalier microphone for interviews. they set you up with a couple of gigs on a trial basis where they check your work a couple of times. once you've done a few shoots though, they trust you'll maintain the same level of quality and don't hold your hand anymore.

like you've all mentioned, these videos are basically short docs and are definitely great experience developing new skills and refining old ones.

thanks to all for your helpful and supportive criticism!
 
Averan- good to see you on here, and thanks for the kind words!

Anyone interested in working with TurnHere should visit http://filmmaker.turnhere.com and sign up. Like Averan said, once we see that a filmmaker "gets" our style and workflow, the possibilities are literally endless. We're getting really into these free trial videos, and since there's something like 10 million small businesses in the USA, there's no real cap on how many local small businesses you can empower with a great video!

-Peter Duddington
Filmmaker Relations
TurnHere.com
 
Nice work on the shorts, you got their message across really well in 60 seconds. It felt odd on the Windows video with the voice trailing the shots, but the discordance does catch your eye and make for a more lasting impression, I would say. Maybe only thing I would suggest is having a customer speak quickly for the client, but that might take too long. Technique seems to be fine from my POV, but it's so hard to say how to change what you did given the time constraints! This is a great bridge from 'schooling' to learning what you have to do to actually make money and survive...
 
thanks for the feedback 8string.
yes, these short promos are an exercise in compromise....in a way, that's where the art of documentary-style shooting lies.
in a perfect world, the business owners and customers would all be trained in how to speak on-camera. sometimes you get someone who has their soundbites down, but usually the best you can hope for is a natural sounding conversation with a few good meaningful quotes.

check out 2 of my latest promos to see how i've been working to improve these:
http://blip.tv/file/2903892
http://blip.tv/file/2800251
 
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