01/04/2025
It's story time once again! This time its more recent (like about a few days recent.)It's all about the responsibilities of a client, his role and why his work is as important, if not more important in video editing, if not the entire film making process whether it be a movie, a 30 minute TV show or a 5 second commercial. As a client you are not just to come into the studio, plop your stuff, tell us of your expectations and go on your marry way while we sort out the whatever it is you have given us and put together something only to disappoint.
I had client two days ago who contacted me through Facebook Messenger and wanted me to do produce an infografix video using motion graphics. Sounds interesting enough so I asked for some details on the project. Then gives me a pamphlet saying that I am suppose to make a video about it and he gave me a link to a video saying that I was suppose to get an inspiration or idea based on that video. He said it was made by his previous editor who decided
to move on for some reason.I took a look at it and saw that it was not like the pamphlet, but I had gotten the gist of what he wanted. I asked him for more details on his project if he had more materials or at least a script to what direction he wants his video to go. To my puzzlement all he told me was that the script was the pamphlet he gave me and that he wants me to take inspiration from the video I sent him.
POINT 1: Direction is always important!!!: Whether it be working in a
studio and or even a corporation instructions, guidelines, directions are always important. Even when an artist has "total" freedom to work on his part, he still has a particular direction and methodology, otherwise it is the difference between a masterpiece and pile of dog crap.It is the same with crafting film or in this case a video. Just giving a pamphlet and a sample video and telling the editor to get inspiration from it is meaningless if not financially dangerous. What if you want him to create a simple infographix video and what he gave you is a one hour epic Star Wars, Lord of the Rings-like mess which has very little if not nothing to do with
your intent for the project and he charges you an arm and a leg for his "artistic fiasco" that you "inspired" him to create. First thing before you approach any editor, multimedia specialist if not any camera crew to shoot your video make sure you have a concrete idea of what direction your video will go. Have a script, storyboard or at the very least a treatment. The last part- if that is the only thing you have meet with your editor, camera crew, graphic artist, etc...have a face to face so you could flush out your idea so you can the see possibilities, challenges if not the obstacles of what you can and cannot do with your project.This way you get to know your
editor or crew and vice versa so you could partner with him. Don't just rely on Social Media, Messenger or even the cell phone. I say this especially if you have a vague idea of what you want to do or if you are unaware of the technicalities of film and video production.
Only leave your editor if you know each other well and if you have worked with him for some time and you know the ins and outs of the craft. There's a reason why directors like Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Jackson get top credits aside from the Producers, its because they give as much direction to realize their vision to their crew, especially to their editor even though it is not them who personally holds the camera (or in this case a mouse). The editor is just a tool to facilitate your vision, otherwise it
is the editor that becomes the director and it is his work, not yours you are paying for and most editors if they have the time and money would rather be working on their dream project rather than on someone else .Remember it is your vision, your story! Aside from being the client (which is passive), you are the director (which is active), you have the most important role in production. Give us as much detail as to make your vision possible, guide your team,learn the lingo and communicate for all that a good film crew does is follow directions and suggest to solve technical and creative problems.
POINT 2: You Give us the Materials!: At Kamisama Multimedia there is reason why we have that second part of our name- "Multimedia", Is that We offer various services in our studio aside from Video Editing for film making or video production and that means different rates for different services to help realize your vision. To produce Motion Graphics for Title Credits or Compositing on Video is a different discipline versus Video Editing, normally neither two are usually handled by the same person in the movie industry. It is like saying a camera operator is the same as an assistant cameraman. Though some of their skills and knowledge overlap such as staging a scene, their roles and services differ. You come in with a project which involves live video which has motion graphics ad FX overlaid on it, followed by some CGI animation then a full on motion graphics sequence as your opening and ending card and not to mention voice over and dubbing (ADR) in various scenes, (which by the way the client that I was dealing with was wanting me to do to which is beyond the scope of my acting talent), you then have two options: First, if the studio like Kamisama Multimedia can offer such services consider the "individual" rates of each service.
Sometimes the editor is a "Jack of All Trades" and might offer you
a "package deal", if the work is reasonable but bear in mind the other services might not be the editor's or the studio's strong suite if they can give such an offer. In my case I have close to twenty some odd years in video editing and a good ten years in classical as well as CGI and 3D animation, working with well known studios in the past,but when it comes to audio the studio can offer basic recording for voice overs, but if you are particular about your sounds, then I would suggest that you hire another specialist, like a recording studio if you need pro dubbing or even a sound engineer to balance your waves and maybe perhaps a voice talent for that
sultry smooth announcer or dramatic dialogue. Most often a you might have to produce each material separately and other people aside from your video editor. You might have to hire a camera man, a CGI animator, graphics artist,multimedia specialist, especially if you have something particular in mind to which a "do everything in-house" approach might not be suitable for your needs. Once you are able to produce your individual materials that's when you could take it in to your editor to cut and assemble it into your final video. Hence, This is actually the job of a "Producer"- to manage the logistics of the project or production. I won't want to elaborate about it in this post, but at least you get what I mean. In a nutshell, providing your editor material (especially good quality and adequate amount) to work on is client's/director's job, not ours! If needed, he works with other departments and specialists to create material for the project. Giving your editor a pamphlet and a sample video and telling to use his imagination will not give you a good video. We are not magicians, we cannot produce footage and material out of nowhere! In the case of my client he was looking for something specific. He could have first hired a graphic artist to design and create the materials for his infographix, then he would have given it to me to animate the said materials since it is
motion graphic sequences and assembled it in video editing adding music which either he provides himself or through our library, He could even go so far as to hire a advertising agency to
produce his campaign material(s) since form what I could tell this was my client's intent from the beginning.
Since we are in the subject of materials for a video production or what we call "assets", I would like to say emphatically it is not a requirement for any editor to have stock footage library! Why do you think people would want to watch the same footage that they saw from another movie? You say your content is appealing enough to drive your show? Unless it is a very informative "talking head"show then show me your vision! Don't just talk about it and show me a footage that I saw fifteen times in fifteen different videos used the same way. Otherwise just do a podcast. Stock
footage is basically used in two ways: One for historical reference. News reels such as the Kennedy Assassination is widely used in movies like JFK and Forest Gump, however the movie is not composed of it, but rather it serves as just as a reference to get the overall movie's context. Second as an illustration for an explanation usually this is found in informative videos like medical videos or documentaries as a "cost cutting measure".
However, the production of these videos can dynamically be improved with newly produced footage.
POINT 3: Give us Time!: To recap, this client of mine wanted me to make an infographix video using motion graphics with nothing but a single pamphlet as a reference and a video as an inspiration. However, here is clincher- he wants it as soon as possible, particularly before the weeks end. His plan was to send me more work every week so he can post it on social media. Now given the material I had to work with, one would think, this job is simple
and pretty straightforward and it can be done if it was based on the
materials already given by my client. There was already a built-in template (or so it seemed), so I did a simple "cut and paste" job which took no longer than two to three hours. This included laying out the assets, making them move, editing, setting it to music and finally rendering to video. His reaction was that it was not original (of course it wasn't,) and said I should not have copied the flyer. I was baffled in what he said, "Isn't the flyer the reference you gave me? What basis should I have used in producing your video?" Being a graduate of Advertising Design, one of the basic rules of creating any promotional material is to NOT diverge from the established
corporate design of the project which is found obviously in the reference which is that pamphlet. You do not redesign the logo if not the overall image of the company that asks you to produce a 10 second TV commercial for them! But I digress, that is another topic for another day, but what he wanted me to do was to create a whole new video that is completely divorced from the reference he had given me. Imagine the mess it would cause for the people who produced the pamphlet, let alone the campaign and you do that
every week, different video, different image! But I am just speculating at this point.
In the animation industry, it is true the studio produces an episode of animation every week, but they have a lead time of one month. And before official production starts the scripts, storyboard, character design and any other relevant material has been finished and done at least six months ago if not longer.To come into a studio (any studio) and plop down a flyer, a sample video and sketchy directions and expecting an "original video" based on nothing but the flyer's message and not tie it in with the flyer's
corporate design is absolute lunacy. I could now tell that this client
either is crazy or doesn't know what he is getting himself into.
In the end, the negotiations fell through. The client became absolutely incoherent to the point that the words of his messages became difficult to understand, if not decipher in both English and my language Tagalog. If I were to guess he must have panicked when he couldn't get me to create a new campaign based upon the video he wanted me to produce. To put it bluntly the client wanted to pick my creativity and pass on my work as his in order to profit handsomely whist his editor slave (me) would only get peanuts for
my effort. If the line of logic follows this and I were to meet his
expectations. He was assuming that I would simply give him the finished video and he pays me less the asking price with the promissory note of another project. One can somehow guess why his former editor decided to move on.(Note to fellow editors out there...)When I finish a job I make it a point to send a "draft" copy of the video which is basically a low-resolution version of the project for the client to review and suggest any revisions. Once approved I send the final High Resolution video once payment is received. As far as the draft version that I sent to my client his client won't be impressed with the amount of pixelation in the picture if he tries to pass it off as his own, especially when used on a High
Resolution screen. But nonetheless, he was not happy with the video that his material he provided had produced and for obvious reasons why I wrote this post is his attitude combined with his ignorance and lack of preparation aggravated me more than the loss of time and profit.
Anyway to get back to the point...Clients, make sure you give yourself and your video editor, multimedia specialist, camera crew or whoever you are working the time to prepare for your project. That means, make your script, storyboard, treatment, etc...before approaching anybody for your project. Do not just plop a piece of paper, call it a plan, say a few words about your idea and leave your crew to their devices. Take the time to talk to them, communicate your expectations, vision, ask questions and and answer questions if they do have questions, especially if you do not know the process. If you have a deadline and your project is complex have a production schedule. One of the things I notice about most clients who come
for my services is that they do not bother getting to know the process of film making much less the lingo. They believe that it is like a machine. They drop their "crap" on our plate to ingest expecting that we poo out gold bars. Again, we could only work with the material and time given. You give us crap, expect crap in return. As a client again, do learn the process, ask questions. it will be easier for you and for everyone if everybody is on the same page. But, if you do not have the budget, time nor have the creative effort and think you could just leave your project to the so-called experts so you can collect your commission or take personal credit for work you did not lift a finger for then you have no business in going to a video editor, let alone the entire film industry to produce something good for you. Aside from paying our bills and putting food on the table we also have dreams and aspirations to produce our own works. That is why got into this industry in the first place! And to entertain Chuds who have a no plan, or direction just to pick our brains for less than our creative worth is a waste of our time and creative efforts.If you are really that lazy (no insult intended for even as an artist, I too have those days), you could go to ChatGPT and see if you could produce your work there. But then, it will still take some amount of creative effort to make a prompt to describe what you want to produce and the source of where you got your project done is painfully obvious.😏
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