DIGITAL PHOTOS: BLESSING OR CURSE?

The holidays have traditionally been a time to capture family images to share now and in years to come when they become cherished mementos.  But, will these keepsakes vanish in the digital age?

The immediacy and low cost of digital imagery has redefined how we capture and store family photos and home movies.  No longer are we encumbered by expensive rolls of film, and the time and money for processing.  A Super8 movie cartridge that captured three minutes of material has been replaced by smartphones and digital cameras that can record countless high-resolution images at virtually no cost. 

While we all point and shoot incessantly, our emphasis is on the convenience of capturing media and transmitting it, not the ease of viewing it in the distant future.  We are capturing virtually everything regardless of merit and with little, if any, forethought.  In the age of film rolls, every shot had to be carefully considered because there was a limit to how much film you could afford to shoot.  As a consequence, just about every image was meaningful and we are not overwhelmed by copious amounts of material.  The enormous stockpile of media we are accumulating in the digital age, coupled with the increasing pace of technological change and the lack of organization in archiving these images will pose serious challenges in the future.

Home movies taken during the childhood of someone born in the late-1980's might include VHS, SuperVHS, 8mm video, Hi8, MiniDV, DVCam, DVD's, and an huge myriad of digital file formats and codecs often unique to a certain manufacturer's software.  And the tapeless, digital media probably resides on an assortment of computers, disks, and drives.

Conversely, a child born in the early 1950's would likely have just 8mm and Super8 movies to worry about. If a movie projector was retained, nothing else would be required and no format issues would apply.

Imagine the impediments a middle-age adult will face 20 or more years from now when they want to revisit childhood images.  The volume of media captured while they were growing up will likely be staggering.  There simply won't be enough time to watch it all.  And being selective won't be an option to many in the absence of proper labeling.  Hundreds maybe thousands of digital files will be hidden in the dark recesses of various computers and other storage devices if they happened to survive.  And many older file formats may be unplayable.

The baby boomers today have tangible, manageable collections of snapshots and movies to revisit their childhood and share with their own children.  Sure, it often does not have the visual quality of today's imagery, but a lot has to be said for its ease of retrieval.  Of course, this is subject to proper preservation and cataloging as well.  But, safeguarding and organizing photo albums and a shoebox full of home movies is a lot easier than organizing and saving hundreds, maybe thousands, of media files residing on a multitude of storage devices.

Many camera enthusiasts talk about consolidating their material on a common drive as storage devices get smaller and cheaper while their capacity grows.  But, this is easier said then done.  It requires time and self-discipline to follow through and the process is unending as more and more media accumulates.

Another potential problem is that storage devices may fail to function if they are left idle for long periods of time.  This means powering up each drive periodically which can be a daunting task as more drives are acquired.  These are not issues we needed to worry about a generation ago.  A shoebox full of photographs would always deliver.

The digital age has a lot of merit, but individuals have to exercise some degree of self-discipline and organization in order to preserve the imagery that will enrich their lives, their children's lives and future generations to come.

© Copyright 2013, Jeff Gewert

 

HOW CAN I DISTINGUISH THE BEST VIDEO COMPANIES?

Let me start by telling you where not to start. Today just about everyone claims to be an "award winning" company, but you have to consider that anyone can make this claim and there are many competitions and festivals that hand out awards like candy. As with any recognition, some honors are most prestigous than others. If you are going to be impressed by this ubiquitous claim, find out what awards a company has won, what merit the award carries, and the projects and years for which they received the recognition. The latter is usually very easy to verify. Then you can assess their value.

Web sites are the most common source of information about a company, but the content can be misleading. You can essentially claim anything you want and images are easily acquired from stock photo libraries. Try to be analytical and look for credible evidence that legitimizes their claims. A great place to start is to ask to see examples of their work if they don't feature them on their web site.

Knowing how long a company has been in business and visiting their office will also help to assess their qualifications.

If you have a project that requires a creative solution, ask several companies for creative proposals. Some companies will do this free of cost. This will at least allow you to evaluate their creative abilities, though it will not determine their ability to produce it. There again, seeing some of their finished work will help you determine that. See "What is the best method for putting a project out for bid" on this blog for advice on doing this.

All in all, it takes a little bit of investigation and analytical thinking to determine what company is best for you.

Jeff Gewert

© Copyright 2009, JMG Productions, Inc.

WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD FOR PUTTING A PROJECT OUT FOR BID?

The most effective and efficient way to put a project out for bid is to be clear and concise about what you want. Many Requests for Quote (RFQ) and Requests for Proposal (RFP), both terms are used interchangeably, are somewhat vague and result in bidders misunderstanding what you want.

RFP’s and RFQ’s for media projects usually fall into one of two categories: (1) The requestor knows exactly what they want, clearly details it, and is simply looking for a dollar quote; and (2) is where a company knows what they want to achieve, but relies on the bidder to come up with a creative solution.

Coming up with a creative solution can take an enormous amount of time and effort, so out of respect for the vendor’s efforts and to get the best possible results, you need to clearly articulate your objective, who your audience is, your schedule, budget, and anything else that a vendor needs to know beforehand.Often times project managers are reluctant to share their budget, but without it a vendor is flying blind. The most talented company may guess wrong and come up with a fabulous idea for $40,000 over what you have to spend, thereby taking themselves out of the contention. Had they known the real price range, they might have been the winning bidder. By not disclosing your budgetary range, you are depriving yourself of really great ideas.

Another thing to consider is that vendors will often contact you directly with questions that help define the project parameters. Any question posed and answered by you should then be shared with the other bidders. Otherwise, the company who posed the question has a competitive advantage which is not in your best interests.

If you are doing the type of project that does not need a customized creative solution and you know exactly what you want, then it helps to have all competing suppliers follow a common spreadsheet layout. By having every bidder plug in numbers on a common form you can easily compare line items like crew and equipment. A standardized form also allows you to quickly identify anomalies in certain quotes that may indicate the bidder has misunderstood the scope of the project or simply neglected to include something. It’s better to identify such problems before a project is awarded, rather than later. Boiler-plate spreadsheet forms for media can be found on the Internet or you can customize your own.

If you do not have the ability to scope out your project, then we suggest you talk at length with a supplier or two to get their input. These suppliers could be bidders on the same project since helping to define the project offers no real competitive advantage unless you are asking for a creative solution. Then, of course, it would be considered unethical since those suppliers would have a significant head-start in formulating creative ideas.

All-in-all, if you don't invest the time up front, it's going to cost more time and money later. You will usually find the best vendor with the least amount of aggravation if you provide the necessary details and create a common structure for bid submissions.

Jeff Gewert
© Copyright 2009, JMG Productions, Inc.

IS IT WISE TO USE AMATEUR TALENT?

In today’s harsh business climate everyone is looking for ways to reduce the cost of video and film production. In fact, many companies have just abandoned this type of media altogether. One place we have always been reluctant to skimp is with actors and actresses. You get what you pay for and nothing beats a good, professional actor/actress who can make even a bad script come alive.

Sometimes you have no choice however. We have recently been forced by two corporate clients, ESPN and Cytec, to use “in-house” people in comedy roles and surprisingly we have had two good experiences.

We have found that there are several things you can do to mitigate embarrassing failures.

One, conceive and write a script that helps non-professional talent to perform their roles. Allow room in the script for ad-libbing. Verbatim adherence to the script is likely to stifle performances.

Two, conduct a casting session to choose your talent from the greatest population.

Three, use only people who really want to play the role and have adequate time to work with you. Oftentimes management pressures individuals to participate, pulling them away from important business responsibilities that are only going to serve to distract them.

Four, get a good, patient, respectful, and organized director who makes these people feel at ease and brings forth the best possible performance.

In no way am I suggesting that your average amateur is going to compete with your average professional actor or actress, but with the right planning and design you can get some surprisingly good results.

You can see a clip from the ESPN project at http://anomalymedia.tv/portfolio.html. It is the second thumbnail under “Affordability.”

What is the best method for putting a project out for bid?

The most effective and efficient way to put a project out for bid is to be clear and concise about what you want. Many Requests for Quote (RFQ) and Requests for Proposal (RFP), both terms are used interchangeably, are somewhat vague and result in bidders misunderstanding what you want.

RFP’s and RFQ’s for media projects usually fall into one of two categories: (1) The requestor knows exactly what they want, clearly details it, and is simply looking for a dollar quote; and (2) is where a company knows what they want to achieve, but relies on the bidder to come up with a creative solution.

Coming up with a creative solution can take an enormous amount of time and effort, so out of respect for the vendor’s efforts and to get the best possible results, you need to clearly articulate your objective, who your audience is, your schedule, budget, and anything else that a vendor needs to know beforehand.Often times project managers are reluctant to share their budget, but without it a vendor is flying blind. The most talented company may guess wrong and come up with a fabulous idea for $40,000 over what you have to spend, thereby taking themselves out of the contention. Had they known the real price range, they might have been the winning bidder. By not disclosing your budgetary range, you are depriving yourself of really great ideas.

Another thing to consider is that vendors will often contact you directly with questions that help define the project parameters. Any question posed and answered by you should then be shared with the other bidders. Otherwise, the company who posed the question has a competitive advantage which is not in your best interests.

If you are doing the type of project that does not need a customized creative solution and you know exactly what you want, then it helps to have all competing suppliers follow a common spreadsheet layout. By having every bidder plug in numbers on a common form you can easily compare line items like crew and equipment. A standardized form also allows you to quickly identify anomalies in certain quotes that may indicate the bidder has misunderstood the scope of the project or simply neglected to include something. It’s better to identify such problems before a project is awarded, rather than later. Boiler-plate spreadsheet forms for media can be found on the Internet or you can customize your own.

If you do not have the ability to scope out your project, then we suggest you talk at length with a supplier or two to get their input. These suppliers could be bidders on the same project since helping to define the project offers no real competitive advantage unless you are asking for a creative solution. Then, of course, it would be considered unethical since those suppliers would have a significant head-start in formulating creative ideas.

All-in-all, if you don't invest the time up front, it's going to cost more time and money later. You will usually find the best vendor with the least amount of aggravation if you provide the necessary details and create a common structure for bid submissions.

Jeff Gewert
© Copyright 2009, JMG Productions, Inc.