First Commercial Project

Short promo done for a midwest agricultural broker. Feedback welcome.

https://vimeo.com/5422​2260

i thought it was really good, .13-.15 wasn't my favorite shot. I'd be happy with it!

mystic97z wrote in post #15303339
i thought it was really good, .13-.15 wasn't my favorite shot. I'd be happy with it!

I agree, the colour temperature is way too cold. The first shot bounces as well which isn't a great first impression.

That aside, great job.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree, the slider shot at :13-:15 needs to be warmed up and might even need to be a little brighter.

As mentioned, this is our first commercial shoot, and I'm beginning to realize how much work a commercial project is. These 35 seconds are a result of about 100 man hours.

One side question: Do you guys write the copy and formulate the marketing message for your commercial clients? We really went into this project blind and didn't realize we'd be responsible for creating the entire marketing message. The company was really small and didn't have any marketing or branding established outside of a logo. No slogan, tagline, brochure, etc. to use as a starting point.

I'm happy with the result and will definitely be much more prepared for our next commercial project.

Also, how to you all handle changes the client requests?

Wow... those are some totally loaded questions!

Every company is different. Some have a very distinct picture and want to be involved in every step of the process from script to storyboarding. Others just want you to do everything. And some are in between.

There are crap aspects of each. What you have to do is be very specific in your original meeting and pitch. Find out what they need and want from you and vice-versa. Write into the script number of revision rounds (usually 2 for a small spot). Add in there will be additional charges for any change to VO after recorded, changes in art cards and additional rounds of revis.

In a side to the specific spot you posted... the design was very poor (sorry). The spacing between the text was different and made no sense. The motion had no motion blur on it which makes it look artificial. The fact the text was moving off the screen and was disappearing before the sides was torturous.

No clue what they paid you but for 100 hours with everything included I would have charged $15K (minimum) and it would have not looked like an 15 year old created it.

Sorry to be harsh, but if you are claiming to do professional work (even if it is your first time) you need to know the deal.

Whoa! Quite the range of feedback!

I appreciate it all though. The good, bad, and ugly.

I'm not sure how to better space the text. We put it in slides we thought fit the message. When you talk about motion blur, are you referring to the text motion? I didn't even think about the text moving off screen prior to the slide ending, but you are right, this needs to be changed.

We charged $1,800 and looked at it as a learning experience more than anything. The client was a very small operation and was used to very low quality videos. Not that we were looking for a client with low expectations, but we thought this was a good opportunity to branch out.

Please tell me we were an improvement over his last video production outfit: http://www.youtube.com …2UelJ-Aw&feature=youtu.be

Yes... you did much better than their prior video. Their prior video did have more of a "message" to their delivery though.

On the point of graphics. The text of the bold point coming in from the right was always closer than the space of the normal text coming in from the left. It just looked inconsistent.

As far as motion blur. Wave your hand real quick across your frame of vision. Do you see a bunch of still images of your hand? No, you see a blur. Everything that moves in frame smaller than the total frame needs to have a motion blur to make it feel natural. Problem with motion blur is it can easily quadruple render time but it is essential.

I understand small budget companies, especially when I started out freelance. but something you have to stress to them is $18/hr for camera, pre/post production, etc etc is not industry standard. That's what you charged them, how much did you personally make off those hours? Sure you need to start somewhere but you also have to understand that undercutting the market is not-beneficial to anyone in the industry (yes, even you). Spread out pricing if you think it helps. Conception is $x/hr. Shooting is $x/hr. Post is $x/hr. More than 2xrevis is $x/hr.

Did you have to physically hire someone to help? If their rate is X. You automatically charge 2X to the client. Remember, you are in this as a business. You can't give away your time and work for free.

If you want to get more indepth, feel free to PM me, but I'm not going to get more involved in this thread.

peace.

EDIT - The cheapest I ever charged even when starting out was $400/day. Even if I was being nice and calling 10 hours a day I would have charged $4K. But... I did have professional training (which I'm not being mean, but it is obvious you have not).

EDIT 2 - I am being overly harsh.. for $1800 they got what they paid for certainly. I'm more concerned with the amount of hours spent.

I'm a producer and I write my own copy, marketing/communicatio​n plans and such for small businesses, non-profits and political campaigns. Your first meeting with the client you need to be prepared, ask lots of questions, gain an understanding of who they are, what they do, why they matter. Who's the target audience? What's the purpose of the spot? If your spot can't answer the question of "who cares" then you may have missed the mark. Public service announcements need to hit all the basics - who, what, when, where, why, how and "for more information" referrals. You need a set of clearly defined goals and you need to address that in the copy you prepare.

I don't know your background, but production skills and a great camera is not enough if you're going to one-man-band it, I would suggest a basic understanding of strategic communications, marketing and advertising. There are plenty of great books that run step by step through the process, search Amazon and read a few. You can put together a strategy checklist that you can tailor to individual organizations, but you have to have a plan and some defined goals for you and the organization so expectations are met and everyone is happy. This will help build strong relationships that will lead to future business.

Lastly a little critique, please proofread your copy as the grammar is a little sloppy, for static shots where there's just a talking head lock the camera down on a tripod and please get a decent mic so it doesn't sound like your talent is talking into a jar. Either have one boomed overhead or below out of the shot - or a lav attached to the shirt, bad audio = bad spot. Personally I'd find a better setting for talking head and just put the info that's in the background as on-screen fonts. I would ease up on the transitions too, stick to straight cuts or simple dissolves - all the different wipes, spinning images and such is a little overkill and lacks professionalism.

Just my .02. Good luck with future projects.

Chris- Thanks for taking the time to watch and give some feedback.

I'm not sure what you are talking about with your last paragraph. We don't have any audio. Are you referring to the youtube link? If so, this isn't our video. It's an example video done by the clients previous production company. Our video is linked in the first post. Let me know what you think!

Kyle, nicely done for a first time project, but I agree with the comments above. And yes, they got what they paid for. For $15K-$20K, it would be far more polished, and we would have hired a good motion graphics designer and write. If we were only getting $1,800 for the project, I don't think we would have delivered much more, probably less, or not have done it at all. You got some experience, learned some lessons, put some cash in your pocket, and have something to show other potential clients. Take the extra time to polish that video until it looks like a $5K video. Use it to land some $5K videos, then polish those to look like $8K-10K videos, then polish those...

On the first shot (bouncing), you can fix that pretty easy fix in post. Definitely fix it, its very noticeable, and on the first shot argh!. Also noticed in another shot or two, so work on camera stabilization. Stability, focus, color balance, etc, need to be spot on for commercial work.

Color temperature is a matter of personal preference. Some were cool, some were warm, even on the same scenes. Make sure all connecting shots have the same color balance. Ie, if you used two cameras, calibrate them so you won't have to deal with that in post. If they are the same camera, then using a manual custom white balance with match the shots. Having two shots from the same scene is another sign of an amateur.

Overall design work was very basic. A motion graphics artist would have been a good place to spend some money. Unless you've have design training or background, you'll get about the same results as an untrained photographer would in their first attempt at product photography. In projects like these, its always best to hire out someone that knows what they are doing, rather then doing it themselves. its the same advise we would tell a corporate sales manager that has his sights set on doing their own product photography work because one of his employees got a high end DSLR last year for Christmas and his vacation photos look great. We need to take our own advise sometimes

As for the clients marketing message, we sometimes write copy for our clients, sometimes they do that themselves, but generally the agency does this which is their job We know enough to write something that isn't embarrassing, but it really isn't our job or the best use of our skills. The agency and client together as a team are the best people to write the copy or narration.

Client changes. Not sure if you want to know the process for revisions, or how to handle them financially.

Time is money, changes are time. If they were not accounted for in the bid, its an overage and they get informed those changes will increase the initial bid. Its very important to spell out exactly what is being delivered, whose is responsible for what, how, when, where, who pays for expenses, etc. Even the small details, such as if a graphic is being added, who is responsible for the artwork. You may assume they will provide it to you, and they may be assuming you are going to create it. It should be documented so there is no question when it comes to time or money.

For the process of receiving/making changes with clients on the visual aspect, there are many ways. Client sitting in on the edit, sending them timecoded versions and receiving their written feedback, paper edits, collaborating in real time over the internet, all viable solutions. It really depends on the specific situation with the client.

Hope this helps, and good luck!