Communicating with Marketing Types

[Joshua Napier]

I need the communities help with a presentation I have to give in a few weeks.

BACKGROUND:

I run the video production department of a large corporation. As you would expect, we shoot the entire gamut of project types from talking heads to high end campaigns. Recently, we purchased a RED Weapon and I have been using it to shoot still and video campaigns concurrently. For these campaigns I shoot video takes at traditional settings, then shoot takes for stills (reduce the fps and compression ratio but increase the shutter speed to 1/400). Here's the issue, a lot of my jobs involve marketing managers for the various divisions. These folks know nothing about photography or video production. They have no clue the cost or technical requirements. To make matters worse, they all need high end video and still assets but have budgets that barely cover one medium let alone both. Of course I also shoot straight up video shows at 5.5 or 6K that are to be edit in 1080p. So here is the problem...I've started to get a huge amount of uproar from this crowd. I've tried in the past to educate each of them individually with very little success. I've been getting questions like:


Problem 1:

Them: I need a still image pulled from the video you made for us for a full page magazine ad. Me: Sure, but it's not going to look that great printed in an ad...especially at that size. Them: Why, didn't you shoot the project at 6K? Me: Well, yes, but it's not going to be a sharp image because of a thing called motion blur. The resolution isn't really the issue here, it's the movement of the talent, vehicle, etc., etc. Them: I don't understand, you said this was 6K.

Problem 2:

Me: We need to increase the lighting and crew budget by "X" percentage if you want to shoot stills and video concurrently. Them: Why, you said the camera can shoot 8K. Me: Well we need more light in order to freeze the action by increasing the shutter speed. Them: I don't get it. Why are you trying to waste my money. Why don't you just shoot 6K? Me: What?


I know this is comical to most of you but it's what I deal with daily and these are real problems. A couple of weeks ago, I actually had a very experienced gaffer complain to my client that the reason we needed all this light was because we where needlessly shooting 8K. In this gaffers opinion it was a waste of time and money. (This was for one of the still and video campaigns I do where I'm shooting at a higher shutter speed.) As you can imagine, his comment has created a huge uproar. (It blew my mind that a thirty year plus gaffer doesn't know that resolution and exposure are completely independent of one another.)

Ok, I think you guys understand the problem and what I'm up against. I need to create a presentation for marketing types who have no understanding of video and photography that explains the following:

Resolution - why we shoot at a higher resolution than 1080. Topics: down sampling, cropping, CU from WS, etc.
Motion Blur - what it is, why we would want to get rid of it in a still image. Topics: Still shutter speed verse motion shutter speed to freeze action. Exposure triangle (I don't want to get into this but how else can I explain what's going on).
Cost - shooting a video and still campaign concurrently verse a dual campaign. The pros and cons. Topics: The pros and cons of each. Strobes verse hot lights. etc.

These are the big bucket areas I can think of off hand. I don't have a lot of time to but this together and I don't think this group will respond well to a lot of technical info. I need visuals...charts, diagrams, etc, etc. If anyone has any assets that I could use that might help or advise on a best approach, I'd be most appreciative.

Thanks,
Josh N.

 

[Geran Simpson]

Common misconceptions would be a good bullet I think. It would clump a lot of the things you mentioned without needed to explain in too much depth.

 

[Elsie N]

Someone might suggest he peruse the RED videos for what he needs.

Or better yet, get a Raven for motion and use the Weapon on the same shoot set up for stills.

I'm a Fortune 1 Billion company and if I can afford a Weapon and a Raven, surely his Fortune 500 or whatever can do the same.

 

[Ben Scott]

Just buy an A7 as well make all your problems go away.

 

[Greg M]

first things first...you need a new gaffer.

 

[Nick Morrison]

I have these conversations every week. They get easier. Just remember that your clients/colleagues aren't dumb, just less informed than you.

I've learned that humility on my part, and empathy for what they are going through on their part, are invaluable partners in crime on this journey.

Just remember also to stay cool - your belief in your self and what you're doing will often win them over even more than your gear.

Trust me.

Good luck!

 

[PatrickFaith]

I agree with Nick, also this type of stuff is my money business.

How I normally say it is something like this: "you have a 1080p prores file ready right after the presentation that you can put up on the website [i record onto a atomos shogun with the sound coming from the mixer board], I also have a raw file for stills at 1/120 of a second ... thats twice as fast shutter speed as the 1080p [i use hdx raw and play with the blacks before/after frame]. For the raw stills, I can probably pick out around 20 shots where the speaker isn't moving around too fast, is looking in the right direction and doesn't have things like his mouth open. If you need candid "off camera" shots, I recommend we have a photographer that is taking shots before/during/after the event to get those type of personal money images you can put onto social networks"

[edit note ... i don't say what's in the "[ ... ]" ]

[edit 2, I think the gapher is right btw, you were wrong ... ]

 

[BrendanLeahy]

Another thing you could do, aside from asking them if they think this will be used for stills purposes as well down the line prior to the shoot, is to film everything with HDR at a setting of 2 or 3. I think it's the X track that ends up being the less-exposed version, but you also get clean motion on that as far as I can tell. I know this will burn through media like crazy, but is an alternate way to CYA when the marketing person says, "No we won't need stills," then comes back a couple weeks later with a "plan the team came up with that needs stills"

And yes, you need a new gaffer. I've only been doing my own video production business for the past 7 years, but have had to cut my ties with some crew members already for similar reasons (most of the time someone will whine constantly about what we don't have but "should have" )... No one should complain in front of the client and make you look bad like that.

 

[Misha Engel]

Make a good contract about what you deliver and make sure you agree and sign it both, plenty of examples on the world wide web.

 

[Daniel Pearson]

As a matter of interest, did you have to push hard for the Weapon in the first place? Are these same people, who are giving you grief, as the ones you had to convince in the first place to buy the gear?

 

[Craig Parkes]

Shoot with as much light as you can and shoot HDRX - video from the A track, Stills from the X track.

 

[Craig Parkes]

Shoot with as much light as you can and shoot HDRX - video from the A track, Stills from the X track.

Basically these sort of people want what they want - they don't care about quality unless someone up the food chain complains. First you have to deliver, then once you have delivered what they want they'll maybe be able to adjust price to get better quality. They'll never accept you can't deliver both at an acceptable quality unless you give them both and someone else tells them 'This isn't acceptable quality'. At which point you need a paper trail saying you 'Will provide what you have requested, but just a heads up that due to these restrictions video quality will be prioritised over still quality (or vice versa) unless budget is increased.'

Then when they come back and try and ream you out you point to that proviso - they go back to their bosses and point to that proviso, and either budget is increased or everything is suddenly satisfactory with the level of quality you are providing.

They don't CARE if it's good enough. They don't CARE if they need more budget. They have another project coming down the pipe and their job is to get projects delivered, signed off, on or under budget.

The job of arguing for greater budgets is generally done months before you are even in the picture - so it's not worth trying to get in such debates over issues of qualities. Their promises have been made, they aren't going to go back on them, no matter what.

They WILL throw you under the bus every time, that's their job. So simply be professional, give them what you want at the best of your ability with what you have. The tools are there to do it to a certain quality. Explain that once, in writing. If they don't listen or the quality isn't good enough the truth is either they will have to increase budgets, or they will keep trying to get someone to do it with the same budgets and the same tools and they won't hesitate to suggest getting someone else if you can't. But they are even MORE likely to do that if you are viewed as difficult - and the easiest way to be viewed as difficult is to tell people they can't have what they have promised someone else. Even if it's not your fault.

If you CAN deliver something, deliver something with fair warning. If you refuse - go freelance - inhouse work isn't about your reputation - it's about the entire system working together to deliver results. The sad fact is, even if you are the EXPERT about how to achieve the best quality, if you aren't the person in the chain whose job it is to say 'what we can do with these resources is of unacceptable quality' then the only way the person in the chain will know that for certain is to have it delivered for them to see for themselves.

 

[Craig Parkes]

And don't re hire a gaffer who complains to clients. That's sabotage. Or if you think he's worth re hiring, tell them that their opinion is for your ears, and not the clients and if it happens again you won't work with them again.

 

[Kris Tait]

For the life of me, I can't see how resolution has any connection to light. Especially after someone backed your gaffer up on this in the comments. Frame rate, shutter, of course. Resolution...nope. If so, please enlighten.
I agree with the HDRX suggestions. Really one of the most brilliantly exclusive features from Red that no one else has done. Your best tool for situation. Good luck.

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Them: I need a still image pulled from the video you made for us for a full page magazine ad.

"No problem if you don't mind motion blur due to different shutter speed in video. Here is how that looks like:

...or we can add a stills camera and a simple flash setup, which is how that is typically done, and that can look like this:

...or we can increase the shutter speed so need more light to avoid underexposure, and there is no fourth option."

 

[Joshua Napier]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the great responses. Sorry for the late reply, I've been lost in Power Point hell. So I spent over 40 hours building a PP presentation that started with the basics. I intended to give the audience a foundation of knowledge so that I could answer their questions and they would actually comprehend what I was saying. I say intended, because it was a monumental failure. I got six slides deep and that was it. The meeting lasted two hours but it was a free for all. Long story short, I lost this one but did learn some valuable lessons. In the future, keep the conversation extremely brief, avoid anything technical if at all possible, and go on the OFFENSIVE.

That last bit is the real take away for me. I'm going to start building back end process that will get us out in front of this kind of thing moving forward. Things like a signed SOW document which will spell out in detail exactly what the client will and will not receive, the number of shooting days, edit hours, the clients responsibilities, etc., etc. I know this is a bid "no duh" for some of you...especially if you are running a production company or for hire service. But it's pretty revolutionary for a in-house corporate video department. It's also difficult to implement. Structurally, internal video production departments lack the personnel to handle all of the "business" related task that and backend activities. Traditionally, only "do'ers" or personnel that are actively working on project related tasks are hired for these outfits. It's a hard sell asking for another head count that is only going to work on back-end processes.

So that's where I'm headed with my group. I'm looking to model my department after a for profit production company - headcount, processes and procedures, the whole works. I don't know if there is anyone in this forum who is interested in seeing where this goes or maybe in a similar situation as i am. If there are, I'd be happy to share my experience with the community. Just let me know. Of course, this is going to take months, maybe even years to fully realize, so I'll give periodic updates on our progress. Also, if there is anyone out there that can help us on our journey, I'd love to hear from you. Lastly, I've decided to hire a consultant to help us get to our goal. I've reached out to one of the larger production companies in our market and asked if they are interested but haven't heard back yet. So that job is still up for hire if anyone is interested or has a recommendation.

Cheers,
Josh