Making money from video making !

Hi,

Ideas for making money!!!

Here's one.

Remember there is not one answer to this question, it's up to each individual to make the best of every situation, you will only get out what you put in, if your lucky.

Find an expert, any expert, this expert might be yourself, who would like to make a video advertising this or her skills.

This expert could arrange flowers, cut hair, shoe horses, tattoo people etc., etc.

You and your video skills, will produce a video and provide them with copies, so they can distribute them to their customers or potential customers.

Because they are expert at what they do, they will be extremely confident in front of the camera a chance to show off.

They will provide all the props, equipment, expertise, narration (including patter), the complete content for the video and all you have to do is film it.

You can make your own financial deals, there are lots of ways to charge for this service,
it's a question of agreeing before you begin.

Jim Bird.

Oh! No charge for this expert advice.

Thanx Jim, You have given me inspiration, I have an idea off your sugestion already.
Anymore anyone ?

Graham Nash of the pop group Crosby, Stills and Nash is also a very successful digital artist. In his latest venture he has managed to capture the image left by crashed p.c screens and is now in the process of selling them as art. Oh the fortune I could have made!
Making money from video:
S.I.V. (special interest video) as described by Jim above.
Obviously weddings.
School plays, football matches etc.
Corporate video.
Presentation events, awards things like that and anything else you can point a lens at. Presentation is everything. The cover will often sell the video especially where S.I.V's are concerned and your ability to turn a buck and seize an opportunity are paramount.

quote:Originally posted by red:
Graham Nash of the pop group Crosby, Stills and Nash is also a very successful digital artist. In his latest venture he has managed to capture the image left by crashed p.c screens and is now in the process of selling them as art. Oh the fortune I could have made!

Are you serious??

I have been doing this for two years with my friend during live shows!! I allways record the live video shows and by coincidence one show (with over 500 people) my machine crashed 6 times, because my cooling fan was broken. I have been using these cool clips since then, it's a spectacular view , specifically because it is one of those strange Windows NT screen dumps and there is a lot of strange stuff happening
I can sell it as original art if you are interested .

Should I sue Graham Nash now?

Hendrik

mmmm, i think i have too much time today! Must start working.

Hi,

One of the biggest issues producing SIVs, is marketing your finished product. The big
time boys use distributors for this task. But for a small time person, marketing is a
difficult issue.

Many small shops are part of Co-operatives and they buy all of their products through
some form of central purchasing, which makes it difficult for them to purchase from you.

A good way to sell your video is through your local newspaper. They may even review
your video or at least give you some editorial space. For this you must write the editorial
material your self.

Send it in the form of a letter, to the Editor or the Editorial Dept., do not FAX it.

Newspapers are always looking for editorial material to fill their pages, in thisway you
can advertise your produt for free.

You can then, at a later date, follow this up by writing to tell them about your record
sales and how you have had to order additional copies from the duplicators to keep up
with demand. Its all about keeping your video in the public eye.

Jim Bird.

Yes it's true. He was on a T.V. documentary about two weeks ago. Now living in California, still touring with the group and also a digital art entrepeneur. Another interesting fact they came with is he also owns the worlds largest scanner! (but he wouldn't let them film it).
The crashed image he was most proud of was just a black screen with a wiggly green line down it??!!? I've done much better than that so I won't be wanting to buy any of yours

Jim,

I like your idea of playing up to professionals' egos. What a sensible fellow you are! Sound practical advice...

So, I'm going to stop trying to sell in my latest arty farty idea - and scan the local newspaper to see whose mug shot appears most often.

Having been in the news business I can well imagine the Mayor would be a prime candidate for "A day in the life of" production!!!

Dave

Hi Dave,

Please remember me when you make your first million!

Also remember "if it ain't simple your doing something wrong".
Jim Bird.

School plays, football matches etc.
Corporate video.
Presentation events, awards things like that and anything else you can point a lens at. Presentation is everything. The cover will often sell the video especially where S.I.V's are concerned and your ability to turn a buck and seize an opportunity are paramount.

Thanx Red this is great stuff !!

Have a walk into W.H.Smith and look in the ad's of the specialist magazines. Wether it be Martial Art's or My Pet Lurcher quite a few offer video's for sale. These have been put together by individuals such as yourself who are making their ideas pay. They are targetting their audience by using the Satellite Herald to sell a video called How to Install your own Satellite Dish. The enthusiast will read his magazine from top to bottom and is unlikely to miss anything. These S.I.V's are put together at minimum cost. Don't go spending thousands on a production because the drawback is you never know if they are going to sell.

Hi,

I have a friend who is a pigeon fancier and this person has bought every video which has ever been made on the subject of pigeons.

He tells me how poor they are, the quality is "utter c**p", but this does not stop, him or others buying the damned things.

We have decided we are going to make our own video on this subject, why not, if nothing else we'll have a good time trying.

Anyone got any goods tips?

Cheers

Jim Bird.

Tip for Jim...
Fancy Feathers is likely to win the Cross Channel race in June
____________________________________________

To be serious, though, I've seen a kite - with small video camera attached - used to capture aerial shots. The 'kite' was more akin to a mini paraglider's chute...and was used to simulate a bird's eye view...

BEFORE you try it PLEASE ensure you have a plausable story to tell your insurance co:

"It just fell out of my hand down a flight of stairs," will just not do!

Good luck
Dave

It's a peculiarity of S.I.V's that they sell despite many of them being of poor image quality. This is because their content is good. If you are giving the angler or pigeon fancier expert advice on his or her hobby they will be as happy as Larry.
The best way of course is good quality on both accounts, image and content.

Thanx eveyone, this is all great stuff. Red you sound like you know all about S.I.Vs, I hope you are making a success at the game. Keep them coming guys.

[This message has been edited by Morse (edited 31 March 2001).]

Red,
Unfortunately, I don't think it's a "peculiarity" of SIVs... more the fact that 'the public' will accept ANYTHING - as long as it entertains/ informs.

It's one of those annoying issues when you are trying to produce almost ANYTHING to a high standard.

As an example I suspect more top restaurants have gone bust than burger bars!!

Many consumers - through no fault of their own -simply do not have the depth of knowledge to make objective judgements when purchasing consumer goods! And some simply don't care!

Standards will only improve when the likes of JIM BIRD step in and take over from "well meaning" amateurs who are simply meeting a demand...

SO, IT'S UP or DOWN TO US!!

Dave C

IMVHO I agree wholeheartedly with Dave C.

I keep Koi fish and when I started, I wanted to ensure that I didn't kill them, (they are expensive, as you probably know). Like the average mug punter, I bought 2 Vids on:
1/. Pond building, and,
2/. Choosing fish

I returned both vids because the quality was unbelievably bad, third (or worse) generation copies. Sound dropouts, hisses, crackles, crap transitions...... and I had paid £30 for it. The replacements were no better.

The moral being: Is there a special interest group near you? If yes, dont hesitate, you'll clean up

Peter

What I am saying is this;

The enthusiast is not a normal consumer, he knows his subject. You cannot palm him off with any old guff. He does care about his hobby and will have knowledge of it.

You have got to tell him something he does not know!

This is where the expert comes in.

If you do all this then surely you can see why they sell even if the quality is , shall we say , home made. Of course it has to viewable.

Peters' example is obviously a cowboy at work. So his volumes 2, 3, 4, etc will not sell. He has shot himself in the foot.

No repeat orders for that chap!

However, I am harking back a few years here. In todays digital age we have no excuse.

Have heard though that a few members of this board actually weep when they see their digital masterpieces reduced to V.H.S in order to reach the masses.

It's truly heartbreaking.

Hi,

I shoot my original footage using 3CCD consumer cameras and ALWAYS use a tripod; I edit using the DC30+, with a capture rate of 3,000 MB/sec.

Then I output to S-VHS or straight to VHS depending on how many copies I require to make.

I realise there has to be losses, but, I'm extremely happy with the final VHS copies, all things considered, the image quality of the VHS copies remain sharp and the colours remain rich with sufficient detail.

The secret is in the shooting of the original footage, you must shoot good footage in the first instant and it helps if you shoot with editing in mind.

Shoot the main scenes well and shoot lots of interesting cut-aways, cut-aways which are linked to the main scenes, shoot the same scene more than once, but vary the shooting angle, without crossing the line and shoot if possible making the best possible use of available light.

This is the basic building blocks for a good video.

Oh! People are interested in seeing other people. If you make a video which contains a lot of people, put it together in an interesting way, then allow your audience to analyse everyone in it with their own heads (every viewer sees the same thing differently), then you may have a successful video on your hands.

The word "quality" can be applied to many aspects of your production, not just the picture. alone.

Jim Bird.