Category: Uncategorized

oday it was announced that CanonFilmmakers, the very informative resource created by Cristinai Valdivieso and Jon Connor, is being forced down (supposedly) by Canon. Naturally, we in the filmmaking community are saddened. When people put so much hard work into something like this, it hurts and is frustrating to see it wasted. Especially when a big corporate giant is doing the taking down. I especially know how much hard work something like this takes. My hats off to Jon and Cristina for all they have done (and do). But I want to offer an alternate way to look at this….

I’ve seen lots of comments on their blog post today blasting Canon, saying this hurts and alienates their user base. (Which is hard to believe. Are any of your really going to stop using Canon DSLRs because of this?). Other people were asking why would Canon do this just to protect a trademark. Having worked at a large corporation myself and working very closely with the legal department, I understand that this issue is way more than just protecting a trademark (although that is part of it). By having such a largely followed site bear the name of a major corporation, and since that site offers advice and resources related to what that corporation does, the argument could be made that the site could be confused as something endorsed and sponsored by Canon. That means anything Jon or Cristina do or say on that site could be construed by some people as coming from Canon. I’ll bet you a million dollars, that is the biggest concern of Canon.

Secondly, imagine if someone used your trademarked name, even for good, in a way you didn’t approve. How would you feel? Canon may actually one day want to use CanonFilmmakers, and by law they should be allowed to do that. If you wanted to start a website with your trademarked name, how would you feel if someone else had it. As artists, we all can understand and relate to that.

Don’t take this at all as a criticism against Jon and Cristina. I consider them friends and greatly appreciate all they do. I just want to offer a different perspective and hopefully cool some collars.

Jon and Cristina, I would implore you to export your content and re-import it into a new blog. There’s no reason why you need to stop. There are a million names you can come up with. Yes this is a set back. And obviously a hard lesson. But I for one encourage you to keep it up. (Unless for some reason you’re ready to do something different, which I could understand too).

Last night multi-award-winning Canadian wedding photographer and speaker Jesh de Rox unintentionally ignited quite a fire storm in the Twitterverse. Jesh gave a free webinarabout his upcoming Beloved Collective: an educational forum to learn about his “experiential technique” to photography. At the end of the free webinar was the sales pitch for the paid-for series. Nothing too uncommon there. It’s a very popular method for selling educational resources: give a sample for free, then give attendees a pitch to invest in something more. Here’s where it gets interesting. One of the educational resources Jesh is selling is a $16,500 one day 1-on-1 session (discounted $3,500 from the “regular” $20,000 price). Let’s just say, the fit hit the shan after that.

#OneDayWithJeshInstead

It wasn’t long before the Twitter stream was clogged with the hash tag #onedaywithjeshinstead (e.g. I was going to send my kids to college, but I spent #onedaywithjeshinstead). Considering this all started around 11 pm EST, it might have eventually died out. Except that one of the photogs on Twitter last night was a one Mr. Zack Arias. For those of you who don’t know Zack (and come one, chances are if you read this blog you do), Zack is a rather passionate fellow. Oh, and he also happens to have over 25,000 Twitter followers (vs. Jesh’s 7,000+). Per Zack’s own tweet, he never ever calls anyone out on Twitter, until now. Zack (and many other photogs who follow both he and Jesh) was shocked that any photog would charge such a sum of money for a one-day personal session. Naturally, some came to Jesh’s defense. There was a virtual tit-for-tat. When I went to bed last night, I kept my Twitter page up with the hash tag still live. When I came back this morning, there were almost 400 new tweets of that hash tag.

What is “Value”?

In truth, Jesh can charge whatever the market will bear for his consultation. Who are we to begrudge him if he can get it. We each determine for ourselves what is valuable. That being said, personally, I don’t think this was the right audience to pitch a $16,500 1-day 1-on-1 consult (even if it was down from $20,000). The photogs tuning in were doing so to help their businesses. If they could afford a $16,500 1-day photography seminar, chances are they wouldn’t need a $16,500 1-day seminar (especially in a world where you can get three days for FREE with the likes of Bambi Cantrel, Zack Arias, Vincent Laforet, Jasmine Star, or Jeremy Cowart on CreativeLIVE; or $99 if you buy the download. Also in comparison, according to Universtity a year at Brooks Institute during the 2009-2010 school year was about $26,000). So, in light of what’s available in the market, as well as recent events in the world and the state of the economy, it might have been poor planning to have such an offering.

I think another part of this whole debate has to do with the state of photography (and filmmaking) education. Many veteran photographers who’ve spent one, two, or even three decades perfecting their craft get a little off-put at the rise of workshops by those in it less than ten, maybe even five years. So you have all of these emotions coming into play when people see a $16,500 1-day workshop.

There Was More Than Just the One-on-One

The unfortunate thing is that there was so much hub-bub over the 1-on-1, the REAL thing Jesh was selling started to get overshadowed. The other resources he was offering (and frankly, the ones which were the intended target) were reasonably priced in the $245 to $500 range.

I’ve seen Jesh speak and the man is amazingly inspirational. His talks at WPPI are always standing room only and they often leave people in tears. I’ve also interviewed him for my old photography podcast and to this day it remains one of my favorite. Based on what I know of him, I have no doubt he is sincere in his passion to teach others. He is not trying to scam anyone. Given the $497 rate of his 5-week Beloved webinar, which includes with it the 2-day hands-on “Beloved Collective” seminar, I think what he is offering is quite a good educational investment.

Because of the explosion of tweets last night, I saw a lot of people casting judgment on both Jesh (for charging such an amount, by the way, without even looking at the other Beloved offerings on his website), and on Zack for attacking him publicly. Both of these guys are class acts in my opinion. We all make mistakes online (lord knows I’ve made my fair share.) Do I need to pull out the Rodney King “can’t we all just get along” card?

These are two highly respected leaders in an industry. Let’s cut them both some s

This past fall I had the pleasure to produce another series of short films for Pictage’s ParnterConference in New Orleans. The ones I shot last year were the most rewarding filmmaking experience I had in 2009, allowing me to delve into topics that inspired and provoked thought. The series I got to produce this year was equally, if not more fulfilling. A series of four short documentary films profiling people in the photography world, most of whom I’m sure you have never heard of; but whose openness and honesty left an indelible effect on the 500+ attendees at PartnerCon: and one story in particular that changed people’s lives (more on that in a few weeks). I’ve gotten the okay to start blogging about them and share my insight behind their creation.

[This video (and the other ones I created for ParnterCon) will be part of Pictage’s new education and inspiration site The Photo Life. Very cool! Check it out for some great articles, as well as intriguing podcast interviews. Oh, and it’ll be the first place you’ll see the other films I shot for PartnerCon. Go there to see them first, then come back here to read my back story on their creation.]

I Thought I Knew Joe Buissink

Joe Buissink is arguably one of the top ten most successful celebrity wedding and portrait photographers around. He’s shot for Kelsey Grammar, J-Lo, Bishop TD Jake’s, Christine Aguillera, and Stephen Speilberg just to name a few. He’s also one of the most down to earth, honest, and authentic people I’ve met. Some how, despite Joe’s fame, he’s been able to elude the whole “rock star” photographer image. He doesn’t boast on Twitter or Facebook about his work; he doesn’t blog; he doesn’t bad mouth anyone; and he sports regular t-shirts, jeans and sneakers vs. Marc Ecko designer shirts and points shoes. He’s “just Joe.” If you’ve ever heard any of his talks at any number of photography expos, you also know that he’s open and forthright. (Arguably more so than ever in this last PartnerCon as he shared about his own challenges in this tough industry and economy).

In this PartnerCon film series, we wanted to explore the trial and tribulations that occur among “newbie” photographers and old-timers like Joe. After a week-long stint shooting for three other clients in Northern California, I took a 24 hour detour to Southern California to grab some time with Joe and create the film below. I knew I would want to touch on his work with autistic children (he has two himself) and the affect that’s had on him. But as we rode from his home in Marina del Rey to is Beverly Hills office, he started sharing about his childhood and early adult life.

My jaw just hung in disbelief as he shared what it was like being left on a door step at age 4.5 by his biological mother who left his dad; about having an abusive stepmother; and about being called the N-word (yes, THAT word). About drugs, racism, alcohol. My mind was racing. How in the world was I going to capture all this information AND make it relevant to photographers? I think what we ended up with worked out just fine. But you be the judge.

Thank you Joe for your vulnerability, your openness, your compassionate nature, and your willingness to give back to this industry. You are what’s best about this business. You da real deal my friend!

Last week I talked about the first of two “180 degree” filmmaking rules: the 180 degree line. Today I’m going to write about perhaps the most commonly broken rule that I’ve noticed among professional videographers, in particular DSLR filmmakers: the 180 degree shutter angle rule. I think most people break this rule because frankly, they just don’t know about it. I have to admit, until I started shooting with DSLRs and educating myself on how to properly shoot with it, I didn’t know it. I knew what was considered the “normal” shutter speed setting for my camera (1/60 sec), but I didn’t know why. I hope this post will give you some insight into this rule, and help give you a better idea of when it’s a good time to break it, and when it’s not. [Note: if you want to read an excellent article on the history and math behind the 180 degree shutter angle rule, read Tyler Ginter’s post.]

THE WHY: PROPER MOTION BLUR

Plain and simple, the reason for the 180 degree shutter angle rule is to have proper motion blur. The rule states what your shutter speed should be set to relative to the frame rate of your camera. It’s very simple to figure out. Just double your frame rate. If you’re shooting at 30 fps, you shutter speed should be set to 60. [Note: this really represents the fraction 1/60th of second, NOT 60. But camera settings normally just use the denominator. Also, as a side note, this 60 should NOT be confused with the 60i reference to a media format. When someone says they’re shooting in 60i, the “60” here actually refers to the number of interlaced fields. For every frame in a 30 fps shot, there are two interlaced fields, one odd and one even. So, for 30 frames, there are 60 interlaced frames, thus 60i. But that’s a blog post for another time.] If you’re shooting at 24 fps, your shutter speed should be set to 48. However, as far as I can tell, most DSLRs don’t have an actual 48 shutter speed setting for video. So, use the closest one: 50. If you’re shooting at 60 fps, your shutter speed should be 120. And so on.

If your shutter speed is too fast or too slow, your won’t have proper motion blur. If it’s too fast, you get that staccato look popular in Ridley Scott battle scenes in “Gladiator.” If it’s too slow, the footage will look very soft and dreamy. Most DSLRs can’t go below a setting of 30 in video mode; but if you have a traditional video camcorder, you can probably go as low as 1/15 or or even 1/8. At shutter speeds that low you get that dreamy streaking look.

RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN – SOMETIMES, NOT ALL THE TIME

Okay, here’s where I may ruffle some feathers. I cannot believe how many DSLR videos I’ve seen that totally throw the 180 shutter degree angle out the window. Where it seems like every single shot is at a super high shutter speed. I see it a lot in the wedding cinematography industry, and I’m not sure why it’s so popular. Now, having shot weddings for a number of years, I know there are times when artistically a high shutter speed works great. It’s popular to use on fountains to make the droplets of water look like diamonds falling. Or if the guests are throwing rose petals in the air or something, that high shutter speed staccato look can be kind of cool. But, I see it used for people just walking across the street, or hanging out in a bridal suite. For my taste anyway, it seems a bit over done.

Now, to be fair, I know that in many circumstances, a high shutter speed is used when it’s super bright outside and the filmmaker is using a high shutter speed to compensate. A high shutter speed means less light is coming into the camera, and thus it’s a “trick” you can use if it’s too bright outside and you don’t have a neutral density filter to cut down the brightness. (Traditional camcorders have them built in, but for DSLRs you have to physically attach a filter). If you don’t have an ND filter, then ideally you should just stop down and adjust your aperture (i.e. instead of shooting at f5.6, shoot at f8, f10, or even–”gasp”–f16 or higher).

Now, I know precisely why DSLR shooters DON’T want to do this. The smaller your aperture (i.e. the bigger the “f” number), the deeper the depth of field, and heaven forbid if you shoot a DSLR with a deep depth of field. Here’s a newsflash people: not every single shot HAS to be a shallow depth of field. Look at classic, timeless movies like “Citizen Kane” or “It’s A Wonderful Life.” They aren’t filled with a bunch of hyper-shallow DoF shots. In fact, many classic and contemporary films don’t use that hyper-shallow look. I know lots of DSLR filmmakers are just ga-ga over the shallow DoF you get with these cameras, but IMHO it’s way over used. There are other aspects of the visuals that will give it that “film” like look besides DoF (e.g. the color grading, composition, frame rate, etc.)

Here are some tips when I think it makes sense to break the 180 degree shutter angle rule.

Depth of Field: as I just mentioned, sometimes you’ll want to increase the shutter speed to help you attain a shallow depth of field. If it’s super bright outside, stopping up to f2.8 or or f1.4 will totally blow out the visuals. Increasing the shutter speed will reduce the light and compensate for the brightness. There are times when you really do need that shallow DoF and this is a good way to do it. Just don’t go crazy.
Low Light: sometimes you may be in a setting where the light is pretty low and so using a slower shutter speed will let more light in, helping out. Depending on your camera, this will give your image more of a “dreamy” look. When I shot with traditional camcorders, I’d often shoot at 1/15 or slower because I wanted to get those dreamy streaks. I also used to shoot regularly at 1/30 at 30 fps instead of 1/60 because it gives a softer, more film-like look to traditional video. 1/60th is very “video” looking.
Epic battle scenes: if you’re shooting epic battle scenes, you may want to use faster shutter speeds to get that staccato look. (I don’t know how many times this may actually come in handy, but at least have it in your arsenal of knowledge.)
If you have other examples of how you break this rule purposefully, and why, please share in the comments.

VIDEO EXAMPLE – “TARANTELLA”

Below is an example of where I used a high shutter speed for a very specific purpose. I’m producing a promo video for an amazing concert pianist in San Francisco, CA by the name of Heidi Hau. For her promo she played the frenetic piece “Tarantella” by German composer Franz Liszt. The story behind the piece is that if you’re ever bitten by a tarantula, you have to do a crazy and hectic dance to rid yourself of the poison. I used a high shutter speed when recording part of Heidi’s fingers to 1) emphasize the frenetic nature of the piece, and 2) to make her fingers look like crazy tarantulas dancing on the keys.

Think back to that time when you were just a lad (or lass) in elementary school…when that fireman, policeman, astronaut, or some other cool grown-up came to teach you about their job. Remember how inspired you felt?

Well, a couple of Saturdays ago, our long-standing client Pictage partnered with Canon USA to give a group of kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was just a couple days before the official start of the 30th WPPI expo and conference and I had the honor to film the event and create a recap video.

Some of the top photographers in the country were on hand to teach kids ranging in age from about 8 to 16, how to take photos. The all star team included (in no particular order): Justin & Mary Marantz, Zach & Jody Gray, Mike Colón, Ray Santana, Kenny Kim, Will Jacks, René Tate, Shawn Reeder, Mike Larson, Chelsea Nicole, and Matt & Stevi Savage. Behind the scenes documentary photos taken by Joe Buissink and Monty Jessop.

The day started with Pictage CEO Jim Collins addressing the crowd of about 80 kids. Then it was pizza time and mingling with the photographers. Next was about a 30-40 minute classroom session where the photographers gave primers on composition, lighting, and use of the equipment. Then all the groups headed over to a preserve for a photo scavenger hunt. The festivities ended with all the kids getting certificates.

The video I shot that Saturday was finished by Sunday and showed at the WPPI awards ceremony Wednesday night, March 10. About 40 of the kids from the event were on hand to watch themselves on the big screens, then get a standing ovation from the crowd of photographers. As the kids marched out of the ballroom to go back home (it was a school night after all), they were greeted by high-fives and congratulations. How cool an experience must that have been for these kids, many of whom are underprivileged.

This was an amazing and fulfilling project to be a part of. As my company Dare Dreamer Media turns its primary focus to highlighting worthy causes, this is just the kind of work that is right up my alley.

I got a message this morning from Trisha Von Lanken that made my heart sink. Julian St. Pierre, co-owner of Studio Vieux Carre and co-founder of In[Focus] passed away in his sleep last night. The news was all the more odd because Tasra and I just had breakfast with him and his wife Terry Terravella three days ago, Friday. He was his usual spirited, funny, and bright self.

I first got to know Julian about five or six years ago at WEVA. I was picking his brain about how to produce a wedding-related television show. His studio at the time was producing a very popular local cable show geared towards brides and we were looking to do something similar online. He was extremely gracious in sharing his knowledge and we became fast friends.

You couldn’t meet Julian and not be attracted to him. First, there was the fact that he was a spittin’ image of Steven Spielberg. Right down to the baseball cap and glasses. What a cool look to have for a event videographer. I admired his shoot from the hip, tell-it-like-it-is demeanor. He was a leader in our industry. Someone who pushed the bar, took chances, and always worked to be on the cutting edge. He was a dreamer.

LIVE LIFE…NOW

I still can’t get over the fact that I JUST saw the man three days ago. Our time on this earth is so precious. So short. No one knows when his or her time is up. I don’t know what it was that caused Julian’s passing, but there clearly wasn’t anything visible. This is just a reminder how important it is to live life to the fullest now. Follow your dreams. Love on your family and spend quality time with those you care about. Don’t put off for tomorrow what you know should be said today.

I never know how to act or react to surprising news like this. Emotions swim. My prayers will be with Julian’s wife Terry and the rest of his family. Julian was a visionary and a man who I believed truly wanted to do what was good. Despite living in New Orleans, he was no saint. 🙂 But I believe he honestly wanted to do right by people and his passion for improving our industry was infectious. As was his smile. He will be missed.

 

In order for your video business to succeed in today’s crowded and competitive landscape, you need to stand out from the pack and practice creativity not just in one but in all facets of your business. Whether it’s offering a unique service in your wedding, event, or corporate video business, using a powerful brand, utilizing new media and social networking, or all of the above, it’s important to rethink your role as videographer and start viewing yourself as a media producer.

For aspiring and established professionals alike, Refocus: Cutting-Edge Strategies to Evolve Your Video Business gives you what you need to know to start, run, and grow a successful videography business. From the solo freelancer to the mom-and-pop shop and corporate video producer, each will benefit from the inspirational lessons and detailed, practical advice offered by two well-known industry leaders.

Here are just a few things you will learn:

How to build a powerful brand and use advertising effectively
Strategies to developing your business plan and making more money
Innovative methods for marketing, including social media networking  and new media approaches

Advice on breaking into the commercial world of video production
Practical skills for managing your time better, building a staff, and providing good customer support
Real-world lessons from companies that are successfully using the methods outlined in the book

REFOCUS RESOURCES

Below are the resources referenced in our book. Check back frequently, or follow me on Twitter, to get updates of new additions.

ReFocus Sales and Marketing Assessment Tool (right-click or control-click to save file to computer): print and use this PDF so that you don’t need to write in your book. Answer the questions to get a picture of where your sales and marketing tactics currently stand.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals Worksheet (right-click or control-click to save file to computer): print and use this PDF to lay out goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound.

ReFocus Edit Log v1.0 (right-click or control-click to save file to computer): use this FileMaker Pro database to track how long it takes you to work on an project. Enter the start and stop times for each section of a project. The database will then add up how long it took you to work on that section, as well as the total work hours. The labels in this 1.0 version are geared towards wedding projects, but the database can be used for any editing project. I’ll work on uploading a version with more generic titles.

ReFocus Work Log (right-click or control-click to save file to computer): use this FileMaker Pro database to track how much time you spend on different duties throughout the day (e.g. business development, marketing, admin, etc.)

 

So last week I offered a “crazy” theory that the new Final Cut Pro X (aka FCPX) is aimed squarely at pro photographers. As I wrote in that post, based on the terminology, the paradigm shift, and the much larger market, I think this theory holds some water. But Mark Spencer of Ripple Training makes a point at the end of their 2-hour FCPX review video that suggests something that is actually in a way, more challenging: that FCPX is aimed at all those small businesses that realize the necessity of having video on their websites. These are small businesses that may not want to pay a local videographer $2,000 to $3,000 for a small promo, but instead spend $800 on an HD DSLR plus $300 on a powerful editing program (i.e. FCPX) and do it themselves. Take the low cost of equipment and software, combined with the deluge of educational content online, and you have a new landscape created. If you make a living producing video content for small to mid-sized businesses, take heed.

Same Old Story

In truth, this is the same story that has plagued all kinds of professional visual artists. It happened with photography as film gave way to more and more powerful digital cameras and editing programs like iPhoto. It happened in the graphic artist industry as desktop publishing became more powerful. Even the music industry has seen something similar. Where the barriers to entry are so low, people and small businesses are not necessarily starting video and photography companies, they’re doing their own video and photography projects sans professional. If this is the market Apple is going after with FCPX, you know they’ll be successful and reaching it. That means you need to start thinking NOW how you will be able to set yourself apart in such a way that makes it obvious to a potential client why they must hire you! Here are three areas where I see there are opportunities to stand out.

Idea and Story Creation. First and foremost, the companies with the best ideas will win. This is the main reason I changed my marketing to be more about the ideas and stories we at Dare Dreamer Media tell, vs. our equipment or the ability to shoot and edit. If you’re selling yourself based on all the cool equipment you have, be worried. Yeah, it’s great you shoot with a RED. But if more and more companies realize that a video shot on a 7D is just as good, and they can hire an intern to use their $300 FCPX, why pay you $3,000 a day for your RED package? But, ideas are not so easily sold. Apple can’t package those in a box with a nice and tidy bow (at least not yet). Do you have a portfolio of work that shows groundbreaking or memorable idea and story creation? Your ability to come up with kick a$$ ideas that helps set YOUR clients apart will make them more inclined to hire you, despite the fact they have an intern with a 7D and FCPX.

Motion Graphics. This is an area I wish I had more prowess in. Even with Motion 5, creating eye-popping motion graphic work is still pretty difficult to do. Yet, when executed effectively, they create results that get potential clients excited.

Education. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. That is, join the race to teach all these budding new DIYers how to do it themselves. Companies like Ripple Training, CreativeLIVE and professional educators like Larry Jordan are nicely poised to make good money off the coming wave of DIY filmmakers.

First, let me start by saying that my blog post title today is totally tongue-in-cheek. Just a provocative title to make a subtle point and not in anyway meant as an indictment against Vincent. In fact, it’s a testament to his groundbreaking work in DSLR filmmaking and the impact his little film “Reverie” has had. Indulge me if you will…

I’ve been thinking this week “what in the world is going on with Apple and Final Cut Pro?” For the past ten years, it has been the “little engine that could.” Ten years ago when Apple released FCP 1.0, it was kind of a joke in the high-end pro filmmaking and TV world. Avid was the BMOC (big man on campus). But through Apple’s innovation and listening to pro filmmakers, they turned FCP into one of the most popular non-linear editing systems in Hollywood. Everyone from big budget studio pics to little indie guys were using Final Cut Pro (and eventually Final Cut Studio). Apple’s “Final Cut in Action” page had slick testimonial videos from the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, the Coen Brothers, Radical Media, ID4 producer Dean Devlin, and high-profile film schools like Full Sail University. The message was clear. Final Cut Pro, a program that cost a fraction of the traditional editing suites in Hollywood, was just as powerful as its predecessors. Avid and Adobe saw their market share shrink.

Now after waiting two years for an update to FCP 7, what does Apple deliver? A very slick, very sophisticated 1.0 product that is not usable by all the aforementioned high-profile Hollywood types whose testimonials help gave it the credibility to become what it once was.

So I’m sitting in bed, unable to sleep. Not because of Apple, but because my wife is taking a much-needed lone vacation and I always find it hard to sleep when she’s not home. But I digress. (I miss you sweetheart if you’re reading this). As I was saying, I’m sitting in bed wracking my brain about what Apple is up to. Everything I’m seeing is telling me they are abandoning that high-end pro market. Killing off Soundtrack Pro, Cinema Tools, Final Cut Server, DVD Studio Pro and not importing legacy projects is one pretty big sign. Then I watched most of this insightful video by the guys at Ripple Training (a leading producer of training videos and resources for Mac video producers). Mark Spencer, Alex Lindsay and Steve Martin (yes, his name is Steve Martin, and no it’s not the comedian) sat around a table for 2 hours talking about their take on FCPX and answering a lot of questions about it. They then showed much of the program. It is a complete paradigm shift in how an editor thinks (and how every other significant video editing program works). Other blog posts I read which backed this up include this one by FCP expert Chris Fenwick, and of course, this funny (albeit profanity-laden) post by maker of the now famous “No Title for This” video Jeffery Harrell. The nail in the coffin was Shake developer and ex-Apple inside man Ron Brinkmann’s post yesterday.

As Fenwick’s and Brinkmann’s posts suggest, Apple has abandoned the high-end pro video market in favor of the potentially more lucrative mid-level market. It really is iMovie Pro. Apple is not stupid. They are revolutionary in their thinking and 9 times out of 10 are way ahead of the game. They had to know this would put off a lot of top-tier professionals. They must believe that in the long run, a $299 mid-level program will make way more money than a $1,000 high-level suite.

But who is this mid-level market they’re targeting? It can’t be the general hobbyists. iMovie is good enough for that. And parents aren’t going to spend $300 just to edit home movies. Neither do think it’s the indie and wannabe filmmakers. Why? Because indie and wannabe filmmakers want to eventually make it to Hollywood. And I don’t think Hollywood is going to adopt FCPX. Which also means film schools won’t adopt FCPX. So I’m left thinking what industry is big enough to make the investment in FCPX (and the subsequent disenfranchisement of Hollywood) worthwhile?

Photographers…

Yes. This is just my little ol’ theory. But as someone who is hip deep in both the film and photography industries (ergo the name of my blog), it is all clear to me. This must be where Apple is targeting. And this is where the title of my post comes into play.

When Vincent made “Reverie” everything changed. Filmmakers started shooting with DSLR cameras. Photographers started calling themselves “visual artists” and directors. “Cats and dogs were living together. MASS HYSTERIA!” There’s only one market I can think of that is big enough to change the course of the river that was FCP. Pro photographers-turned-filmmakers (or pros wanting to add video to their repertoire). Ironically, I’m not even talking about Vincent Laforet level photographers. I’m talking about all those “Debbie Digitals” and mom & pop photographers who’ve been editing their DSLR footage with iMovie and have been flustered by FCP. I think it’s a safe assumption that this market is easily 10-20 times bigger than the high-end pro video producer/filmmaking market. So a 2/3 drop in price is nothing compared to the upside.

Proof in the Pudding

Again, this is just my very humble and untested gut reaction. But here are a few nuances that support my hypothesis

• Smart Collections. One of the most significant paradigm shifts in FCPX is the loss of “Bins” in favor of “Smart Collections.” Words mean things people. A “bin” is a direct inference to old filmmaking lexicon (film strips used to be held in bins). The way smart collections work in FCPX, when you ingest your media, you must tag them with keywords, which puts them into these smart collections. And it does so chronologically, i.e. media is dated and named based on when it was created. Hmmm? What workflow can you think of that involves keywording your media as you ingest it, and is managed primarily in chronological order? Oh yeah, photo post processing programs like Adobe Lightroom and Aperture. It’s a paradigm photographers are already familiar with.
• Event Libraries. Again, names mean things. Your media is no longer contained in “scratch disks,” but in event libraries. All your media must either be IN a library (which you can save anywhere you want), or if not saved directly to your library, it is still referenced via your library in FCPX. Hmmm? What other media workflow process do you know uses the term “libraries” for cataloging and storing media. Oh yeah, Lightroom and Aperture. Moving on.
• Imploring Users to Upgrade from iMovie. Right on the FCPX website is a section on why you should upgrade from iMovie. Hello? Who is this message aimed at? The tens of thousands of pro filmmakers that have been editing in FCP 7? No. The new dad that just wants to edit home movies and his iPhone vacation clips (who never even visits the Pro applications page of Apple.com)? No. It’s aimed at professional visual artists who are currently using iMovie. The overwhelming number of professional visual artists using iMovie to edit are pro photographers.
• Color Wheels Gone. Another paradigm shift… color wheels are gone. Now, you look at the color spectrum on a horizontal line, not unlike how one might look at, oh, I don’t know, a histogram? Hmmm?

These are just a few things to ponder. But I think they’re pretty significant (well, the first three anyway. I admit the color wheels/histogram theory is kind of a stretch). But when you combine these changes with the fact that it has direct hooks into Aperture, and all the other things people have been complaining about, I think my theory holds some water.

Predictions

I’m going to go out on a limb. These are some of the things I predict we will see in the next 365 days…

• The Hollywood testimonials will be replaced by testimonial videos by Mike Colon, Joe Buissink, Jasmine Star, MeRa Koh, Scott Bourne, or some other photographer(s) in their ilk (NOTE: although I do know these people personally, I do NOT have any knowledge one way or the other confirming my theory. I’m just guessing. There is no inside info here.)
• You will see a testimonial video by some high (or relatively high) profile wedding cinematographer. My guess would be they approach StillMotion.
• You will see full page FCPX ads in major pro photography magazines like Professional Photographer (again, even though I freelance write for this magazine, I have no inside knowledge. Just theorizing).
• You’ll see a large FCPX contingency at the major photo shows like WPPI, PhotoPlus and Imaging.

So. What do you guys think of my crazy theory?

I have no doubt that if you read this blog, you are most likely the kind of professional who has at least heard of Evernote. This Cloud app is widely popular due to its ability to help you create a paperless office. You can scan receipts and documents directly to Evernote with scanners like Fujitsu’s ScanSnap. If you already have scanned documents as PDFs or jpegs, just attach them to a note. One of the things I love about Evernote is that it gives you unlimited storage space (although depending on your plan, you may have a limited amount of data you can upload in any one month). There’s a desktop version, so if you don’t have an internet connection, you can still work on any notes you’ve created. And naturally there’s an iPhone version as well. I could go on. But here are seven ways in which I use it specifically as a creative professional.

Film and story ideas. Whenever I have an idea for a film, or an idea to implement in a film project I’m already working on, I create a note and put it in the appropriate Notebook (Notebooks are the places where you store Evernote notes).

Research. I love using the web clipping feature for saving web pages that I want to go back and read. This is great if you’re doing research on a documentary project for instance. And if you clip the whole page (as opposed to just the link), you can still read it even if you’re not connected to the internet. Evernote has web clipping plugins for all the major browsers.
Call logs with Clients. Any time I’m on the phone with a client or prospect for any length of time, I create an Evernote to take notes. It’s also a good practice to do this whenever you talk to places like your bank, credit card company, or any other business where you might want to go back and reference what they said.

Checklists. I keep my equipment checklist in Evernote, as well as any other important checklists.
Photos for Inspiration. My wife Tasra is the photographer in the family. She uses Evernote to upload and save any photos that inspire her. You can save them all to a Notebook and you have one place where you can easily access visual inspiration whenever you need it. Inspiring Quotes. I am moved by quotes that inspire me. Whenever I hear or read something that really clicks with me, I save it to my “Inspiration” notebook.

Blog Ideas. In order to maintain the current blogging schedule I’ve been doing, I need to keep track of all my blog topic ideas, no matter how insignificant they may seem. I save them in my Blogging notebook and check off topics as I write them. Some topics never get written. But if I’m ever at a loss for ideas, I just come back to the list.