Article: Why Video & Film Have Lost Their Value

set wrote on 5/21/2016, 8:36 AM

https://spark.adobe.com/page/GWBmE/?w=0

Seen this link when joining the Post Chat Facebook Group.

Someone ever saying that the future of Video and Film is 'dark', as smartphones are getting better, and anyone can do video.

Well, Facebook seems pushing forward their 'Live Broadcast' feature ability recently. Also, I just did the live streaming lately, even though still not quite perfect.
And, I have rarely watching my on-air standard national TV except Morning News. The rest of news I only know from my Facebook newsfeed.

What do you think about this article?

Recent Wedding industry in my Bandung city: Very competitive, extreme price war and wedding packages and features. So many new brand name. Quite different than, say, 10 years ago.
What about video / event industry in your area ?

Set

Comments

videoITguy wrote on 5/21/2016, 8:54 AM

They have not lost their value at all - quite the opposite - the whole value of these media endeavors has gone up astronomically. That is because of many different trends, in culture and economics.

Here is an example that was brought home to me last night.
Helping with an on-location broadcast at a local affiliate - I could not help but notice that it was very easy to have on-site quality portable video cameras, set-up was quick and versatile, uplink to live broacast with small dish a cinch. All of this paid for by local station advertising revenue.

Now in the distant past, these kind of projects were difficult, troublesome, and taken-on by management once in a blue-moon.

So the value is better than ever. Now, that is not to say, that everyone is doing this 24hours per day. There are still many barriers, including the sheer outlay of dollars to accomplish such tasks. Just one example showing THAT value is growing.

Barry W. Hull wrote on 5/21/2016, 9:52 AM

videoITguy, I'll concede your point that it is easier for a local affiliate to provide an on-location broadcast due to advances in technology, paid for with station advertising revenue.

However, in my media market, the upstate of South Carolina, the cost to advertisers, of which I have been one for many years, is nowhere near what it was. It costs MUCH less to advertise on television because the reach is down, and continues to shrink. The only time the rates are close to the glory days is during an election cycle.

Maybe you are talking about the value to video producers, not the stations?

mountainman wrote on 5/22/2016, 9:24 PM

I agree with the article. Unfortunately this has been coming for a while now. 10 - 15 years ago if you were a video or (gasp) a film producer, you were in a rare group. Now we are a commodity. Everyone can or at least thinks they can produce video. j

rmack350 wrote on 5/23/2016, 1:04 PM

I'd say Yes and No, which is a little weasely and not too helpful.

There are markets and there are market segments in this business, and those segments have a bit of ebb and flow to them. For example, many of my friends who worked as 1st ACs got out of the business during the recession at the start of George W's presidency. There was a general collapse in the market for commercial spots at the time and there was, perhaps, a glut of talented people in that market.

On the other hand, I was having no trouble finding work as a grip or electrician in the Silicon Valley market for industrial video at that time. I think perhaps that market might have contracted during the recession at the *end* of George W's presidency. (Not to blame him for both recessions, but he was kind of unlucky to have his 8 years bookended by those downturns.)

The main thing here is that parts of the market see changes, and in some cases those changes come about because consumers didn't *need* what they were getting 5 or 10 years earlier. For example, most computer users bought desktop computers to browse the internet and read their email. When cheaper tablet alternatives came along those users bought tablets rather than desktops and laptops. This market hollowed out because people didn't really need what they'd been buying in previous years.

The same is true in different ways for the film and video industry. Consumers can do a lot of cheap production for Youtube to show you how to cook an omelette or iron a shirt, and some of our paying clients would like to have that kind of spontaneity. Since the person paying is also an individual, they look at prices in terms of what they personally can afford.In part, the market has actually expanded into lower-end markets and the low and the high ends nibble at each other on the margins.

There are a few truths you have to remind people of. First, there are a number of things that you can't get from joe schmo with a cellphone. That's good writing, good job planning, good post production, and a little bit of experience. If the job doesn't *need* any of that then maybe you're the wrong person for the job. (Also, the brightness of the sun hasn't changed so if you need to do lighting in the sun you still need a bit of lighting gear and experience. Physics hasn't changed.)

Once you convince someone that you're bringing actual skills to the job then you need to convince them that they actually need to pay you for ALL of your time, and you need to know what your time is worth. If they can't pay for your time then maybe you shouldn't be taking their work.

And yes, it might mean that you can't compete at the low end.

Anyway, as an analogy, cheaper production gear has allowed us to set up pup tents and bivouacs when we used to only build bigger structures.

john_dennis wrote on 5/23/2016, 4:10 PM

"The viewing public has become desensitized to constant advertising."

I've thought for a long time that I am not at all indicative of the viewing public. (I may not be indicative of any public.) I'm acutely aware of the barrage of ads and product placements. Even the traffic reports on public radio "are brought to you by" some do-gooder business that above all wants to expose their product or service to a market segment not easily reached with other forms of advertising.

NOTES:
1) I've never had a real interest in doing video of any kind for money. I did, however, play music for a living for a long time.

2) I think traffic reports are a form of Hell on earth. It's bad enough to have to be stopped on a freeway with banks designed for 65 MPH. It's even more annoying to have to listen to someone describe it on the radio.