Happy friar,

what editing projects you get from schools?

where can we get editing projects other than occassions? i read some posts about projects from marketing companies.....how to penetrate this business?

thanks,
rall

Depending on the size of the area you're in, joining the Chamber of Commerce might be a smart investment.

I think anyone who does video for a living has had to pay their dues in one form or another -- the freebies, the stuff for friends. Another way to get into your local market is to offer to do a commercial or two for the experience...then you've got stuff playing locally and it's something you can point to.

Just don't fall into the trap of companies/people that have $$$ asking you to do stuff for free.
When I started my current job I started work at $5.15 an hour running the control room for a tv station, video editing, and misc other tasks. They said it was good expereince. Now, 3 years later, i'm working at the same place for $9, and there isn't anything challenging to do. Infact, there's less to do, but they want me to do more non video stuff (ie clean, outside work, etc.) I don't want to do that, and am looking for a new job. However, my 3 years of "experience" hasn't helped. There isn't anything challending at my job, no room for advancement, and no video jobs around here (Buffalo area). I've learned more about making video's since I've bought Vegas when V4 was realeased then the 3 years at my job.

I started doing stuff for the local school because of my dad. He's incharge of school safety, and wanted to know if i could do a video for a school violence. I made a music video (with school kidsw dancing) and a Columbine video (I learned Vegas with those 2 projects). He gave me an advance of $200 for those, which I used to buy 2 new hard drives. Then I did an emergency procedure video for free, and now i'm working on a couple video's for the school pep rally on October, and got $350 in advance for that (upgraded my comp with 1/2 of that).

Of course, not everyone has a crappy job like mine. And if you want to move out to the Buffalo area i'll happly give you my job. :)

I know our local TV station here -- it's cable actually, Ithaca NY's not big enough for affiliates -- has that same atmosphere. I'm just speaking from experience. I was a member of my Chamber for a few years when video project came up. I got it, it was well-received, and through connections I made as a result, I was able to literally "quit my day job" eight months later.

I don't think doing lots of things for free is necessarily the way to go, but if nothing else, it gets you out there and allows you to practice and maybe get a few things on local TV. I'd rather do music videos -- more creative -- but it's smarter to put that time into a handful of commercials that are going to be seen by people.

JMHO

> what editing projects you get from schools?

The local schools are an untapped resource. Here’s what you do. Go to your local High School, Middle School, or Private Catholic School and offer to make a Video Yearbook for the graduating class! You get them to send you some candid shots with their friends over the years, and then three shots of them growing up. One baby shot, one around 2nd grade and one around 5th grade. Also get their graduating picture for four (4) shots in all.

Then you compile a video of still shots (with pan and zoom from Vegas) that has basically three sections. The first section is pictures of the school and faculty. I like to walk down one of the empty halls after school and just shoot on continuous video as I go. I slow this down so it becomes a very slow walk down the hall past the classroom doors. Then over this background, I have shots of the faculty dissolve onto and off of the screen in order of the grades they teach ending with the principal. (I use track motion with a shadow)

The second section is miscellaneous photos of the graduating class over the years with just pan and zoom and dissolves through each one. People love seeing each other’s candid shots. All of this is set to music.

For the last section, I go to the school and take a head shot of each student in the graduating class outside in the spring by a tree or something. Remember, these are shots that the students and the parents have never seen before. In this last section, I do a page peel between each headshot. I superimpose three (4) pips one after the other of the baby shot, two growing up shots, and their graduation shot. I arrange these pips to fade into the upper left, lower right, upper right, and lower left in a crossing pattern. So it’s an establishing headshot, 4 pips and a page peel to the next headshot.

For the finale, I take a shot of the graduating class in front of the school stage. I then use an Alpha matte to cut them into the foreground, leave the stage in the background and do a credit roll of all their names which rolls up from behind them but in front of the stage. Just before the end I superimpose some fireworks, which you can just use a luminance key because (by default) all fireworks are shot against the black background of night. If the school has a logo, you can use Cool 3D to import a picture of is and have it spinning up from space at the very end. Be creative, after all, it’s the big finale.

We show this at graduation night. I try to keep it to 15 – 20 minutes but people have told me its too short! They have probably never seen how a simple pan or zoom can bring a still picture to life. Well... most students are overwhelmed at seeing all the pictures that their friends brought in and seeing themselves and the parents never saw the head shots with baby pictures and growing up (lost of oos and ahhs) and its just a big hit and everyone wants a copy.

I do this for my children’s school each year. Its’ a Catholic school that’s Kindergarten through 8th grade. I make a DVD copy for each graduating student and offer it for free because it’s a small school in a close knit community I feel it teaches the graduating students (and the parents) that it’s important to not forget to give something back to your community to say thank you for being great firends. The class is usually only around 25 students so for $50 bucks worth of blank DVD-R’s its no big deal and the payback in smiles is worth twice the price.

Now. if it was NOT my children’s small school, however, you could bet I’d be charging for the DVD’s. I think you could make a pretty good business at this. They’ve already seen the product, they have tears in their eyes, and they want a copy. I could easily sell them for $25 a copy. Your community may even pay more depending on what their actual paper yearbook costs. It’s just like SeaWorld taking a picture of your child petting the dolphin. How could you not buy it. ;-)

But it doesn’t stop there. Then parents start to call you and ask you to put similar photomontages together for wedding anniversaries and birthdays, and such. It’s the start of a whole new business of saving people’s memories on DVD. If you charge $2.00 a photo with the average photo staying on the screen for 7 seconds, about 130 photos will make a 15 minute video at a cost of $300 to them. Lots of people can’t limit their memories to 130 photos and you’ll see the average order at about 300 – 400 pictures a project, which is $600 - $800. The best part is, the price is directly proportionate to the work. If they want to pay less, they just give you less pictures. No price hassles for you and no surprises for them.

All this and you really haven’t used a video camera or left your home much. It’s just a lot of scanning, composing, and rendering. You could even advertise in the local weekend paper but word of mouth from a high school of families who love your work should drum up a lot of business all on their own.

So sometimes you have to make your own occasion. ;-) Hope this helps someone.

~jr

That is excellent question.I would like to know.So far I made few projects for my friend for free.

Ithica, NY? Hey, a "sister" station is out there! WNYI. I made the id's for that station. :)

JR,

Have you actually charged for this? I agree with doing it for free for your own kids' classmates, but I was wondering if anyone would actually pay to have it done.

A lot of the new systems being sold come with editing/burning software and I would think that a lot of people would think they could do it themselves.

They think that, try it, and realize there's a big difference between a professional production using 3 chip cameras, high-end mics, etc. and a glorified iMovie shot on a $300 palmcorder that has a cell phone built into it : )

I tell one of my partners all the time -- give me a $2000 guitar and every rack effect you can find, and I'm still gonna scare away the farm animals. Hand Clapton my daughter's junior-size nylon string starter and he'll make you cry. Beyond the tools, there's still knowing how to use them and, I believe, a natural ability that separates amateurs from professionals and can't "come" with a new computer.

Well, as a matter of fact, I played in a band for about 13 years, (weddings, company partys, and yes a few bars...) and I agree with you about the music and agree about the 'Huge' learning curve to do video editing.... but will people pay for it?

I equate video editing with painting.... everyone thinks it is simple to do, but can't justify paying for a "professionall painter to paint their house....(they think how hard is it... 'I'll do it themselves'... and then make excuses to their friends like.....(yea, but I saved $2000 doing myself)

Just my thoughts.....

It's a tough business. That's for sure -- especially when you're just staerting out and can't afford the sound engineer, lighting guy, etc. But I guess you gotta start somewhere.

> Have you actually charged for this?

I have not charged for the Video Yearbook but people have offered me money for the free copy and I refused. I know I could have charged them. And if I did it for the local public school where people don’t know me, I know I can charge even more. I’ve got parents coming up to me all the time asking for copies of the school plays because they know I add an opening intro and scene titles and effects, etc. They always say, let me give you something for your trouble and I always refuse because our little school is like one big extended family and I just couldn’t charge them. Besides I'm doing it for me anyway and making them a copy costs me $2.

Once the school knows you do good work, they may hire you to videotape the school play and add titles etc, and sell it for $15 a copy. You take $10 and give the school $5. Now it can be billed as a fund raising activity and parents are more likely to buy because the school benefits and you have a partner (the school) who wants you to sell more copies so they promote it. It’s a win-win.

> but will people pay for it?

What you could do is offer it for free the first year because people won’t know what to expect. Then the second year, you can take pre-sales orders for $15 a DVD and see if anyone bites. You can show people the previous years DVD as a promotion tool. Let them know it will cost $25 the night of the graduation. That will answer your question pretty quick.

The beauty of it is that they are not taking a chance that you will do a good job, You are showing them a DVD all completed before they buy, with memories of their children and asking if they would like to remember these memories forever. I’m telling ya’ there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. No one wants to leave a graduation. It’s the end. People stick around because good-bye is so hard to say. You are offering them to take those memories home with them.

I got phone calls from parents the next day telling me that their child has been watching the DVD over and over since they got up that morning and they just wanted to thank me again for preserving their memories. As long as you price it correctly, people will pay.

> A lot of the new systems being sold come with editing/burning software and I would think that a lot of people would think they could do it themselves.

Yea but the good new for us is, that software is Pinnacle Studio 8 and if anything, it scares them off so they’ll pay us more! (sorry, I couldn’t resist) ;-)

> Hand Clapton my daughter's junior-size nylon string starter and he'll make you cry.

I hear ya’, and that is the bottom line. Whether you realize it or not, YOU are an artist. Vegas is just a tool. People think they can do it themselves and then realize that having the tool doesn’t give you the creativity. I’m also a professional musician too so the Clapton analogy hits home for me because it’s so true. Knowing how to pace the video, and tell the story doesn’t come out of the box. It comes out of you. And that’s what they’re willing to pay for.

~jr

I have to chime in on this one.

The school project is a great idea that Ihave been developing in my area - so I know it is definately an untapped market.

Yes there is money to be made - as long as it is approached as a business. Sure, give some freebies away as a promotion tool...but if all your work is for free then there is no business in that.

As for new tools that allow people to do it for themself...that is true. There are products on the market that allow a person to plug and play and transfer their VHS of little johnnies graduation to DVD.

But soooooooo much more goes into making a presentation than just pluggin in the camera and away you go.

I just finished transfering a family members wedding video tape to DVD. They initally found a guy who would record their ceremony (and reception) and didn't charge a heck of a lot to do it. So they got a two hour tape that was (basically) edited in the camera.

They paid x-amount for the first tape...and much less for each additional copy (which, of course, they could have dubbed at home). But the point is...they paid him to do the shooting, editing, and tape making.

They have watched this tape at least twice a year (they are really in love....aint that sweet!!) - so transferring it to a disc that will last a heck of a lot longer than a VHS is definately worth it.

Now....they could have went out and got the device to dump it to DVD for on their own...but they wouldn't have had a clue on how to spruce up the footage (like I did)...added music, took out un-needed footage, check/fix sound levels - color corrections...etc.

That is one of the main difference between someone having a video camera - and someone being a videographer. Or someone being able to transfer VHS to DVD...and someone being an editor (or producer...for that matter).

And last (but not least)....if people are willing to spend money on a pet rock (or an iMac)....they are willing to spend money on a professionaly done job (and you are worth asking for and receiving fair compensation for your work....assuming it is of professional quality).

I think there is a big difference between a professional video production - and someone who has just held a camera recording an event for a few hours.

Nameen?

Myself, I tap into my other talents & past experiences when I need to make a project for dough. I'm a martial artists with 18+ years exp and I am cranking out a DVD on some knife tactics. I plan to produce other DVD's on some aspects of what I do as far as martial arts goes. Furthermore, I have an extensive background in teaching at high school levels, so I am planning to produce some instructional DVD's as well. Also, I have been in the medical field for about 15 years as a therapist and am planning to produce some projects instructional based. The greatest thing you can do for yourself is to have varied experiences in various careers that can pay off later. I consider myself not only fufilled in my past & present experiences, but the information I gained from each will soon equate in $$$ divedends. Good luck to you.

You made the right start, doing stuff for free. My husband and I are starting out and we are "specializing" in weddings, but we are also doing other events. Personally, we really get into the whole wedding videography thing. Whether wedding videography is your thing or not, check out www.videouniversity.com. It has a wealth of resources and materials you can purchase about the art of videotaping and how to make a business out of videotaping and video editing. We purchased his "combo deal" with a book "Wedding Video for Profit, A business and Marketing Guide" and the companion video and I am PSYCHED! I learned so much and am on my way now.

Best of luck,
Melissa

The problems with going after schools is that they rarely have any money to spend, and most of them have an A/V department that puts together most of the school videos. Most of the time you will do a lot of work, and revisions, and never fully get compensated for what you do. I used to do schools and little consumer things, but it was a dead end, no money in it. Start going after medium to large sized sompanies, put a website together, get a demo reel that you can send out. Then you can start actually making money doing this.

> The problems with going after schools is that they rarely have any money to spend, and most of them have an A/V department that puts together most of the school videos.

You missed my point. The schools A/V department or budget is irrelevant in my example. The customers are the parents of the graduates, NOT the school itself. Those graduates are going to get married and probably want a video of their wedding. They will remember the video you did of their graduation and perhaps their grandparent’s anniversary. Why do you think companies like Apple and IBM give away computers to schools? Because school is where people make their first impressions and people tend to stick with what they know and have learned. I see no harm in teaching them that you do good work as a videographer and can even make a movie out of their still pictures which is what the original poster said they were doing. I bet most people don’t even realize you can preserve old photos on DVD. I think that’s a great way to get started.

~jr

JohnnyRoy,
Your earlier post on the school video was absolutely great! Your ideas are really inspiring. We just went through the experience with my daughter and her graduating class of 11 decided to hire a professional to make a video montage and film the graduation. The grad video and montage he sold us for $30 a VHS copy and $40 for DVD. The kids all included personal photos for the montage and I gave up some footage I had acquired over the years. The market is there for sure. Also, I ran across a great site advertising both personal and business video services that looks like what the originator of this thread might be looking for as an example of what we can aspire too. Here is the link which is also in Chienworks list of links:
http://www.thevideomaker.com/
Again, really appreciate your sharing the technique you use. It is most helpful. As you and others have said, the tool makes things easier but the content is really what it's all about.
Aloha,
Randy

So you're going to compete with the schools AV department and take money away from them and the school so they won't be able to afford new equipment and eventually die from budget cuts. Good idea, I don't know why nobody ever thought of that before.

most school AV departments don't do much but setup video projectors and such. School AV departments usually have a budget too, so noone would take money away from from. And, if you go the route of giving the school $X for $Y paid for a DVD/VHS, then the school MAKES money because they don't have to use their equipment, hence no wear and tear, stuff lasts longer.

In New York, all school made budget cuts anyway (my local school cut their AV dept and just assigned various AV tasks to teachers/misc staff), so there's no money lost.

If the school really was concerned with making money, they would hire a video guy to do their stuff.

In the AV departments at most of the local schools around here they shoot all their plays, sports events etc.. and edit them and then they bring them to a local duplication house to make copies and then they sell them to the parents and students. I'd just make sure the AV departments in the schools you are editng for don't have a similar program, I'd hate to see a greedy video editor take away from a schools AV department.

School really sell copies of plays and such? I've talked to a couple school about that and they said they can't because of copy writes with the music, etc. That's why they can't broadcast the plays/musicals on the local cable station too.