Absolutely, I totally agree with Spot (hey that's what advertising is all about) but in your own work...

please keep your logos and "self-credits" small in size and refined.

If you are good enough for anyone to care, they will read it, no matter how small. Big supers look amateurish. (turn on your tv and WATCH it, tonight)

best,
v

Thanks for the quick input.
The client asked me to remove it. I probably should have did the branding a bit different. It is at the very end about the size and location of a lower third on a black background. An actual lower third treatment might have made a difference.
I do have a small brand on the DVD menu (bottom right) that they must not have noticed.

Harold

If it's work for hire, they have every right to ask you to remove it, because they own it (in most locales.)

Agree with Vic, keep it small and refined so that it will slip by most reviews. The people that care will look for it.


Semi-related story, re. credits as branding: As a naive high school student I was a projectionist at the local theatre. There were 2 patrons viewing the movie that night. I had a date after work and was in a (teenage) hurry. The credits started and I peered over the balcony and saw no one still viewing the movie. I promptly went upstairs and shut the projector off, rewound the reel and went downstairs.

One of the two patrons (a local doctor) was still downstairs waiting for me. Needless to say, I got my rear end chewed out mercilessly for "turning off the most important part of the movie". I told him I hadn't seen anyone downstairs viewing the credits, apologized profusely, and offered to go back upstairs and replay them for him. He let me off of the hook that night.

But I will NEVER forget what the most important part of a movie is...
And that people who want to know that information understand the importance of it...

And I never told him my date was with his daughter...

So how'd the date go?


(...sorry, I had to ask...)

"So how'd the date go?"

Sheesh, I think I would have rather had him tell me "he'd kill me if I violated his daughter". I saw his ire over movie credits, so I was kind of stunned at the time.

Needless to say, I was very careful that night:=)

Now THAT'S an award winning concept for a short -

go for it, Dave.

:>))

v

ITV is one of the broadcasters in the UK. They have a habit of curtailing the credits at the end of films, and that really bugs me.

I like to know who all the actors are, the stunt doubles, the sound designer, etc, etc...

I'm the sort of guy who stays in the cinema right until the entire film has shown, much to the annoyance of my wife. (She did enjoy the very end of Ferris Beuller's Day off, though...)

Worley

I stay in the theater for the credits as well. X-Men 3 and Pirates 2 are good examples of why it's worthwhile to do so....

My experience with the credits being cut off was from the audience. My wife and i went to see "Song of the South" in one of it's extremely rare appearances on the big screen. We had missed the early show so we had a nice dinner, then got to the theatre just in time for the second showing. Apparently the single remaining employee had hoped to go home early that night as he seemed rather miffed at us for showing up. He sold us tickets anyway, but the popcorn was already put away.

Well, as you might suspect, we were the only two in the audience. We had a very enjoyable time watching the movie. But then at the end of the final scene the screen went black and the lights came on. No credits at all. The employee was standing at the back of the house holding the door for us.

Oh well. Slight disappointment. I guess i couldn't have gotten too mad at him for wanting to go home early though.

"Now THAT'S an award winning concept for a short -"

Thats what I was thinking. Could be a lot of fun to do.

Terry

It's sort of been done.

http://posting.triggerstreet.com/gyrobase/Submission?oid=oid%3A1013179

Harold, I didn't realize this is a work for hire you're asking about. WFH generally don't have branding on them; the client owns the work. A short credit buried somewhere in the project's dark spaces are usually appropriate. For Wedding vids, you might consider building a standard entry vid that says something like "Harold Brown Productions presents Bill and Tanya's wedding" or something along those lines. I saw several of these openings at WEVA.

What is "irkable" is when viewing the said film on the tube with the credits (most of the time) blasting thru at light speed which make them unviewable so they can squeeze in another 5 commercials.

JJK

We have a guy here locally that puts a 30 second 3-D motion graphic (kinda like the long-form HBO opening) in front of EVERYTHING he produces.

Time and again we're asked not to do similarly.

The fact that we don't "over brand" is one of our selling points! I hope he keeps it up!

I have considered putting my logo/animation as a "hidden" track on a DVD. That way it doesn't interfere with the product, but is there if someone hits the right key entry.

I would think a small LOGO on the packaging would be acceptable.

Dave T2

DaveT2, I've done similar. On the main dvd menu, I usually use text links for everything, and centered at the bottom is our website URL, no http just companyname.com and if you click on it it brings up a 10 second animation "produced by" type thing.

WFH is a real tricky option to get your name about. Over the past 3 years, in one form or another, I've had to do this.

Yes I've built up an extensive range of showreels that do get tailored to be shown to potential clients and yes it has won me further work. I have used the option to be recommended for further work, and yes this has happened.

However, the greatest proportion of my public work, shown in very public places doesn't have any reference back to me. And that's a hard pill to swallow. What I can and have done is refer clients TO that work. I DO have a few on sites that are public and this works. It works on 2 levels. It allows the potential client to see your work AND it provides the client some sense confidence about my work, working methods and production values.

So, needing to brand IS a given. How we can make MORE from what we do is the OTHER very real job.

You have to look at many many ways to promote your services.