In the past year I have covered such topics as Producing Video Settlement Brochures, High School Video Yearbooks, Legal Video Depositions, Video Slide Shows, The "Armchair Tour", Music Promotion Videos, How To Make Training Videos Fun, Wedding Videos and Murphy's Law, and Producing Cable TV Commercials. These are all major sources of income to videographers, which I will no doubt need to revisit; based on the volume of email I receive requesting more information on how I do a particular job. But before I start going back to the scene of the crime I'd like to touch on a few, shall we say, "less than major sources of income".
Now, while I concede that these "little jobs" may not necessarily make your mortgage payments each month, they WILL definitely add to your bank account. Most of these projects clock in as a minimum effort in videography. They take less time to produce, and in some cases need no production at all. Some may sound obvious, in which case you should have thought of them yourself by now. Others are a little "strange", but if there is a need for videography, someone will have to supply it. It might as well be you and I, right? Let's examine some of these "Odds and Ends":
INSURANCE DOCUMENTATION: Yes, there are car collections, gun collections, jewelry collections, spoon collections, doll collections, model collections, dishware and silverware collections, stamp collections, art collections, antique collections, and who-knows-what-all collections to document. I document the collection for the individual or the insurance company, and they generally place the videocassette in a safety deposit box. I have shot some pretty weird collections, but the strangest of all was a job where I recorded where the furniture WASN'T! A man who was not getting along with his wife hired me. After returning to his house from a business trip he discovered that his wife had quite literally cleaned him out. Furniture, televisions, paintings, and even appliances had all been systematically removed from the residence. I was hired to video the indentations in the carpet where the furniture USED to be. He followed me around and said: "THAT'S where the 26" Sony console TV used to be����. THAT'S where the 5-piece matched living room set used to be�� THAT'S where the big-screen and VCR used to be�. THAT'S where the pool furniture used to sit, etc." Sometimes these types of jobs are pretty boring, but somebody's got to do it - - - it might as well be YOU.
FILM-TO-VIDEO TRANSFERS: There are thousands and thousands of people in the US who have their entire family history recorded on old 8mm-movie film. These regular 8mm and Super 8mm films sit month after month in some dark closet, waiting to be reborn again and bring smiles and tears to all those who remember when. This type of business is year round, but get especially busy during the holiday season. Starting in late November, I get call after call from someone wanting to convert his or her old home movie film to video. They usually want extra copies to give to all the relatives as Christmas presents (talk about the gift that keeps on giving!). While movie transfers are usually grueling work (set up/break down of projector and screen, burnt frames, broken splices, and dozens of small 3" reels, etc.), I consider it a sort of privilege to transfer these cherished memories for customers. I have watched entire families grow up year after year in under an hour. If I had a dime for every "baby's first bath", Christmas morning scene, Easter egg hunt, or visit by relatives I could have retired by now. I know I'm asking for trouble here, but believe me . . . you do NOT have to have to spend thousands of dollars on the very latest 5-blade shuttered, water cooled, fuel injected, technically advanced film projector to do these conversions. Unless you plan on converting these movies to use in a major motion picture, a standard 8mm-film projector will suffice. After all, most of these jobs will be converted to VHS for your client, and we all know what a GREAT format VHS is (NOT!) so don't worry too much about it. These people just want to have their valuable home movies on videocassette where they can see them without the entire hassle. For an extra fee I add a music soundtrack and title pages.
LIVESTOCK PORTFOLIOS: This may be a kind of regional thing. I doubt if many of your New Yorkers get calls for these videos, but here in the Midwest, the FFA still rears it's ugly head now and again. Around here you can still go to the county fair and step in cowflop. Many times I will get a call from an owner of a horse who wants to sell the animal or stud the animal out or even document the horse's gait, style, and personality. Video is the perfect medium for this. Many owners already have a camcorder but not the editing capability of cutting out all the boring stuff and leaving just the good footage. With a few title pages and some judicious editing, you can put together quite a nice portfolio for a client. Just as long as you make sure your client tells you which is the GOOD footage, you won't have to know a hoofer from a Heifer.
SURVEILLANCE VIDEO: While I do not relish the thought of sitting in a bush at a motel for three hours in the rain waiting for the two-timing husband to come out of the motel room with a bimbo in arm, there is an increasing demand for just this kind of footage. Private investigators and even the local police force occasionally have a use for such tactics. I'm a bit too old for these jobs anymore, and besides - - - who wants to get shot? (Been there done that - but that's ANOTHER story). Lately I've been getting a lot of business from the Sheriff's Department and Detective Bureau to isolate and enhance still images taken from in-store surveillance systems. Many of these systems are VHS recorders that record time-lapse video. Usually I load up a segment of video and after entering ToasterPaint, I locate the frame I need and turn a still of it into a Framestore. Then I can enhance the photo and print out a hard copy image of it for law enforcement. So far I've been lucky that none of the perps are acquaintances!
ANNIVERSARY/BIRTHDAY VIDEO: This one is self-explanatory. Many times some member of the family cannot attend a special family function and someone requests a video of the event. Or they just want to document their favorite Aunt Jenny's 100th birthday party. That's where we come in. These events are easy to shoot and sometimes no editing is even necessary. I always make up a nice title CG at the start of the video and then run the footage direct to VHS for the client. Many times they will want copies, so I always ask up front if any copies would be requested. If it's a "big event" and there are lots of family and friends present I usually make a master VHS and keep it on file at the studio in the event that more copies are requested at a later time. Other sources of clientele in this category would include Retirement parties, Grand Openings, and Family Reunions.
"EXTENDED" HOME VIDEOS: Sometimes it's just a small school program like a swim competition, dance recital, talent show, class play, or (heaven forbid) chess match. But those kids all have parent's who would probably like to have a copy of little Billy's winning debate presentation. There may not be enough persons involved for a full-blown video production, but it "needs" to be documented. Sometimes I take a job like this because even though it only paid $50 for an hour or so of my time, I may not have had a schedule for that time anyway. So� Hey! An extra fifty dollars here - - - and extra fifty dollars there ��� It all adds up. Like my mom used to say: "Count your pennies because the dollars take care of themselves".
FUNERAL VIDEOS: This is my least favorite shoot to do. I do not get a lot of calls for a funeral video, but I DO get calls. Most of the time it's a request from a family who has relatives out of town who cannot attend the funeral. They feel that if the family members not present could watch the service on video, at least some amount of closure can be obtained. I have also been hired to tape a funeral because the remaining family member(s) WANT the video to keep for themselves. Why? I do not know. It wouldn't be my particular cup of tea but I guess that's what makes the world go round. I have even been requested to document the graveside service after the funeral. I usually ask the client to make sure to inform everyone that I am there at his or her request. It cuts down on the looks that I get when I am invading someone's private moment of grief at the graveside. One note: These kinds of videos are VERY difficult to shoot without getting caught up in an emotional rollercoaster. I try to keep it as professional as possible, and stay away from close-ups of the faces of family and friends.
INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO: I don't mean the usual long-form types of instructional videos, with CG's and cutaways, voiceover narration and music beds. What I am referring to here is a "how to" video that the average guy next door just wants to make himself. I usually wire the speaker with a wireless Mic and as they go through their program I just record the entire presentation. Examples would be "Adventures in Rugmaking", "Fly-Tying Made Easy", "How To Wash Your Pet", and other blockbuster titles. These videos usually have a small audience and the expert does not have the budget to produce a full-bore presentation. Many times a full production would be overkill anyway. They just want something that looks decent and won't be too expensive to produce.
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION: Sometimes a contractor or homeowner wants to document the construction of a house, pool, extension, or some other structure. Depending on the particular schedule, I usually go to the site periodically and shoot similar angles of construction in progress. On most jobs, 15 minutes per visit usually does the trick. When I make the client's copy I burn in the time/date stamp on the first 15 seconds of each segment. Once I even shot the complete construction of a new design in prefabricated structures for a branch bank. I was there from the arrival of the building segments on Semi-trailers all the way through the setting of the components and connecting of the four major segments comprising the building. It took just under ten hours for the complete facility installation, and my time-compression shooting technique had been documented in less than two hours worth of footage.
These few cases are just the tip of the "Odds and Ends" video projects. If you have an "Odds and Ends" video that falls between the cracks of a normal production scenario, I'd love to hear about it (email: [email protected]) . When I get enough material I will present it in a future column.
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