Rustic River Media is not only a world traveling multimedia production company, but we are also teachers of the trade. Our channel is designed to show others how we produce our content both in the field and in the edit.
There's a sudden wave of "I want muh freeeedum, so I don't want retainers........ but they sure are nice" videos on the channels I follow. I have the exact same thoughts about them - but I don't like them because of a fixed income ....... it's more that you get to know the client better and the "hitrate" just gets bigger and bigger, so the productions tend to get better as time goes by.
Oh really? That's interesting that you've seen a sudden wave of that. I have always liked having retainer clients and feel that they make a lot of sense for anyone growing a business, but the ones I had in the past finally fizzled out and I hadn't found a good fit to replace them until recently. I love retainer jobs and will take as many of them as I can get. It just makes good business sense!
Hey there, we do have info in the description of the podcast as per usual, but I don't add chapters as I simply don't have a ton of time to spend on it!
Great video! Does your SmallHD monitor fan kick in after some hours constantly on? Could the fan noise interfere some quiet scenes / intimate settings? Thank you!
Hey, thanks for the comment. The fan on the SmallHD Cine 5 does kick in from time to time, but it's not something I've ever noticed in anything I've shot since buying it a little over a year and a half ago. This includes countless interview sessions where it's very quiet when the interviewees aren't speaking. I personally don't feel that the fan is a problem on that monitor.
@@rusticrivermedia4755 Hi, thank you for your reply! I assume the fan will kick in once the monitor gets really hot. Has it ever overheated and shut down?
@@acoast84 It hasn't ever overheated and shut down on me, and for what it's worth, I live in Texas! So I think it's completely safe to use for an extended period of time, even in the warmest of climates.
Great content. It seems like this video is for us creators of media. This is not really meant for clients? Your honesty (what contracts should be) may scare some potential clients away? No? The only contract I've ever had with clients is a non compete. They didn't want me doing for others what I do for them. I've never had a client not pay me or even threat to not pay me. I've been doing my thing for 40 years. A solid conversation with a clear understanding of needs and expectations is a necessary starter. Not always an easy task. I try to have a clear mission from my perspective. I do my best to understand theirs.
Hey Scott, all my of podcasts are meant for creators of media. I don’t make them for clients. Some clients may see my podcasts, but those who do tend to like the material. That being said, these aren’t made for them, they are made for people in the video industry. If that scares a client off, then that’s a client I feel I don’t need. In my business I have contracts for pretty much everything. If I’m doing a small project or am helping a buddy out, then I won’t go through the trouble of having a contract. But, for 95% of my work, I always have contracts. My attorney said it best on the podcast he did with me (Ep. 67) when he said that the video business is infinitely complex as you’re dealing with intellectual property rights. Intellectual property rights can cause a lot of problems if you don’t clearly iron things out on paper. Plus, when you’re working on a sizable video project, there’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of moving parts, a lot of people involved, and often a lot of money at stake. I wouldn’t feel comfortable engaging in business like that without having the details ironed out. Contracts preserve relationships as they take away the grey area and make sure everyone’s on the same page. If you’re involved in a video project and you don’t have a contract, how do you then decide who owns what, what the payment terms are, how many revisions are allowed, who’s responsible for film permits, what expenses are covered, how many hours constitutes a film day, who gets to keep and use the raw footage, etc.? If you don’t have a contract that spells those things out, then you’re creating a ton of grey area that will at some point likely cause an issue down the road. Why have grey area and create risk when you can iron everything out before you begin the project? If you’re doing small projects, that’s one thing. If someone asks me to come shoot some photos tomorrow morning and I’ve got the time, then I’m not overly worried about it. But, most of my jobs aren’t like that. My jobs tend to involve large companies or corporations, public universities, AEC firms, medical practices and things of that nature. I wouldn’t be comfortable engaging in business with any of those clients without having a contract and honestly none of them would be comfortable working with me without one either. Everyone wants to know who owns what, who’s responsible for what, at what cost, and during what time period. Without that you’re gambling tens of thousands of dollars based on conversation which is a recipe for disaster.
Hey - great video that certainly inspired ME to "bend" my contracts a little. I've been in the business for 20+ years and still on a regular basis - often based on new, bad experiences I want to avoid in the future - update my constracts. One thing that I still haven't found a great way to deal with, is the AMOUNT of changes to a video (or perhaps better described as the IMPACT on me). When we give the clients 1-2 revisions, in MY view, it's based on small changes - you know, like "can you swap this part for this part" or "how about showing a text in the beginning of the video" stuff. Most times, the largest part of the creative decisions are left to us and often, the client cannot detail the video very specifically (especially in events where we cannot predict what's actually going to happen and thus being recorded) or do a real step-for-step-storyboard. Recently I had yet another client getting a video for review and returning with MAJOR changes - like, I did a lot of slowmotion b-roll and they didn't want that even though I specifically showed them a similar project prior to that and told them that it was what I was going to do, and they asked me to speed it up.......... then they also wanted to change the music, but I had been editing to the beat of the music so now all the edits had to be retimed to fit the different BPM of the new music........ to me, it was almost easier to scrap the whole edit and do an entirely new one - which I believe is not what a REVISION should be. Do you have any thoughts about this ?
Hey, thanks for listening to the podcast and for your comment. I agree, this is something that I've ran into multiple times that's beyond frustrating. I'm actually on a project right now where I'm dealing with this. I'd say this is a bit of grey area and the best thing we can do is to work with the client ahead of time to get approval for things like music, graphic options, text, speed or flow of the video, etc. I do my best to get approval for these things before we start an edit. I also will even transcribe interviews and send the transcriptions to clients to have them read through the transcripts and highlight the lines they want to make sure are included in an interview. Essentially, I've learned that the best way to prevent excessive revisions is to give the client the ability to have a say throughout the process. Outside of that, I actually have recently asked my attorney to draft a new clause for me that states what can or cannot be changed during revisions. Hopefully this new clause combined with giving the client a say throughout the shoot and edit will prevent excessive revisions in the future.
8:40 You could look at it that way ("15 years ago, there would have been a lot more people on set for this project") OR you can say "so because of that, it wouldn't have been made back then because of the expense but now, a ) they can have a 'one man army' do it PLUS the possible reach (ie. return on investment) is MUCH bigger now, SO TODAY, jobs like these has started to exist. There are MUCH more work out there today for people like you and me, than even 5 years ago. To me, that's a good thing.
I do agree that there are more jobs available today than ever thanks to the wider reach people can achieve without having to pay for something like a nationally televised ad. That’s a valid point. I do think that’s helped me get jobs I likely wouldn’t have gotten years ago. The flip side of that is it brings with it cheaper options for video creation which in turn brings prices down. I’ve seen guys with 3-4 years of experience and full video kits (cameras, lenses, supporting gear, lights, mics, etc.) offering their services for as little as $150/day. It’s hard as a professional to compete with that which is why I see the market getting a taste for unrealistic expectations.
Hi Josh - I really like your podcasts (not least because of the Yellowstone vibes I get haha). At first, I was a bit annoyed about the length of each show because it can be hard for me to find room during my day, to spend 40-50 minutes on a single video. Now, I appreciate it because of the "deep dive" aspect. Yesterday, I noticed that DJI lifted the embargo on RS4 videos and within hours, literally hundreds of very similar "THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!" videos pop up, where the creators spend a few minutes pitching the product more or less in the same, shallow way. Too many creators seem to be chasing the same clicks in what has become a tiring, "too obvious commercial" way for me and have now become what RU-vid originally was a reaction against (oldschool media).
Thanks for the comment and for listening to the podcast. My episodes are definitely not short, but they are a relatively standard length for an audio podcast which is how I started the show. My goal has always been to be the opposite of the “THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING” RU-vidr and instead try to provide in-depth discussions on topics that aren’t as widely covered. I see my audience being targeted toward people who genuinely create video content for a living who want to learn more about specific topics, such as contracts or how to price your work. To me, these are the topics that aren’t as widely discussed, especially in detail. Hopefully people who follow the podcast can pick up advice on things they either haven’t figured out yet, or maybe haven’t thought of yet.
This is gold. I've been doing video and photography since 2001 and the amount of new auto-based features in the cameras have been impressive. That said, just because a feature is there, it's not always the best to have turned on. Take the classic debate on autofocus - MOST people just leave it on even though it's not always giving you the best result. There is - and I guess there will always be - some parts, that are better done manually and this includes stabilization - use a gimbal or a shoulder rig instead, heck, even just add some weight to the camera to counteract the micro jitters. MAIN problems is, that doing focus manually, turning off ibis, exposing manually etc. is a REALLY tough job even for professionals and it might only give us the last 20% of the total performance / outcome / quality but it takes 80% ekstra work - I get that - but maybe we should play the devils advocate at admit, that the 80% result can just as well be obtained by the clients themselves and they might only be booking us to get the extra 20% in the future instead of just doing the pictures / recordings themselves in full auto.
The Canon RF 24-105, 2.8 is stunning. I'd sell all my others to get another one. Checks all the boxes. And it's a cinema lens first. Sony will have one too. It's a must. You can check mine out if you want. Just to see. IBIS can be on par with a Gimbal. That's why I use a strap. 3 points. You use IBIS with a tripod?
Hey! I don’t use IBIS with a tripod. I have no doubts that the Canon lens is nice, but I’m not really a fan of image stabilization for handheld because to me it ruins the handheld look. That’s a lot of what I was trying to say in this podcast. Handheld shooting is supposed to have movement. That’s part of what makes it a great storytelling piece. Image stabilization takes away from that by making the shot lose its organic appeal.
Hey Josh. I didn't see a huge difference between RED and what I use. A minor improvement with way more shooting hassle. And the AF is weak. BUT I watched the movie "The Killer" and thought wow, I gotta see what this was shot with. It was really well shot and the image is smokin. But still not for me. No ND's, the SDI port issues, the cost are just a few things that make me tap the brakes. And I have a bunch of RF glass. Great vid. The Canon RAW LT is really nice and easy to work with. And it's to an SD card. Crazy. I didn't know Canon had to buy the right. I'm sure Canon had dibs on a purchase and passed. My guess. All these years with Canon, BM & Sony doing all the heavy lifting with the cinema lines, Nikon gets to learn from the free market research and go right to a very strong Cine Camera. We'll see. If RED/Nikon moves away from RF glass RED owners will be livid. They should keep it optional. Feb 1st I saw an article about Canon having 24+ stop DR sensors. Even if they only go 20+ why do they need RED?
Finally a good opinion piece. Thanks you! Here is my take on... (1) why Nikon had a real shot with their lawsuit against RED in contrary to Apple, Sony and others: (2) why Nikon won't licence internal compressed RAW in the near future to competitors: (3) why it's a good thing: (1) Nikon had an entirely different lawsuit approach as shown in the video below. And they surely have tangible evidence for it, which other competitors don't have. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-__X25Fr2K_M.html (2) BUT if Nikon had won the lawsuit instead of the joint dismissal and agreement with RED in 2023, RED would have lost their patent. Which wouldn't have been just a big loss for RED but a loss for Nikon too. Because not just Nikon would have benefitted from a "free" patent, even more so Nikon's competitors, who already have a good grasp in the video/cinema industry. So with their joint dismissal of the lawsuit and their agreement the important patent still stays intact. And now RED and Nikon can benefit from each other without other competitors benefitting from the patent. (3) In a strong competition with big companies like Canon and Sony having a strong ally behind your back is a good thing for development and production resources AND in the end for the consumer.
One of the reasons I got the Tilta cage and v-mount system is because it is sturdy enough for me mount it on my shoulder without a shoulder pad system (i know not ideal, but it works for short takes). Do you think the the wooden camera Battery Slide Pro V-Mount system is sturdy enough to mount on your shoulder? Also, add some chapter markers, it may help you rank better on youtube and google search.
Hey David, thanks for the comments and suggestions. As for the Wooden Camera Battery Slide Pro, I definitely think it's sturdy enough to use on the shoulder. I actually just shot a multi-day event like that and really liked it. As for the chapter markers, I probably should definitely do that. I honestly don't spend a ton of time on RU-vid as I am usually working on video projects for my business throughout the day. I don't see myself ever becoming a RU-vidr, so for me I just put out what I hope is helpful information when I get a chance. That being said, I do agree that chapter markers would be good and will try to implement those in the future.
May I have a Link to the O rings you used on the alister chapman mic holder? Mine sags bit and you can see the dead cat when zoomed out to 24mm. Also link to your black short haired rycote dead cat? Make it an affiliate link ;)
Hey, I don't have a link to the O rings as I bought those from Lowe's. I went to Lowe's and purchased a few different sizes until I found a size that fit well. I don't remember what that was though. As for the short haired version of the Rycote Windshield, this is the one I purchased: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1508793-REG/rycote_033015_7cm_standard_hole_fur.html
I’m absolutely nerding out about that baseplate functionality. So diverse! I did a similar setup with my rig except I made everything be manfrotto 501 plates. Super helpful to quick pull off accessories and switch to different ones using all the same plates. I put out a full breakdown of my rig too. Very similar to yours. Love the content. New subscriber!
Thanks for reply and the subscribe! That's great that you did something similar with Manfrotto plates. I'm big on having one plate system for all of your equipment. It saves so much time on projects. I'll be sure to check out your breakdown and will give you a sub as well.
The problem with sticking to one brand is they might not have a fully developed product line like Sony. So your arguments is more targeted towards ‘why you should stick to Sony.’ And honestly I think that is a very valuable approach. Like you said: they have a unified lens mount among every camera they produce and they segment their features between cameras in a very logical and price dependent way. The problem is when you stick to another brand that does not offer as many benefits or logic. Canon has a new mount that is splitting their customer base. Their new cameras have great tech yet don’t even offer a proper full frame cinema camera on rf mount. Yet all the rf lenses are full frame. It’s a horribly designed product line if you are a customer trying to invest. That is a large portion of the reason why I did NOT stick with them and ultimately jumped ship to Sony. My takeaway is some brands aren’t worth in investing and committing to. Sony isn’t perfect but they seem to have more awareness for their customers buying decisions. Just found your pod. Great discussion and insight from you.
Thank you for the comment. I agree that not every brand has a fully developed product line. That's why I believe people should really consider what brand they want to invest in before buying a camera. When you buy a camera, you are investing in a product line which is something really worth considering. I also agree on your comments about Canon. I did a podcast last year called "Ep. 66 - The Problem with Canon" where I spoke all about the issues I have with Canon's decision making. That podcast is over a year old now, so some things in the market have changed, but overall the large problems I have with Canon still exist. In my opinion Sony is the clear choice to invest in as an owner operator. Their product line is much more complete across the board than any other camera brand. From there, you can rent ARRI or RED cameras for specific projects and leave Canon or Nikon for photographers who simply like their photo cameras. After that, leave Blackmagic for low budget Indie films and every other brand can be for those who simply want to own something different for fun or creative fulfillment. But, for owner ops, invest in Sony and rent ARRI and RED.
