Videographer & Graphic Designer

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Commercials, weddings, flyers, YouTube video, DVDs

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Ask for sample work. Ask for references. Listen for passion, concern and integrity in the voice of the person doing your work!

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. The more precise you can be about what end result you want, the easier it is for me to create it.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. Know what your budget is and clearly explain what the end product you desire.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I listen to my customers carefully and give them the product that they want, not what I think they need.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. Satisfying my customers and hearing them say, "Wow...that is perfect!"

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Can you travel to my location? Absolutely "yes"!!

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. I remember a customer seeing my website gallery and not believing that I could actually create such stunning graphic design products and video on my own. When he came by my office and I showed him the original files, he was shocked!

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. Please communicate as clearly as possible what you want for the end product.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I have a passion for high quality presentation, and so that works for both video and graphic design.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. If you look at my website, http://www.hopestudios.net, and see any of the gallery samples, I am proud of each and every one of those.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. I read several journals, attend conferences and belong to several professional groups in the video/graphic design industry.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. Video compression is always changing and improving. It's awesome seeing how clear you can make video now with very little video files (and therefore, faster to stream to web customers).

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. I edited several videos for a client. I had to use Photoshop to create some still images. I used my video editing suite (Final Cut Studio) to make the edits and to enhance the audio quality. I then used my compression software (Sorenson Squeeze) to get the video to display perfectly (in High Definition) for YouTube. The project took approximately 10 hours to complete and cost the customer $750.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. Most projects are $100/hour. Others may vary if the amount of business is of enough quantity. I always give an estimate before starting any project.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. Call a videographer/graphic designer and ask to spend time with them at their business. Ask them how they got started and what helped them out the most. Listen carefully, work hard, and don't be afraid to explore and mess up.

Q. Write your own question and answer it.

A. Why do you spend so much effort on your projects? Because I have a passion for clear communication, and video and graphic design are the mediums of choice for communication in the 21st century.