FAQs
- Describe a recent project you are fond of. How long did it take?
As a filmmaker of any note will attest, it would be of obvious advantage to create film footage and creative media in the language of choice that you actually speak and write in. However, I recently had the good fortune of expanding my retinue in videography, by working with a Brazilian Baptist Church in recording their weekly sunday services, which are presented entirely in Brazilian Portuguese. As I, of course, do not speak a work of Brazillian Portuguese, I had thought that this would be a true test of my abilities to "sense" what the audience and the speakers are contending with. ...And herein lies a true secret of on-the-spot filmmaking and videography: if you're contending with a videographer who keeps his camera mounted on his/her tripod throughout the entire show, you are GUARANTEED to receive substandard quality footage, as it will look static and uninspired. However, if the videographer you choose is anything (hint, hint) like YOUR'S TRULY, s/he will have a basic interest in taking the camera off the tripod at a MOMENT'S NOTICE (myself, I tend to shoot almost ENTIRELY hand-held, moving with the flow of the action--especially during any live event), lending the event the size and scope of (at the very least) live documentary footage with excitement and breadth--if not dramatically thrilling film with the potency of life, itself. At any rate, with the Brazilian Church gig, I had been able to make the proper correlations (or, at the very least, infer them with accuracy) between English and Portuguese, resulting in a series of Sunday service DVDs which followed the action crisply and comprehensively, while allowing Portuguese speakers to feel enlivened and non-Portuguese speakers to remain intrigued.
- What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
Perhaps it may be said that I have a strange font of experience to discuss, as I work as both a freelance artist and videographer. In short, if you are concerned about the quality of work one would receive from an illustrator, I suppose the most dynamic, first impression questions one could pose would be things along the lines of: are you offering estimates for services or do you work on a hourly basis? Even as I, personally, do list an hourly basis for services, I generally dictate that I am available more generally based upon an estimate. However, the hourly rates that I offer (hint, hint) would probably be a great deal more economical for a client, as I work rather quickly. If looking for an illustrator, you should be a bit more interested not in their training, but in their experience level. There are a great many illustrators with impressive training rosters, but limited abilities in rendering a wide variety of life-like and/or realistic-seeming things from nature. This could indicate an propensity for being overly reliant upon a computer terminal and not upon the tried and true methods of hand-eye coordination and "drawing what you see". Hence, a possible lack of some imagination...remember what Einstein once said: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. Now as an active filmmaker and videographer, I would think that a perspective client would be interested in learning about my range as an videographer. Immediately, I can direct you to my video portfolio here on thumbtack as well as the work I've done for many clients including the African-American Historical Association of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Joseph's Coat of Many Colors (also of Connecticut), The Chocolate City News as well as a host of other clients in the immediate New York Tri-State Area. These clients include everything from the basic wedding and funeral, professional music videos, news and documentary commentary, social activism events, film and theater, cinema verite and on-the-spot analysis along with commercials and sizable amounts of "what the...?" hijinks, just to keep things interesting. At any rate, the first thing one should note from a perspective videographer is whether or not said videographer charges extra for simply TAKING HIS OR HER CAMERA OFF THEIR TRIPOD AND DOING ANYTHING ALONG THE LINES OF "HAND-HELD" FILMING. This has long been a personal pet peeve of mine: many, many, many, FAR TOO MANY videographers simply mount their camera on the infernal tripod, then opting to leave them there throughout the ENTIRE EVENT. I pledge that the only way to assure that your project will receive the sort of depth and range it deserves--irrespective of whether or not the film you're doing is a wedding, church event, commercial or corporate training video-- is to stipulate that the videographer MUST be able to hold the camera STEADY on his/her shoulder or hands, while being prepared to "move through the room." I have personally (and will CONTINUE to personally) shoot entire videos FROM MY KNEES, while choosing to RISE ONTO MY FEET, all with the camera still on, to create a more dynamic image of intensity and engagement which immediately transfers itself and is readily felt by viewers when the final product is seen on screen. In addition, look for a videographer who is completely self-contained: personally, I have extensive experience as a voice-over artist, meaning that you could (if you desire) have me do any of the voice-over narration on your commission project literally at no extra charge. As I've been complemented on my dulcet tones, this could be seen as an engaging asset. Also, I own my own DVD authoring and editing facilities, along with the capacity to mass produce a good amount of DVD copies of your event, on the fly. This means that, as a client, you should be concerned not just with the quality of the final product, but price ranges for DVD copies of the product. When dealing with me, you would find that all of that would be included in the final estimate, with the (hint, hint once again) the final price of the DVD copying being substantially reduced with a purchase of 10 copies or more. Thanks for the opportunity to talk, L. Llewellyn James/Alphaholics Non-Anonymous Art Studios