Video Production

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

A. Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions, especailly if you aren't exactly clear about what you are looking for or how it should be presented. This is why you hired a professional, to help guide you toward your goal.

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

A. Sound is a very important part of video production. It's at least half the job. If someone is speaking in your video they should really be heard clearly. It's always great to have a soundman along but often the videographer has to make do the best he can with shotgun mics or lavaliers. Make sure your sound needs are addressed in advance and If it's music, make sure you have the proper legal rights to it according to how the finished product is to be used.

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

A. I try to portray things as real and relaxed as possible to help avoid making the work look staged and phony. You want people to believe what they are seeing.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I'm a visual artist and love looking through the lens composing shots as well as editing the finished product. I also enjoy learning as much as I can about the different subjects as I shoot them from Organic farmers and bee keepers to Robotics competitions. What a cool job.

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

A. How much is this going to cost seems to be a popular question. I am willing to work with whatever budget you have and lay out what is possible within that price range. Hourly, half day and multi day rates are all available.

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

A. Man in Hat Productions was a company I co-founded in 1991. We had a contract with Touch Screen Marketing to shoot about 22 commercials and all had to be 30 seconds long. The Marketing company assured us it would be a cinch and go very quickly. Well, one restaurant we shot decided to add in their surf shop to the shoot. This was after we lit and shot a sit down dinner showcasing their menu and service. Then their walk in deli downstairs was added as well as some fantastic location shots of the beach and a professional voiceover, all cramned into 30 seconds. There is a shot of my 10 year old son giving a shakka underwater while wearing their logo shirt. They must like the commercial because my son is now in his 2nd year of college and that commercial is still running here.

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

A. I started years ago shooting super 8 videos and moved to vhs tape to document sculptural installations and public art projects I made (see Z-national forest on youtube) . Editing in a lab was always too costly until personal computers came along. Now it's possible to put out a very professional product from a laptop on the road. That's pretty cool.

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

A. Online forums and computer magazines are a good place to stay up on the latest equipment reviews and developments in the field. They can change at a dizzing rate . I recently took a course and got certified at the local public access TV station. It was mainly to freshen up and see how another videographer goes about their process as well as becoming aquainted with Final Cut Pro editing. You can always learn something new.