The Problem with Hybrids and the New Business Model
[By Gail Mooney]
I can’t tell you how many phone calls I have received in the last month from photographers complaining that their clients are asking if they shoot video and their frustration in having to say “no.” A sign of the times as the demand for video increases.
But what’s most disturbing to me are the still photographers who tell me that they’re going to buy one of the “hybrid” cameras that shoot video to be able to accommodate their client’s video needs. And worse yet, the common thought process is to “throw in” the “video clips” that they shot with the same camera they create the stills with instead of establishing the value in that video footage and pricing it accordingly. Add to this the fact that there are currently no pricing or usage standards for video in terms of the still photographic industry. So while we have a “convergence” taking place with the “tools,” too many are not considering how to make this viable in business.
It reminds me of when photographers first went digital – throwing in the postproduction and setting the “new standard”. Dumb move but a precedent was set. The problem is when you do that with video; you are missing the opportunity to create value with a new skill set that also includes the pre and postproduction. And with video – it’s the postproduction end of things that can either be costly for you or an area you can make additional revenue. If you just hand over the “clips,” you’ll be leaving dollars on the table.
I see a poorly thought out business model of shooting “video” being driven by the tool and the still camera manufacturers and I see it as a quick way to the poor house. The manufacturers are playing to the prosumer market, but as a professional you cannot afford to do this. Right now you may think – it’s no big deal – I’ll just throw the camera in “video” mode and shoot a few seconds. But what will happen when your client expects you to then do something with that footage – like edit it? Be prepared to hire an editor or invest in expensive editing software and a learning curve to go with it.
So, don’t be a short-term thinker and “just” throw in or discount the video clips – because you will soon be replaced by the next latest greatest technology instead of adding a new skill set and real value to your business. Keep a keen eye on the future and create a new business model along with buying your new camera.
7 Responses to 'The Problem with Hybrids and the New Business Model'
Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'The Problem with Hybrids and the New Business Model'.
This is probably Strictly Business Blog’s best post. Certainly in a long time.
If industry bodies want to earn the money we pour into them annually then it is their responsibility to bring together the community of photogs and stay ahead of this hybrid pricing curve.
The last thing professional cine people want is a glut of uneducated still photographers giving away relatively high value video product for free to secure contract.
I mean we lambaste the Jarvis/Hobby fanboy crowd for the “quick give everything away for free, shoot for free, in a mad scramble to the top only to realise when we get there we have raced the market fair value to $0 and now no one can work”.
Lets not as a still photog industry trash all over the cine industry. I mean we are adept at eating our own but lets not be so arrogant as to assume we can master the cine and still world simultaneously.
It isnt going to happen. A handful of truly gifted people will pull it off with absolute ease. As a broader industry it wont happen. A whole lot of complete junk will be produced. Its not as simple as ‘oh look hybrid cameras are on sale – cool im now a ‘DoP’.
Repeat after me: Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. If a client wants video. Tell them fine but make way for 100% blow out in budget as we will bring on board a cine pro and crew.
Adding your own trashy (albeit HD) video to your beautifully carved pro stills upon delivery to your client makes you not only look like an idiot but degrades your stills and your broader professional goodwill.
Leave your amateur hour 5DMII cine work at home and collaborate with other cine professionals to deliver in a professional manner for your client.
Even if the client says ‘oh its only for our website it doesnt have to be world class video’ – WALK AWAY. Dont associate yourself with amateur content and dont put your name to half baked video output unless you seriously invest in the cine workflow and creative process.
Websites are no longer secondary communication channels and standards of excellence for video content via websites (with bandwidth hitting 100MB/s soon) is VERY HIGH!
Think about your business. Think about your comparative advantage. Think about what level of excellence is required for you to put your name to work either stills or cine. Think about the professional advantages to collaboration with professional cine partners.
Mark my words if we get in a ’s%&t fight’ with the cine crowd they will come out on top.
I’m not asking you I’m telling you.
Gail,
I completely agree, BUT if ASMP can’t TALK actual prices and I have seen nothing so far to help those of us moving in this direction, the inevitable will happen. What is motion work worth? This must be answered, and very soon by people who know. I don’t know, why would I or others without the background of the video and motion picture businesses have a clue. I want to move clients in the direction of stills and motion. Unfortunately, it will be the wild west all over again, and in 5 years or more, pricing and value of motion work will suffer. The easy part is saying that we need to price accordingly for motion work. The hard part is for someone or an organization to actually set the precendent of what that “price” should be. I just want to know what it’s worth before too many people give it away and it has no value.
We are entering a segment of the visual content market that already exists and has for a long time but by different people, video technicians, indiefilmmakers and others. We are just bringing different tools (actual gear) to the game but we have a leg up with our own ability to add to the vision of a motion piece from our still photo experiences. From my recent efforts to learn the motion side, I find motion work to infinitely more challenging and infinitely more time consuming than shooting stills. Shooting stills seams almost trivial to me now.
Now is the time to establish actual $$ and info on how to manage a production day, post editing, sound and so on. Anything less will guarantee this new segment for us will fail to make money or have value.
Personally, I think if one photographer or a small crew with a photog as DP or producer can make top quality, creative motion pieces, these works should be much higher in actual $$ than stills.
Good essay, Gail – I was surprised to hear a client (an event organiser I was working with) saying to their client that the reason they don’t do a lot of video is that ‘by the time it’s edited, you have to budget about $1,000 a minute’.
That’s looking at it in terms of the finished product, obviously, not the amount of footage recorded – but ‘throwing in’ video would be completely ignoring the massive post-production involved in both sound and picture editing, quite aside from the established value the craft already has…
R
Dan – it’s all about collaboration.
John,
Even though actual pricing cannot be discussed – it may in fact not be a good thing in video. That’s because there are so many facets of the production process. Plus each one of us places their own “value” on parts of that process. And that’s what needs to be discussed – the breakdown of the various aspects of video production and the value of that. Many times one may not being editing the piece themselves so they need to outsource that and of course build that into their budget.
I am working with a small video/motion study group with the goal of providing a good solid FAQ about the video production process and how various participants address each part of the puzzle.
The other huge area of discussion should be about making sense and standardizing all the video formats and codecs that are out there these days. But that is not an easy task.
I think it would be helpful if everyone would remember that this really is nothing new at all — still photographers ALWAYS had the ability to shoot high-quality video, as long as they were willing to buy the gear and learn how to do it. Just because the equipment is “cheaper” now doesn’t really change anything other than what it costs to get a low-end camera. Trust me on this — just because you CAN get an HD video clip from a still camera doesn’t mean you SHOULD do it. There’s a reason a fully functional professional video camera costs a lot more than a still camera with HD video capability, including how much easier it makes workflow and the post-production end of the process. And there’s a reason that a professional video crew usually involves at least three people. And there’s a reason professional video production costs WAY more than a still shoot — there’s way more involved!
If you want to know how this works, consult with a one of the still photographers who has already been also working in “film” — i.e., moving pictures. They’re going to be the experts in how to charge and what it takes to accomplish everything necessary for a quality product.
I guess my point comes down to this — what we’re dealing with is clients’ expectations, not a real change in the video industry. If a client expects video with a still shoot and isn’t aware of what that’s going to mean to their budget — and think that the new ability of still cameras to shoot some video somehow translates into their getting quality video cheaper now — they’re not the kind of client you can build a business on. To repeat what was said earlier, run from them — or educate them.
And yes, some other photographer undoubtedly will agree to provide them with video footage from their 5DMII at a price that can’t be sustained long-term. That part of the business hasn’t changed a bit, either.
This makes me feel like I didn’t know anything about it.. Need to read up more..