On Safari: In New Jersey

I admit that I am envious of some of the wildlife filmmakers I’ve seen on Nova, Discovery and Nat Geo, chasing down wild game with 800mm lenses mounted on the open roof of their well-worn Range Rovers.  So, any time we get a call to shoot the animals at Six Flags Great Adventure & Wild Safari we jump at the chance.  Wild Safari is the largest safari park outside of Africa.

Now, of course I’m not comparing the challenges of the bush or open Savanna to the comfort and control of a New Jersey theme park, still, the thrill of seeing lions, tigers and bears, along with giraffe, rhino and zebra filling my viewfinder can be pretty exciting and just as intense.

Today's assignment is to gather new B-Roll for the park's press reel.  B-Roll is essential to producers and reporters creating stories about the park.  They come to the park, do a few interviews and walk away with a half hour tape of animal shots that they can have their own editors whip into a story.

It is not uncommon for our images to show up in dozens of films, all over the globe, every year.  So, the B-Roll for the Safari Park, Great Adventure theme park and the Hurricane Harbor water park must constantly be replenished with exciting new images that reflect what you can experience at Six Flags.

We set out with the park’s chief veterinarian, Dr William "Doc" Rives to create a behind-the-scenes "Wild Safari Tour” film.  Although most of the animals seem undisturbed that we are driving among them, we are assured that many of them are still wild and as soon as we step outside the vehicle, we are invading their territory.   Strict rules of conduct must be followed.

"When I say get back in the vehicle, I mean it" Doc says without a smile.  "Some of the animals are very territorial and there are also a lot of new babies, so the mothers will be extremely protective."

It wasn't long before his words rang true. A 7 foot tall ostrich approached the truck, feathers ruffled and pecking at our windows.

For today's shoot I am using my Sony EX3 with a variety of Nikon lenses.   Using telephoto prime lenses gives me an additional magnification with incredible sharpness and very low depth of field.  By staying back from a herd of animals such as the zebras, which are naturally skittish, I can still observe them up close and undisturbed.  The waves of heat off the ground and the low depth helps maintain the illusion that our subjects are out in the wild and not confined to the park.

I've also brought along my new NX5U so that I can change cameras quickly.  I've done some test with the camera and I've been pretty happy with the results.  I've found that if I set my camera profiles with a slightly lower gamma and saturation the files cut together nicely with the XDCAMs  and because of its lower weight (and cost), I feel more inclined to mount it on the hood of a Jeep heading off-road.  The AVCHD format allows me to shoot up to 11 hours using the FMU128 flash drive.  Don't leave home with it.

Both cameras have mounting plates that will work on my 519 fluid head which I have mounted on 545B tripod both from Manfrotto.  The combination is quick to set and fairly steady with telephoto lenses up to 1000mm.  The 545 legs open and level very quickly, which is important as we need to get in and out of our car rapidly.  It's also affordable, so I can own more than one, add accessories like additional camera plates, spreaders and carrying cases without having to mortgage my home.

Of course, some of the animals, such as the big cats do have to be confined in large pens and safety rules require me to film them from outside their cages.  Here again, using a telephoto lens or the camera’s zoom lens at its farthest setting, will make the fence all but disappear. Close ups of lions, tigers and bears (oh my) are now much easier and safer to accomplish.  The low depth of field makes focusing a bit of a challenge, yet, the results outweigh any difficulty I’ve encountered.

As a side note: 

It is important to use the widest iris (aperture) setting available to you, as the links of the fence will begin to show up if you stop the lens down to 5.6 or beyond.  I have also found that the Sony EX3’s kit lens loses a bit of sharpness when using settings higher than 5.6 and I tend to use the camera’s internal ND filter or a third party filter to reduce light entering the camera.

We return home from our shoot to the comfort of a hot shower and our own bed.

In recent years, Sarah and I have gone to much larger, African safari parks while visiting Kenya yet, we still find the Wild Safari Park at Six Flags to be one of our most fun adventures.  We love it!

Visit our website to see more.

Chuck featured on Sony VideON
www.duckyou.com

"You Have 2 Minutes!"

A few days before I left for Kenya, Sarah and I had the pleasure of filming a short video clip for designer John Varvatos.  The company that represents his fragrances was having their annual sales meeting and as he was unable to be there in person, he requested this video to thank everyone for helping his brand grow while others suffered the difficult economy.

I've had the opportunity to film or photograph many well known personalities and performers over the years.  Names such as Ray Charles, Bruce Springstein, Stachy Keach, Allen Ginsberg, Bill Charlap, Walter Cronkite, Yoko Ono, Billy Joel, Isaac Hayes, Bono, Gabriel Byrne and even the great Mickey Mantle are just a few of the personalities that I've been lucky enough to see through my own camera's viewfinder.

Some of them were fun or interesting to work with, while others were a bit more challenging and on occasion, the talent's assistant or agent was more difficult than the talent.  

"You have two minutes" one assistant barked, once while I was photographing Fred Wilpon, a part owner of the New York Mets baseball team.  I was all set up and ready to shoot when Fred started asking me questions about photography.  This led to a discussion on how he came to own the Mets and a half hour later we wrapped.

Admittedly, other sessions were not as relaxed.  While being interviewed for Amnesty International, Yoko Ono was fairly strict in regards to the type of lighting to be used (she specifically requested three Chimera soft boxes) while Billy Joel just scowled at the camera the entire shoot.

Whether it's a rock star or the CEO of a pharmaceutical firm, the last thing we want to have happen is an unnecessary delay while the talent is already on set.   Nothing looks (or feels) more unprofessional than searching through your bags for an accessory or standing there fiddling with your camera's menu while your subject is growing even more anxious in their chair.

Sarah and I often rehearse our set up before a gig by discussing what gear we will be using and in which equipment case it will be located.  With five bags and twenty-two pockets, it's easy to play "Where's the lens cleaning cloth" or  "Did you bring that adaptor?"

Because we do both video and photography, some gear, such as light stands, super clamps, extension cords, gel filters and the like get moved around into different bags and it is important to run through a check list making sure everything is where it should be.  Forgetting a simple item like a tripod plate or the tiny screw that holds it in place, can lead to a disastrous shoot or at the least, suffering the embarrassment of having to use gaffers tape to hold you camera in place.

"Wouldn't this shot look great hand-held?"

Another consideration that we prepare for is whether the talent will be able to speak off the cuff, or will they need cue cards or even a tele-prompter.  If it's an interview, the talent is usually responding to questions being posed by Sarah or someone else, but in the case of someone making and announcement or addressing their employees, it is good to know if they are comfortable in front of the camera. This is something that we always try to discuss in advance with our clients.  Even a simple paragraph can be a mountain of anxiety for someone not use to speaking without a script.  

To our delight, John Varvatos was a gracious host.  Although we had brought along a full lighting kit, John's office was bathed in beautiful natural light and with his rock memorabilia as a background, it was beautiful thing.  We set up all our gear outside his office and when given the "go", we moved everything into place, tested the audio and rolled tape.   John was very relaxed in front of the camera and after two brief takes, the message was complete.

As we were packing, John came by and thanked us for making it easy for him.

In truth, it was the other way around.

www.duckyou.com
Chuck Featured on Sony VideOn
www.duckem.com

Kenya; Day Four and Five

The trouble with travel is that as soon as I become acclimated to my destination, it's usually time to go home.  This time I was anxious to return to the states.  I had done all I could do in the allotted time and the bulk of the work would be done by others using the photos and video that I have created.

Regardless of the project that Sarah and I are working on, we always seem to come home with the feeling that we could have done more, but this was not a commercial shoot or a reality show.  We did not take out permits to stop traffic or hire actors to reenact true life stories.  This was life in progress in at an orphanage in Nairobi and for a few days I was able to experience a small part of it.

The last few days were spent interviewing some of the kids about the things they like and what they wanted to be when they grow up.  Some wanted to be teachers, others doctors and a handful wanted to drive or repair cars.  "Automobile" is a beautiful word when spoken in Kenyan English by an 8 year old.

The kids loved seeing themselves on the video camera's monitor and they were even more excited when I let them look through the camera and film each other.  After a short lesson, ten potential filmmakers were filming each other singing songs and making faces for the camera, no differently than your kid would be doing, here in the states.

The things that would normally make me anxious on the return flight home, seemed quite trivial compared to the living conditions I had just witnessed and I felt fortunate to be aboard a jet fly home.  

I've said this before, yet it rings even truer today.  I often don't feel the impact of where I've been until I return home.  Then, surrounded by all my stuff in the comfort of my own home it hits hard.

I have gone on about the gear I've had the opportunity to use for this project but the bottom line is that I hope the resulting images will help to create positive and effective awareness for the kids of Rehema Home, because it is only through the love and kindness of others that these children have survived.

Their faces say much more than my words.

www.rehemahome.com
www.duckyou.com

Kenya; Day Three: The Roads

Driving in and around Nairobi is an extreme sport.  For many travelers, the transportation system is made up of small vans called Matatu.  The Matatu drivers will advance through traffic at all costs.  They will pass each other while speeding down the dusty, rut-filled highways, flashing their lights as they speed towards you, head on, in your lane.  Traffic lights appear to be optional and the roads are shared with large trucks spewing black diesel, men pulling heavy carts and goats.

 It was around 11 am and we were heading across town to interview Dr. Joseph Mophat Kilioba, the Bishop of the PEFA Church Doonholm.  The Bishop had been instrumental in helping form Rehema Home and it was apparent that he was still very passionate about the orphanage.

Traffic in Nairobi is absolutely stupid.  Dangerous roundabouts every mile or two with cars, trucks and buses refusing to give way to each other.   There is much improvement of the roads going at the moment, so things were backed up even more and the normally quiet back roads were now choked with heavy traffic.

The amazing thing was the absence of horns.  If this was the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, the horns would start blasting immediately.  The drivers were aggressive, but I hardly heard a beep.

We were in an area that was considered middle class, yet it still looked like the worst area of most cities I have visited.  Decaying concrete and stone buildings, dirt roads, children and animals running everywhere. 

A guard waved to Johnathan and instructed us to pull into a yard filled with children in bright blue uniforms.  Labor is very cheap in Kenya and many homes, office buildings and factories are surrounded by high walls or fences and men are employed around the clock to protect the premises.

One of administrators of the church showed us around the building and introduced us to each and every teacher.  They were extremely proud of their school and rightfully so.

The Bishop welcomed us warmly.  He had known Johnathan since he was a boy and he spoke a bit on the current state of Nairobi and of the difficulties and importance of Rehema Home.

I had brought along a small carbon fiber tripod from Manfrotto called a 055CXPRO3.   That’s a lot of numbers for just three legs, but it was the perfect number for this trip.  The tripod easily fit in luggage and I brought along a 501 fluid head for the video and a ball head from Gitzo for the stills.  

Although I do a fair share of hand holding my cameras, I prefer to use a tripod when possible.  I like shooting with with longer lenses and for that, a steady foundation is essential.    This set of sticks was strong enough and light enough to be handy all day.

The interview set up was intentionally light weight.  Window light with the Lite Panel MircoPro to subtly fill in the shadows.  I used a Sony ECM-77B lavaliere mic and the buds from my Iphone to monitor the audio.  The PCM audio from the NX5 is incredible.  It was a production kit in a bag.

We headed back to the orphanage, bumpy and bouncy along the dust filled roads.

Every day at around 3pm, the jet lag would kick in and we always seemed to be driving when it would come over me.  The bright, warm sun, the diesel fumes and the traffic was the perfect recipe. 

We arrived back at Rehema Home about an hour later.  I wanted to photograph the kids for a while and then head back to the guesthouse to sort through the tons of images. I had already shot over 2,000 stills at this point and it was time to take a break and get some quiet time for myself.   I skipped dinner and set up the computer to download my cards. 

As it was Nairobi, it is not uncommon for the electricity to go off at any time.  As soon as I sat down to work, boink, it was gone.  I set up one of the Lite Panels on a clamp and dimmed to its lowest setting, it was more than bright enough to work for hours on four AA batteries.  Fun!  I felt like McGiver.

As a visual artist, I rarely know where I’ve been or who I’ve met until I look back at the pictures.  

I believe that I have fallen in love with each and every kid at Rehema Home and am photographing them much more than necessary.   I love their smiles and I find that I am photographing them as if they were my own. 

I reviewed the footage from the NX5U video camera and it looks and sounds great and I am hoping that I have enough stuff for a small documentary on the Rehema.  I was impressed with Lance’s photos in the slums and I am hoping that my video work does as much justice as his stills.

I scanned through hundreds of images using Lightroom, occasionally stopping to check focus or adjust expose.  The Nikon D3 is an amazing camera and the detail is just amazing. 

   

In a short while, everyone is back and the silence is broken. 

The room air is stale as the windows remain closed to keep the mosquito at bay.  Nairobi is high on a plateau and malaria is rare at this altitude. Nonetheless they’ll bite the piss out of you if you’re not careful. 

And it was only on the last day that I would find out that the mosquito nets were ineffective against the bed bugs.

www.rehemahome.com 

www.duckyou.com 

www.sony.com/videon

  

Kenya; Day Two: The Slums.

It was now Monday in Nairobi and most of the kids at the Rehema Home orphanage were in school.  Some were in classrooms within the walls of the property and others went to public schools just down the road.

Not all kids in Nairobi have this opportunity; we were about to meet some of those kids.

It’s was one thing to do a drive-by camera shoot on the outskirts of a slum, but getting out of the car and walking through the despair and among the desperate was something I was not prepared for.  Nonetheless, I had requested it and we were there.

Isaac, a trusted worker at the orphanage had driven us to an area called Ekodoro.  The van had been bumping and sliding down a narrow, muddy road for half a mile.  We turned right and crested a small hill and suddenly, we were surrounded by dozens of children and an odd collection of dogs and mud stained goats. 

The hand gestures offered by the kids offered were not designed to welcome us.   At that moment, I sat there with my cameras thinking that I really didn’t belong here, but, in truth, I did.  We were here to show the conditions that the kids at Rehema Home have been spared.  We were not there to exploit them.

Some young men who insisted we not take any photographs in the area approached us.  Isaac explained that we were making a film for the orphanage and although our pictures might not directly benefit them, they might have an impact on their children in the future.

That seemed to satisfy him and for 200 shillings, he offered to watch our van while we entered the rows of sheet metal and chicken wire homes. 

Yeah, we were hustled, but it was a fair compromise.

Without hesitation I slung the Kata bag on my back, grabbed the video camera, handing off the tripod so that I could film as I was walking.  Jonathan, Lance and myself followed Isaac down the narrow paths of mud, laced with animal and human waste.  The area was composed of dozens of small shacks made of wood slats and metal scraps.  Some were insulated with mud and others with rags or sticks.

As I was primarily dealing with the video end of things, I had handed my still camera off to Lance and he did a great job taking these pictures.

The NX5’s active stabilization in addition to the wide-angle lens allowed me to track smoothly.   My footing was not all that secure and the kids marching alongside of us took turns holding our hands and pulling at our pockets. 

I’ll admit that I was burying myself in the technical aspects of my job to block out the physical and emotional stench of the environment.  The conditions were horrendous.  No one in the world should have to live in a sewer like this.

It was all quite overwhelming.   Unless you've seen this in person, it is truly difficult to imagine.  I began  to think of my wife and child, our home and the work I choose to do. I couldn't help think of all the trivial stuff we complain about and how, in our worst times, we really have it quite good.

We walked a few hundred yards and it was just more of the same.  I mounted the camera on my tripod to do a slow pan of the area.  The kids, being kids, always ran in front of the camera, regardless of which way I was pointing it.  It quickly became a game and for a brief moment were having some fun with the kids.

It was time for us to leave and it was that fact that we could leave that made it difficult for me to look at the children’s faces without my camera as a buffer.  

Although I never felt that we were in danger, Isaac was thanking God that he got us out of there not only with all we were carrying, but without harm.

When we returned to the orphanage, I set the camera up to shoot a panoramic of the property.  The kids immediately gathered in front of the lens and as I panned they laughed and scrambled to stay in front of the camera.

At this moment, I really wanted to be back home. 

www.rehemahome.com
www.duckyou.com 

  

Kenya; Day One

I arrived in Nairobi around 10pm and met up with some of the other members of the team. The organizer of this group, Johnathan Shwandt, had joined me in London and we were standing alongside the baggage belt sharing the exact same fears.  To our surprise and relief, all of the bags arrive intact.

I had been up since 5am the day before, so, I was good and ready for absolutely nothing.  We headed off to the guesthouse, struggled with 220V power outlets and stumbled about in the dim light getting our mosquito nets in place, before crash landing on cots disguised as beds.

On Sunday morning, we were greeted with a hot breakfast and for some of us, cold showers.  We gathered up anything valuable, piled into a small Toyota van and headed over to the orphanage.   Thirty of the fifty-two kids would be heading off to church and we followed along.  The plan for the remainder of the day was to begin photographing the kids.  That is until jet lag began to alter some of my plans.

Still, nothing I’ve done compares to the feeling I got when dozens of kid ran over to great me.  Some yelled out my name, others just grabbed my hand and walked along with me.  It was my great fortune to return to Rehema Home and the kids made me feel welcomed.

The roads in Nairobi could easily bring a Jeep to its knees.  Every road we traveled was punctuated with the smell of diesel or the smoke from burning garbage.  Although I had slept, my internal clock was way off the mark and I found myself drifting off.   It was only 11am and I felt wasted.

On the way back to the orphanage, I pulled out my video camera to get some basic background footage of Nairobi.  I felt it important to illustrate the desperation that surrounds the Rehema Home in order to properly contrast the benefits to the children that live within the walls of the orphanage.  

I had recently replaced my Sony Z1U camera with a new NX5U camera, mainly because I had dropped it and did not want to spend serious money on repairing old technology. 

Both cameras had many similarities, but the big difference in my mind was that the NX5U doesn’t use tape.  It records beautiful 1920x1080 HD onto two easily obtainable SDHC cards or one very small and powerful 128 gig flash drive that mounts neatly on the side of the camera.  Roughly the size of an audiocassette, the drive is capable of recording close to 11 hours of high quality HD footage and it’s powered directly from the camera.  No tapes, no extra wires and no additional batteries. 

We’ve been using the Sony EX1 and EX3 as our principal cameras, so we’re used to, and prefer file-based cameras. 

There are some areas of Nairobi that it would simply be unwise to stop your car and whip out your camera, yet I still wanted to capture much of what we were seeing.  From past experience I knew that shooting out the side window would basically blur anything that was close to the camera, but I had read a post on DVinfo.com that touted a unique, slow motion feature built into the NX5, so I decided to give it a whirl. 

Twelve seconds later I was stunned when the camera’s monitor began to playback ultra-slow, images of the people we had just passed.  Very cool!   It took me awhile to get over this.  The downside of the effect is that once you have shot your twelve seconds, you have to wait for it to render out, but there was also a six and three second setting with shorter render times, with the three second setting resulting in the best quality.

I spent the rest of the day photographing the kids.  To keep it simple, I had brought only two lenses to Kenya, a 28-105mm Tamron lens and a 70-300mm Nikon lens.  My intention was to directly engage the kids in these photographs, so I used the Tamron for most of the shots, allowing me to remain close to my subject, but not so wide that I would distort their faces. 

These are the lucky kids, the ones that have been spared the terrible conditions outside of Rehema Home's walls.  Some of the children had been abandoned, others abused.  Nearly half of them are HIV positive, but you'd never know it.  Seeing them lined up in their Sunday clothes or their school uniforms you would hardly suspect that their lives were any different from children raised in a middle class town in Long Island.   But, the evidence is there, we had just driven through it and keeping fifty-two kids healthy, fed, clothed and safe is a never ending task.

It's only though the love and kindness of others that these kids have been given a chance to survive.

The orphanage receives all of its funding from private donations and it's a constant challenge to keep the money flowing.   It's a daunting task to constantly ask for money in light of today's economy, especially with a new crisis developing somewhere in the world nearly every day.  Rehema Home has a small, very dedicated marketing team back in the states that is constantly working on their behalf.  The images I'm capturing will hopefully be effective in raising both funds and awareness of their Sponsor a Child  website and other fundraising programs.

 Seeing the children's faces in my viewfinder is pure joy.  The kids insist on seeing their images displayed on the cameras LCD screen and they giggle almost every time.  Fifty-two incredible kids and five hours later, I had already shot over 900 images.  Thank God for digital!

By now, the jet lag and warm sun had begun to blur my vision and the day ended at a nearby Ethiopian restaurant were we ate and discussed the week's schedule.  It was ironic that we could get so much for so little money.

  

A few hours later, we scrambled into our mosquito nets and lunged into sleep.

www.rehemahome.com
www.duckyou.com 

Packing for Nairobi.

I only had a few days to go and I had not yet packed for my trip to Africa.  It’s always a challenging process deciding just which camera items to take with me omn a journey.  There are the items that I need to take along and the items that I want to take along.

This time, it was not going to be as easy.  I was traveling to Africa to document the work of a mission team visiting the Rehema Home orphanage, an island in the sea of slums found in Nairobi, Kenya.   Even though I was volunteering my time, the expenses must be limited with every extra dollar going directly to improving the lives of the children. 

My travel was booked on British Airways and like most airlines; they have very exact specifications regarding the size and amount of items I could carry on to the jet.  There was also a limit to the amount of bags that I could check.

There are some items that I simply know better than to load into the hull of a Boeing 777, like my primary cameras, lenses, computer and a few-not so easily replaced- accessories.  There were simply too many perfect opportunities for my bags to fall off the cargo belt, between Newark, New Jersey and Nairobi, Kenya.  So, I knew for sure that certain stuff had to travel with me

I would be splitting my time between photography and video, both of which were of equal importance on this trip.  I considered using a DSLR, but I knew in advance that I would be interviewing many of the kids, as well as some prominent Nairobi officials and I did not want to be limited on the length of a take.  Both kids and officials say the darnedest things and I like leaving the camera on record.

Using a separate recording device was neither space efficient or practical.  For the most part, I would be working alone and without someone to slate and record audio cues, I would be left with a massive post-production headache.

So, bottom line, I was looking for the best combination of gear that would satisfy my production needs, allow me to carry most of it on the plane with me and in addition, not cripple me as I attempt to move through crowded airport security and narrow jet aisles.

There is no single camera bag that suits every occasion.  I know this, because I have owned most of them at one time or another, but I did find a backpack from Kata that really worked well for this trip.  I’ve previously owned camera backpacks but I quickly abandoned them because they were inefficient or very uncomfortable.

I loaded it with a new Sony NX5U video camera, a wide angle lens, Nikon D3, two lenses, microphones, batteries, and Lite Panel Micro and MicroPro LED lights.  There was also space for my computer and additional pockets for the normal stuff like a cell phone, Ipod, passport, pens, magazines and a snack, all with very easy access.  

The Kata pack allowed me include everything I needed to carry with me, kept it to a size that allowed me to get it on a plane and as a bonus, it was comfortable to carry around on my back. The bag would become a genuine asset while working in and around Nairobi.

In my luggage, along with my clothing and personal items, I needed to include a tripod and an endless array of non-creative, yet, essential stuff such as additional batteries, battery chargers, extension cords, power strips, lens cleaning cloths, adaptor rings, power converters, etc.  The list was endless.  

Often, when I travel, I’ll pick up some items like extension cords locally, to save on the weight.  It’s often cheaper than the cost of overweight fees, but getting stuff like that in Nairobi is often not as simple as it sounds and it’s very possible that you will pay triple the amount for less than desirable products.  I had to take the stuff I needed with me.

My second bag was filled with clothing for the kids at the orphanage, donated by some very kind and caring people.  A special thanks to Ronnie, Nicole and Veronica.

When I’m on the road for a company like Estee Lauder or Harley-Davison, getting charged for a few extra bags is just part of the deal and in most, if not all situations, my client is going to cover those extra fees.  I knew in advance that this was not going to be the case.  

As this was an international flight, British Airways allowed me to check the two bags without any additional fee.   I made sure that the weight of each suitcase was just under the 50 lbs. limit set by the airline and it was a relief to drop them off at the check-in counter.

I don't sleep well on flights. In fact, I rarely sleep at all.  If I do manage to drift off, it's while we're still on the runway or 3 minutes before they begin to serve a meal.   Having previously flown in the comfortable seats at the pointy end of the plane, adds to the discomfort of flying economy and the fact that they march you past the big comfy seats on your way to the rear only adds to the pain. 

I was delighted that my bag easily fit in the overhead bin and that there was an overhead bin available to be delighted about, as that is always a challenge when flying with camera gear.  

  

Unloading the bags, clearing security and lifting my bag into the overhead were just an appetizer.  Now, I was about to settle in for the first course.  A seven-hour flight to London, followed by an eight hour flight to Kenya.  They have not even closed the cabin doors and the woman in front of me is already trying to lower her seat all the way to the floor. 

It’s was going to be a long flight.

www.duckyou.com 

www.rehemahome.com 

www.vimeo.com/crazyduck/videos 

It's perfect! I just have a few changes.

This is a recent quote from one of our clients:

"It's so bloody good i could cry (seriously)!
Overall spectacular, exactly what i wanted it to be.
The music is so on point, so dramatic and so perfectly timed i am in awe.
You guys outdid yourselves on this one !!

Just a couple of minor adjustments..." 

And so goes your life when you are the editor, the writer, the musician, photographer, etc.  Five hours of editing later and we're sending another approval copy up to the server.

Flexibility is the keyword here and a few ounces can go a long way in keeping your client relationships not only intact, but fruitful.  Most of my clients have a crystal clear picture of what they need and want to say with their presentations, yet they may not be able to immediately express those ideas in the language of our craft.  

Sure we could argue over every change, especially the ones that are not corrections, but new additions to  the mix of images and information that we have already crafted into our perfect sequence. (tongue in cheek), but certainly, that would simply lead to an extremely aggitated and very unhappy client.

We might win the battle, but we would certainly lose the war. 

As senior producer, a large part of Sarah's job at Crazy Duck Productions, at times, is to be an interpreter.   She is often responsible for communicating with our clients and translating their wishes into a language that is familiar to myself and/or the others involved in our project, like an animator, writer or a musician. 

Very often I count on her to help breakdown descriptive phrases such as, "The script is not earthy enough" or  "It's a great shot, but it doesn't motivate me. Can we change it?"  And unfortunately, sometimes, her job is to act as a buffer, so that my initial response to the list of changes is to her and not directly to our client.

We work very closely with our clients and try our best to give them everything they need, still, we don't cower to their every whim.  There are times that the direction is just wrong and changing a specific element in the timeline will effect everything else that is already in perfect placement.  After all, that's why they hired us in the first place, but it is important for us to remember that our client has a specific message that they want delivered and many of those facts and figures are as important to them as our exposure and color balance is to us. 

If you are doing this as a business, it's important to build a specific amount of revisions into your original agreement with your prospective client.  How many revisions are included in your original price is up to you, but you do need to set a number or time limit.  Otherwise, your project might take much longer to complete than you anticipated.  We have heard nightmares about projects that had everything approved until the client showed the finished product to their cousin Bob.  Of course, Bob had some suggestions of his own and now their client wanted to incorporate them.  This has the potential to go on for months if you don't have a plan in place to limit the amount of changes that will be done for the original cost.

This is particularly important if you are hiring an animator or a musician.  What might appear to be minor changes to your client, may require intensive work and hours of render time.

Of course, if the changes are errors on your end and you haven't delivered something that you promised to deliver, then obviously it's your responsibility to make it right.  

Proper planning in the early stages of your production is essential to avoid serious and possibly costly changes later.  

You might get your prospective client all excited, touting the virtues of 24p and high definition, only to find that their state-of-the-art, internal video system only plays in 4:3 NTSC.  If you have taken great advantage of the 16x9 format, you will have little choice but to letterbox.  We had one client tell us that the reason we were hired was because the last production company shot everything in the wrong format and the TV stations that they normally dealt with would not run their footage.  Ouch!   

If a client is supplying footage to you, in addition to what you are creating, make sure it is compatible with your current format, before you begin production.  It might be an easy fix now, maybe as simple as the a flick of a switch, but later, mismatched formats will become a very costly and time consuming problem.   

So, ask lots of questions, because the more you understand about your client's needs, the better chance you will have creating a successful, finished film, with the least amount of changes. 

And sometimes changes are good for business. If you have planned your proposal properly, changes over and above the agreed amount of revisions can mean serious, additional income.  It's for this reason that we create our client's programs on a drive that remains exclusive to them.  This way we can pull up their project, hours, days, even months down the road and make any changes they might need, like adding spanish subtitles or editing out the old CEO and replacing the opening with the new CEO.

In any case, be patient.  "It's perfect, now change it" is a compliment of the highest order.  Your clients count on you for your input, experience and your artistry, but just like your mother, they're prone to express themselves in strange and unique ways.  

Hopefully, they'll prove it by calling you first on the very next project.

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