There was a
time when being anything in television was considered a recess proof
occupation, those days are gone. The video production business is changing and
the only way to stay afloat is to change with it.
News is the
area of television experiencing most of the problems. The increase in
popularity of the web is shifting some of the advertiser’s dollars to the new
media and away from traditional news sources. This is causing budget cuts in
every area of news productions, not a single day goes by in this business
without hearing announcements of layoffs. Many broadcasters and news
organizations are increasingly using freelancers as a more economical
alternative to staff photographers. Freelancers might cost a lot more as a day-hire
but once the assignment is over so are the expenses. News alone however seldom
provides enough business for freelancers to survive; the only way to succeed is
to diversify into other area of production.
News is
only about 10 percent of television business, there’s another 90 percent out
there that is still doing very well with plenty of excellent opportunities, and
for those interested in venturing outside the broadcasting business there’s 10
times more work available from corporate and commercial clients.
High
Definition technology has increased the need and demand for quality production
people, it is still television but with higher budgets. Established freelancers
are moving up from the average $1,350 crew day-rate for standard definition to
$2,150.00 and more for High Definition. Multiply this to an average of 150 days
per year and you can see how those numbers can translate into a very
comfortable living.
Skills
diversification.
These days
you’ll hear this phrase a lot, both here and outside in the real world; skill
diversification have become key words in though economic times. Diversification
means broad marketability or the ability to take any job that comes along being
for broadcasting or for commercial clients, or to put it in a better way, never
having to say no when the phone rings.
How much do
you really need to know?
The more
the better. 38 years in this business and I’m still learning. When I started
this web site almost two years ago I could have picked any areas of production
skills, the reason that I chosen lighting is because lighting is the most
important skill that a freelancer should master. Even thou is not the only
skill necessary for a successful career, is the most visible one, lighting can
immediately tell if the video was created by a professional or by an amateur.
Lighting is the skill that will immediately tell any potential clients that you
are capable of doing the job, any job; is the skill that will get you into the
door.
Beware of
shortcuts.
Technology
has an ever evolving presence in this business. Some of the less expensive
cameras available today are becoming increasingly automated and easier to
use.Automation also has created a
certain level of false hopes for many aspiring photographers who believe that
automation will make it easier to get into the freelancer’s profession by
eliminating the need of learning; this is far from reality. What automation
does it controls some of the function of the camera; these are adjustments that
professionals do manually after evaluating the scene and deciding what’s
important. These new cameras are not an artificial intelligence, they don’t
create images, all they do is give correct exposure and correct colors,
providing of course that conditions are ideal, something that doesn’t happen
very often. Small automated cameras are acceptable for many assignments but the
photographer should learn immediately when automation can be used and when the
automatic functions should be overridden manually.
The camera
has always been and still is an expensive but dumb piece of hardware; it will
record only what the photographer is able to compose in front of it. Automation
or not in order to create a commercially marketable video we still need either
natural or artificial good lighting and the knowledge of controlling it; we
also need knowledge of composition, exposures, continuity, interaction and
transitions, no matter how sophisticated the cameras get no computer can
replace the human brain in creating quality images.
As the
video production business is getting increasingly more competitive skills are
becoming more important than, is no longer a matter of artistry, its survival. Trying
to make a career as a freelancer without addressing these skills is a sure path
to unemployment
