Digital Video - June 2008 - (Page 48)

DV 101 BY JAY HOLBEN STOCKING THE STORE AN INDIE PRODUCER’S LOOK AT USING STOCK FOOTAGE. O ne resource that a lot of filmmakers don’t readily consider for their projects is stock footage. There are myriad companies out there offering a wide range of material that may suit your project perfectly, from that expensive aerial shot of your location to a beauty time-lapse transition to historical footage — there are many options with widely varying costs to fit nearly any budget. There are some factors to keep in mind when considering the use of stock footage: Budget, of course, is nearly always paramount; resolution; frame rate; aspect ratio; origination format; delivery format; and, last but not least, licensing and rights agreements. Starting with budget, thanks to the great democratization of the Internet, what used to cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, is now available to many users at a fraction of that cost. Companies like iStockvideo.com and Pond5.com offer user-generated content with extremely low price points anywhere from $5 to $100 for various resolutions and clip types. Are you building a low budget spot for a local retailer and just need that extra shot of a beautiful model smiling at the camera? Amazingly, you can most likely find that shot for under $50 and immediately download it. The higher-end stock companies like Gettyimages, Artbeats and Corbis will average from $200 to $300 for a particular clip. There are some sites that provide a selection of free stock footage clips, but the choices are quite limited. Some free sites, such as Detonationfilms.com, have some really cool — and useful — selections. But, much to the chagrin of many indie producers, YouTube is not a stock footage resource. Resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio and delivery format are all factors to consider carefully as not every resolution, rate, ratio and format are offered for any given clip. This relates closely to your budget as you may need to do a conversion to make the clip ready for your project. If you don’t have the resources to do a conversion, this can be a surprising added cost. Consider the resolution of your project in very specific terms: is it 720x480, 720x486, 720x576, 960x540, 1280x720, 1440x1080, 1920x1080 or some other variation? You may be working in a 1920x1080 project, but only find clips available in 1280x720. This means you’ll need to up-convert your footage to match the given resolution. Different software packages will yield different results in conversion, and if you don’t have the right software, it will compromise the image or cost you to have the clip up-converted at an outside facility. Many clips I found were only available in 1.33:1 (4:3). If you’re making a 1.78:1 (16:9) anamorphic project, this will require some up-converting, again, and squeezing of the 4:3 material. In addition, frame rates are quite deceiving — is dv june 2008 your project 23.98, 24n, 29.97 or some other rate? If your clip isn’t that same rate, it will require conversion, and depending on the disparity, this can be a challenging process to do without altering the look and feel of the clip. Finally, delivery format is a heavy consideration. If you’re working with all AVI files and can only get a QuickTime file, it will require a conversion. Some companies don’t offer downloadable or digital file versions of their footage and will, instead, deliver the footage to you on a specified tape format. You’ll need to make sure you can properly ingest that footage into your project. For many producers, receiving footage on a DigiBeta tape can be a costly and frustrating thing to deal with as they’re forced to go to a facility with a Digital Betacam deck that can ingest the footage and deliver it in the digital format they require. All of these things, if you don’t have the specific resources for yourself, will add time and cost to your project. In addition to giving you that shot you’re missing, stock footage can help you in several other ways to plan your project. Many of the stock footage Web sites offer comp downloads of clips for free. These comps are often very small in resolution and/or watermarked with the site’s logo. The idea is that you can put in a rough approximation of the footage into your project to make sure it’s suitable before purchasing the full-resolution ver- > “FEET ” IN FOOTAGE While researching this piece, I examined 20 online stock footage companies. As a test, I went through each Web site, searched through the footage, determined the site’s user friendliness, options available and cost factors. I then rated each category on a scale from 1 to 5 (with 5 being the best) and averaged out the categories to give each company an overall rating from 1 to 5. I was searching from the perspective of an independent producer, keeping ease, speed and budget in mind. Because I wanted to find a way to equally consider the sites on their own merits, I decided to search for the same material on each. Using a search string that was broad, yet esoteric enough to put the site’s content to the test, and because this is a stock footage story, I decided to search for “feet.” I decided that I needed a shot of a woman’s feet walking and found this, or a version thereof, at many of the sites. You’ll find my results, in a downloadable chart, on our site. Visit DV online. 48 www.dv.com http://iStockvideo.com http://Pond5.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - June 2008

Digital Video - June 2008 Contents DV Update My Studio Runners World Brevis Flip 35MM Lens Adapter 4160 Soom Tripod System Century Essential-5 Filter Kit Little Big Disk Quadra Instant Expert DXA-2S Adapter Technology Treasures Making What You See Sound Great Click to Play DV 101 Production Diary

Digital Video - June 2008

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