New Pop Vintage – Memorial Day 2010
Not only is Memorial Day the unofficial start of the Summer movie season, it is also the unofficial start of the New Pop movie season. That means more cool New Pop produced client movies, more personal videos, more cool new projects to announce, and possibly more Getting To Know You videos. Last Memorial Day I found myself at Coney Island with my new Canon 7D camera and put together what I can now call my very first New Pop Vintage HD video.
Enjoy
TrVZ
Tiny Feature Saturday’s – A Plea For Modernism
Architecture is arguably the worlds most awe inspiring artistic medium. It is why I never tire of New York City. But so many folks tend to think that modern architecture is not as worthy of preservation. This week on TFS we feature a video by Even Mather who tells the story of The Phillis Wheatley Elementary School. As the vimeo page states…
“The Phillis Wheatley Elementary school has served the historic New Orleans African-American neighborhood of Tremé since it opened in 1955. Celebrated worldwide for its innovative, regionally-expressive modern design – the structure sustained moderate damage during the storms and levee breach of 2005. Although it is scheduled for demolition in Summer 2011, DOCOMOMO Louisiana is advocating for its restoration via adaptive reuse.”
If you are interested, there is information on how to help in the video credits.
Enjoy
TrVZ
The Videographers Guide To Not Falling On Your New Media Face | Chapter 13 – Gaming The System
The term “Gaming The System” usually describes techniques used identify loopholes or tricks that allows one to evade community standards. In this particular instance I refer to “gaming” as legit techniques for videographers to rack up views and or build their brand.
Sex Sells
Sex sells is a time tested adage that transcends all mediums, cultures and economic climates. Photo blog sites like Lastnightsparty or Drivenbyboredom who have been showing bare-breasted hipsters for years have delved into the video realm with impressive results. This video Hot Girls Making Out which I edited for Drivenbyboredom is a good example of building a brand by using sex as a lure. Almost 100K views with very little production merit. This video works wonders for his site, but does nothing for me since my brand isn’t built around sex.
Cats, Storms & Natural Disasters
Exploiting natural phenomenon for views is another technique that has stood the test of time and you shouldn’t feel bad doing this. If it’s good enough for CNN then it’s good enough for you. Like sex it probably won’t do much for you if it doesn’t build your brand, but even one good video capturing the work of mother nature can be a big winner. Here is one of the best titled The Aurora by filmmaker Terje Sorgjerd 3.7 million views. This is gaming the system on it’s highest production level.
The Bandwagon
One of the most reliable ways to get quick views is to jump on a video trend with a tribute video. This video by my friends Shinobi Ninja is a remake of the recent Bed Intruder video meme and garnered them 53k views.
The High Profile Brand Portrait
In new media high profile brands can be very different than those found in traditional media. They can be skaters, bloggers, photographers, promoters, independent artist or they can be your traditional old media high profile celebrity. Documenting a high profile brand for views is probably the technique that requires the most preparation. For one you will have to produce a level of work that is satisfactory of that brands time, secondly you will have have to do some legwork to contact someone that will give you access. Then you will have to do your homework and figure out if this video will translate into actual views. Old Media Brands are sometimes more difficult to predict in terms of how many views they will bring simply because their audiences are older and not a part of the New Media experience.
The Corporate Account
The goal of many aspiring videographers is to get corporate accounts. It says you have arrived and are now playing the game on a level that separates you from the masses. Another benefit other than getting paid comes in the form of views. Now that you have corporate backing it means that the videos you make are going to get seen bringing your brand additional exposure. This is the level of stratosphere that my brand TheNewPop occupies. Here is one corporate video I made for The Desigual Brand titled Undie Party that has about 75K views. Keep in mind that corporate accounts can also come in the form of production houses, blogs, celebrity clients and record labels just to name a few. But it is not the holy grail that I strive for. That highest level of videographer existence is reserved for the High Profile Brand.
The High Profile Brand
The ultimate gamer is the High Profile Brand mentioned in the sections above. This brand gets views simply because of who they are. Lastnightsparty is a great example of this brand. Bronques (The man behind the brand) has leveraged his photo blog known for documenting topless drunken hipsters into hundreds of thousands of video views and highly desired corporate accounts. Other video brands in this category include the 13th Witness, Hypebeast, Vasthie & Maestro Knows. Keep in mind that there are other ways to build your video brand outside of producing videos. Of this list the only one to get their start as a New Media videographer is Maestro Knows. The rest have either leveraged blogging fame or some combination of the gaming teqhniques listed above into building their brand. Vashtie throws parties, Hypebeast blogs about street culture. Finding even minor success in this category means that people will be vying for your services based solely on your brand name.
In the end what is the most exciting about New Media is it is an emerging field and the players and techniques are just coming into focus. There are a number of ways not all mentioned here for you to find a small niche or achieve videographer nirvana. As far as “Gaming The System” goes, it’s all legit as long as your hearts in the game.
Good Luck.
Next Friday: The New Media Advertising Model.
Thanks
Trevor “Trevz” Bayack is a Brooklyn-born filmmaker who approaches his web pieces as mini documentaries. Recognized as a member of the 2008 URB magazine Next 100 for pioneering the “video blog” Trevz continually makes his pieces shorter, sharper and ever more shareable” Follow thenewpop twitter feed for more.
Wayback Thursday’s – Memorial Day Weekend 2008 “The Summer Of Love.”
This week we take our Wayback Machine to Memorial Day 2008 our Summer Of Love. It was a time when we were all just discovering our fascination with social media and figuring out ways to incorporate it into our art. There was a merging of different mediums under this one umbrella that we now embrace as Social Media. But we didn’t just engage online, we were meeting every day on the streets, boutiques and lofts of downtown Manhattan and North Brooklyn and it was all organic. I think that it was organic is what made it special. Up until then there was a separation between what happened online and what happened in the real world. Unless it was a scheduled “meet up” people tended to separate their off-line experience from their virtual ones. Leading up to the Summer of 2008 that line was blurring until it vanished completely.
Looking back now I see that the years following 2008 people (myself included) started to figure out ways to commoditize new media. Corporations started paying us to do our art, our friends wanted their own shows, we started leaving our day jobs and the stakes got higher. It wasn’t just about creating anymore. For me the camera phone and later the DSLR video camera was about to take the novelty out of what was a special little video project I called The New Pop. Don’t misunderstand me, I am glad it happened in fact I predicted that once everyone started shooting video it would legitimize the art form and make it easier for me to make a living as a videographer. Still, I can’t help but reminisce about the days when people weren’t so use to having a video camera in their face, on a whole folks today are more jaded and self conscious about being documented.
In this video Texas and I decided to have a non-stop Memorial day weekend that took us from the now defunct outdoor venues The Yard and Hope Lounge in Brooklyn, to a naked Hot Tub party and a Rooftop gathering in Manhattan. Through it all I had one question for my friends “What Are You Doing This Summer?”
Enjoy
TrVZ
Wayback Trivia: During that incredible Memorial day weekend while Texas & I were documenting parties non-stop, the visibly absent Tone (our third partner) was out of town attending a wedding. Of course as soon as he returned we rubbed it in with repeated stories of what went down and just how much he missed out. When we got to the story of our naked hot tub adventure Tone visibly shook by the fact that he missed out would refer to the Hot Tub as having green water. Lol. It wasn’t green but whatever works for you Tone.
Tracey Emin On Her Childhood In Margate
Courtesy of the folks at Wallpaper Magazine this feature on artist Tracey Emin produced by Louis Vuitton’s as a part of their exhibition of the British artist’s work at the Hayward Gallery. Shot on location in the coastal town of Margate, Emin explains the impact of the town she grew up in on her psyche and work.
Enjoy
TrVZ
The Visualmakers – Preview Trailer
Here is the 1st trailer for the documentary The Visualmakers a film “that seeks to find out what unites us as independent filmmakers who use the latest breed of relatively affordable digital tools.” The filmmakers interviewed here feel a bit like the stereotypical “insider club” of old media directors but the sound-bytes and shots are great.
Enjoy
TrVZ
Album review: ‘Born This Way’ inspired by Lady Gaga’s social media savvy, and her Little Monsters
Lady Gaga Born This Way Regular and Deluxe Edition Covers, courtesy of PopCrush.com
Three days before the release of her album Born This Way, out now, Lady Gaga starred in a Google Chrome video that showed her dancing around on the Brooklyn Bridge. Spliced in were fan-made videos covering her latest Billboard Hot 100 Hit, “The Edge of Glory,” as she sent inspirational messages to them via her website.
And that video is just one of many promotional efforts Gaga employed to ramp up the excitement for one of the year’s most highly-anticipated pop records.
As it stands now, Gaga has officially reached over 10 million followers on Twitter, and over 30 million fans “Like” her Facebook page. This makes Lady Gaga, a blond-haired, New York-bred, Italian-American Catholic (much like a certain other pop goddess she’s often compared to), more popular than President Obama.
So, either America is wrongly prioritizing, or Gaga is a visionary. Though the former can be true, I’ll argue the latter.
Born This Way is quite the achievement, and though “hype” is such an ugly word, it lives up to its own potential, thanks to an incredibly high-bar music industry standard set by Lady Gaga herself. This album was her opportunity to bring on the crazy that the world reluctantly embraced (sales of her 2008 debut, The Fame, didn’t pick up until the following year). With so many millions of people watching, scrutinizing, publicizing and glorifying Lady Gaga’s every move, she had to deliver.
Born This Way is not the greatest album of the decade, as Mother Monster promised. It is a heady adrenaline rush at over an hour long, that is only squelched by any instance in which Gaga holds back. For example, “Electric Chapel,” a melancholic 80s coo of a tune, is one of the few moments on Born This Way where Gaga sounds restrained, poised even.
The public is so used to Gaga In The Meat Dress, or Gaga Dying Onstage, that anything other than total Gaga-walk-walk-fashion-baby-move that-bitch-crazy is unacceptable.
Thankfully Born This Way, for the most part, doesn’t beat around the bush. “Marry the Night,” the album’s opener, is a pummeling assault that hardly lets up. It’s opening church organ sets the tone for a thrilling album that finds Gaga tackling rough sex, religion, famewhoring, immigration, feminism, follicles and unicorns – often simultaneously.
Only Gaga could rope in childhood idols Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band (“Hair,” “The Edge of Glory”) and Queen’s Brian May (“You and I”) for songs that celebrate hair, public intoxication, grandfather love and Nebraska. And only she could purposefully craft many moments like these that beg you to give the album a gold star for a high WTF factor (See: “Heavy Metal Lovers”).
Only Gaga could mix feminist politics with 90s Berlin house, while rap-singing in German (See: “ScheiBe”). “I wish that I could be strong with no permission,” the singer pleads over a skittering gay-club unst chorus. It’s an honest moment for the singer, whose last album, 2009’s The Fame Monster EP, found her about as lively as a vampire in the Twilight movie series.
But perhaps Born This Way’s most impressive accomplishment – despite all the cheese-tastic 80s and 90s Eurotrash-y deliciousness – is how incredibly warmhearted Gaga sounds. She sings here with her whole heart, and the power of her voice is chilling in the right ways. It’s not like The Fame Monster, where Gaga experienced oddly disconnected wanderlust, and as a result, wound up in icy Siberian terrain.
That’s definitely not the case for Born This Way.
Gaga, a star who has always expressed in interviews what religion means to her, sings about her Holy Trinity, in “You and I”: “It’s my daddy, and Nebraska and Jesus Christ.” It’s one moment though, not a tactless #trendingtopic throughout a highly trendy, yet trendsetting album, which makes its revelation that much more powerful.
And that’s the beauty of the bigness that is Born This Way – an effort that aims to empower the powerless, and give people reason to celebrate their existence and stuff. Almost always, Born This Way hits the mark.
It even liberates the always-combustible Lady Gaga, a pint-sized New Yorker who is more popular than the president, a feat that isn’t bad for a second album.
- Mickey Woods
Tiny Feature Saturday’s – SoLost: The Holy Land Of Cinema?
This video courtesy of Dave Anderson features The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin Texas. This one of a kind theatre is kind of like The Prairie Home Companion for the theatre going crowd. According to the vimeo page…
“From Master Pancake Theater to Hecklevision to Sing-Alongs and Quote-Alongs; from nighttime “Jaws” screenings from inner tubes on a lake to a car-eating Robosauras breathing fire in their parking lot to Leonard Nimoy shocking fans with a surprise world premiere of the new Star Trek, this is a spot where every day brings a grand new film event.”
They also have an aggressive policy on talking during their films. According to the founder and CEO Tim League
“If you talk… we’ll warn you sternly, if we have to warn you a second time that warning will say ‘If I am coming back, you are leaving,’ there is no third warning. And If I need to bring the police in, I will bring the police.”
Hallef*ckinglujah!
Rumor has it they will be bringing their show to New York and Los Angeles in 2011.
Enjoy
TrVZ
The Videographers Guide To Not Falling On Your New Media Face | Chapter 12 – Clients
I can’t think of anything more rewarding than being your own boss and doing what you love. You make your own hours, you are constantly challenged, and you don’t have to take shit from anyone. I have dedicated my life to this pursuit of freedom. It is in my blood, no one in my nuclear family works for a boss. My father owns a cab, my brother is also a videographer and my mom and sister are house wives. I think we would rather starve than put up with working for a boss. My pursuit of this freedom has come at a cost. I have lost relationships, suffered humiliation, lived in constant financial hardship, met with creative crises’ and I am constantly in fear of having a bad month. Despite these challenges every single morning I wake up at the crack of dawn excited to get to work.
The lifeblood of this creative freedom comes in the form of clients. How do I find them? I am not a particularly social person but thanks in large part to social media and blogging I have managed to build a solid client list. In this chapter I will share a few tips that helped me in obtaining, nurturing, and expanding my client portfolio.
Prospecting:
These days I don’t do much if any real world prospecting for new clients. Most of them come via referrals or my website (More on that later). But there was a time when I didn’t have a single client and had to get out and do what I hate most… Network. In public settings I am not particularly engaging, I tend to sit in the corner quietly making observations or thinking about my next shoot or edit. Lucky me I did manage to find my first clients through the people I initially documented. Prospecting in the arts works well if it is organic. At first most of them wanted me to work for them for little or nothing. This was fine, in order to get clients I needed to have a portfolio of videos to show other clients what I could do. These initial contacts provided that. You too should use this approach and add these new contacts on your mailing list and social networks.
Nurturing:
I haven’t been in personal contact with 95% of the folks that I considered my initial client base. People grow, people change that is just the nature of business. What I have done is I have placed a premium on quality not quantity. I put 95% of my networking energy into nurturing the most promising 5% of clients, and 5% of my networking energy in nurturing the remaining 95%. I work smart, not hard. For the 95% I send them reminders that I am still around via social networking and mail blasts. This way even if you haven’t personally spoken to them you will continue to be a relevant part of the collective conversation granted you do great work. The 5% of contacts I consider premium contacts I keep in contact with them regularly via emails, phone calls, and referrals I send their way. It is also pretty easy to maintain these relationships because more often than not they also become good friends. It is not a coincidence that the common thread between this minority of high quality clients is usually their integrity and mutual respect.
Expanding:
This is the most challenging and creative part of my networking strategy. While most people see social media and blogging as a great place to keep in contact with old friends and family, talk about themselves, read the news or just to be a part of the conversation… I rely on it for expanding my client base. Do you really think I would be sharing all these valuable ideas on this blog every week for nothing? This blog is my primary tool for obtaining new clients and building my brand. In exchange for the valuable insight I give the reader, I hope that he or she will spread my ideas and that they will eventually reach someone who needs my services. Every post is either a showcase for my work, a display of my taste, or a sample of my expertise. It is probably the most efficient prospecting and branding tool a freelancer can have. That is certainly the case for me.
Next Friday: Gaming The Sytem.
Thanks
Trevor “Trevz” Bayack is a Brooklyn-born filmmaker who approaches his web pieces as mini documentaries. Recognized as a member of the 2008 URB magazine Next 100 for pioneering the “video blog” Trevz continually makes his pieces shorter, sharper and ever more shareable” Follow thenewpop twitter feed for more.
Wayback Thursday – Korrupt Chinatown | 3 Years Ago Today Where Were You?
This week on the Wayback Machine we rewind to an event that took place in May 2008 at a party organized by the folks at Mean Red called Korrupt. I think this was the first party held at the Chinatown Mall called 88 Palace. This video features the Retro Kids who were blowing up at the time. At the time they were rumored to have a cable show in the works, but seemingly so was everyone else in the scene. At the beginning of this video I pay homage to a famous video clip from The Doors Live from Europe 1968, and then it somehow turned into an impromptu music video. The party itself was pretty spectacular featuring lots of random makeout sessions, lots of free booze, and lots of good music. It was an indication of the insane summer of ’08 that was awaiting us. More on that next week.
Enjoy
TrVZ
Wayback Trivia: There is a picture floating around out there from this party of one of the girls in the video eating my face. She is literally digesting me. If you know where too look you can probably find it pretty easily. Oh those were the days : )
Finding America – John Van Hamersveld
American graphic artist and illustrator John Van Hamersveld who designed record jackets for pop and psychedelic bands, since the 1960s including the Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles, Crown of Creation by Jefferson Airplane and Exile on Main Street by The Rolling Stones is profiled by Sinuhe Xavier for the Finding America series.
Enjoy
TrVZ
Handmade Portraits: Greg Beauchamp
Here is a great video portrait by Pascal Perich for the folks at Etsy. This video profiles California-based artist and art director Greg Beauchamp who’s simple yet profound philosophy’s on life really resonated with me.
“The simpler you can make something, the more universal it becomes. This idea that if you can reduce something to it’s core, it speaks louder than layering something.”
How true, Enjoy.
TrVZ
Enjoy
The Videographers Guide To Not Falling On Your New Media Face | Chapter 11 – Intangible Interview Tips
Pulling off an effective interview isn’t as easy as you may think. It is often the most challenging part of the production and usually makes or breaks your piece. In the past 5 years I’ve probably done as many interviews as anyone in new media and I still learn new things every time. Last week I shared some tangible interview tips that has helped me over the years. Today I will give you some of the intangible elements that contribute to a better interview.
6. Dress The Part:
As I get older I am learning to appreciate how dressing like an adult helps in the respect ctegory. Gone are my days of tilted baseball caps, ironic Tees, and shorts. You don’t have to dress like you are working on Wall Street although it really can’t hurt, but you should wear something that says I take myself seriously. My rule of thumb is if I can’t wear it on a dinner date, then I probably shouldn’t be wearing it to work.
7. Master Your Domain:
The moment you enter an interview space you have to make that environment yours even if you are an invited guest. There are ways to do this without being rude or territorial. Ask the hosts for permission to scout the location to find the best interview setting. Once you have that permission take the opportunity to collect your thoughts, get comfortable with the space, and to shift into director mode. Every single person I’ve ever interviewed from celebrities to my folks has looked for direction from me, embrace that responsibility.
8. The Push & The Pull:
One of the skills that come most naturally to me is being able to read people. A very useful trait as a director. The bottom line is that you want your subject to be comfortable and to feel confident. If your subject is talking to fast, repeatedly asking you how they are doing, restarting allot, chances are the interview won’t be very good. When you see these signs shift gears and take the pressure off. I usually do this by talking about an unrelated topic and weaving my way back to the related subject matter. There are dozens of ways to shift gears, many just come with practice. That being said, the interviewer’s best skill is to know when to shut up. If the dialogue is flowing don’t feel the need to push your agenda, act more like a moderator.
9. Don’t be a Douche:
It helps if you are a likable person and that the person you are interviewing is also likable. If that isn’t the case a producer or an assistant can be an invaluable asset acting as a buffer between you and any bad vibes.
10. Manage the Energy:
If the energy is cool and artsy, then be cool and artsy. If you need more passionate energetic answers then you should try to encourage that in your tone and your body language.
Next Friday: Prospecting for Clients.
Thanks
Trevor “Trevz” Bayack is a Brooklyn-born filmmaker who approaches his web pieces as mini documentaries. Recognized as a member of the 2008 URB magazine Next 100 for pioneering the “video blog” Trevz continually makes his pieces shorter, sharper and ever more shareable” Follow thenewpop twitter feed for more.
Wayback Thursday’s – The Pussy Party
This week we take the Wayback machine back to August of 2008 at the height of thenewpop party days. The New Pop triple threat of Tone, Texas and myself (Trevz) covered a party at Rebel called The Pussy Party. As was our custom back in the day I showed up with no real script in mind and came up with video ideas on the fly. On this night I thought it would be great to do a silent film in which The New Pop Sticker would play the role of the protagonist. Texas led the way placing stickers on everyone and took the video over the top. It’s funny how some of the folks we put stickers on ended up becoming such an integral part of the New Pop story in later years, including Contessa and Louisa who were a part of our huge drama filled SXSW Road Trip that signaled the beginning of the end of our party days.
Wayback Trivia: This night Wesley Clouden (who is a friend today) was also shooting something at Rebel (You can see him in this video). After being the only videographer on the scene for a couple of years, Wesley was the first videographer I started to run into covering similar events. At first I would hear about him and see him on occasion but no one could figure out where to find his movies. To this day I still have no idea where Wes is hiding those movies.
NYC Dining Car | A 6 – Course Dinner Party On The NYC Subway
One of the items I left out on my recent Videographers Guide post of top cliches in New Media was the good old NYC subway stunt. From the Ride the Subway With No-Pants day, to Subway Improv to just good old fashion spontaneous group songs, I have had my fill and even contributed to quite a few on this site. However this latest one NYC Dining Car is so well executed that I thought why not? According to The New York Times article…
“[The Dinning Guests] had been lured by the promise of a clandestine dining experience. (“Please go to the North East Corner of 8th Ave and 14th St,” read the instructions e-mailed early that morning. “There will be a tall slender woman there with jet black hair who is holding an umbrella. Please just go up and introduce yourself. Her name is Michele and she is quite lovely, but no matter how hard you press she won’t tell you about the adventure you are going on.”)”
CK Swett who we featured on our video profile of Anthony Sneed and is probably as eccentric as anyone we ever interviewed on this site was perfect in his role as maître d’hôtel.
Enjoy
TrVZ
SoLost – Chainsaw Samaritans
It is a sad truth that it often takes some sort of crises or disaster to appreciate what it is that we have. This video taken by Dave Anderson shot the day after the Tornado’s hit Alabama focuses on some of the folks who used their chainsaws to help in the cleanup effort. It really makes you proud to be an American.
TrvZ
Etsy – Butch Anthony’s Museum of Wonder
This video titled Butch Anthony’s Museum of Wonder directed by Eric Beug features the artwork, architecture and quirky interior designs of the artist Butch Anthony, who along with his neighbor John Henry Toney create a charming environment where artifacts, oddities, and folk art take root. What really caught my eye was Butch Anthony’s home. It goes against everything you would expect from a collector of Junk living in Alabama. It almost makes you want to move to the deep South and build one of your own. Almost. You can read more about this amazing place on the Etsy blog.
Enjoy
TrVZ
The Videographers Guide To Not Falling On Your New Media Face | Chapter 10 – Tangible Interview Tips
Pulling off an effective interview isn’t as easy as you may think. It is often the most challenging part of the production and usually makes or breaks your piece. In the past 5 years I’ve probably done as many interviews as anyone in New Media and I still learn new things every time. Here are 5 tips that can help you out.
1. Audio:
As mentioned in Chapter 2 – “Nothing screams amateur like shoddy sound. It’s the easiest thing to take for granted, and the hardest thing to fix in post. If you are using a DSLR camera at the minimum buy an external mic. Some clients are so picky that you are probably better off budgeting for a sound guy.”
2. Location:
Choose a location with an interesting background. Consider the subjects distance from the wall. If you want a more intimate feel place your subject close to the wall. If you want to emote something more grand, move your subject away from the wall. And when outdoors please don’t shoot with the sun behind the subject.
3. Eyeline:
Whether the subject looks into the camera or not determines the directness of the message. Staring directly into the camera is more jarring and takes on a more dramatic tone. Looking off camera feels more conversational and also gives you more to work with in terms of different camera angles and 2 camera shots.
4. Interview to Output ratio:
My interview to output ratio is about 10 to 1 meaning for every minute of soundbytes I plan to use I schedule 10 minutes of interview time. Due to time considerations on the editing side, the output ratio often goes down, rarely goes up.
5. Rapport and how not to ruin it:
This is probably the most important element of your interview and also the most intangible. It is why some photographers and videographers have “it” and some don’t. How one manages the energy between the subject and the camera is hard to define and I won’t try here (I will cover that next week), what I will do is make suggestions on things to avoid.
- Don’t be late to an interview. We had an old adage on film sets, “early is on-time, on-time is late, and late is unheard of.” If you’ve ever worked on a film set everyone is early. I worked on sets for over 10 years and was about 5 minutes late twice. I got reamed both times and one time I would’ve gotten fired if I wasn’t needed to drive the truck to set. My counterparts in new media haven’t seemed to grasp this one yet. (Note: L.A. doesn’t count they are much more laid back about time.)
- Don’t interview for over 30 minutes without a break. I learned this one the hard way when after 30 minutes of not getting what I needed on a recent interview, the subject got restless but I persisted because I thought I was finally making headway. Well after pushing the subject he became openly hostile to me and the client and pretty much threw us out of his loft before we could get the b-roll we needed for the video. Live and learn.
- Keep your questions short: Subjects usually know where your going with your questions, no need to overexplain.
- Don’t let the client step on your questions. Remind the client to pause between your question and their answer. This one is for the editors.
- Write down your questions. Even if you don’t know exactly who you will be interviewing, you should know beforehand what the angle of your video is and what kind of questions to ask.
- At the end of the interview, allow the subject to add anything that you may have missed during your questioning.
Next Friday: The Intangible Interview Tips.
Thanks
Trevor “Trevz” Bayack is a Brooklyn-born filmmaker who approaches his web pieces as mini documentaries. Recognized as a member of the 2008 URB magazine Next 100 for pioneering the “video blog” Trevz continually makes his pieces shorter, sharper and ever more shareable” Follow thenewpop twitter feed for more.
Wayback Thursday’s – King Stampede/Shut NYC
This week we go back to an event that took place at the Red Bull space somewhere around July of 2008. It was an event thrown by King Stampede and Shut Skateboard. The event was pretty cool but not something I would cover today. Mostly because it involved not much more than people standing around having drinks looking cool. There were no performances, no art, nothing to really discuss on camera, not even many people dancing. As a result I fell back on the old getting to know you strategy and introduced just about everyone in the place to the camera. I already knew half the room so it was pretty easy. Today I would die if I had to shoot something like that again.
Enjoy
TrVZ
Wayback Trivia: There has only been one person that I can remember that hasn’t paid me for work. It was for the gig posted above and his name was Todd and he worked with RedBull. You can see him at the end of the video. He bailed on paying me for additional editing and raw footage, even after seeing me a couple of times and giving me his “word” that he would get me paid. It wasn’t much, just a couple of hundred in OT. Todd I guess your rep isn’t worth much.
Trailer – Page One: Inside The New York Times
Over the past year or so I’ve had the privilege of seeing some really good documentaries. From Radiant Child to Exit Through The Gift Shop, To The Bill Cunningham film. Hopefully this next film about our favorite topic (New Media) titled Page One Inside The New York Times and directed by Andrew Rossi can keep the streak going. It looks promising.
TrVZ
“With the Internet surpassing print as our main news source, and newspapers going bankrupt, Page One chronicles the media industry’s transformation and assesses the high stakes for democracy. The film deftly makes a beeline for the eye of the storm or, depending on how you look at it, the inner sanctum of the media, gaining unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom for a year. “
The movie is slated for release on June 24.
Etsy – No Place Like Here: Marfa Texas
This video from the folks at Etsy focuses on the town of Marfa Texas. On the surface it looks like any small town with not much going on, investigate a bit more and you will find a quirky cast of individuals doing their own art and crafts including every Wednesday where they have Craft night.
Enjoy
TrVZ
Toronto Comic Arts Festival | Pencil It In
This video directed by Christopher Hutsul for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival highlights the intimate relationship illustrators have with their drawing tools. I use to be a pretty decent amateur artists as a kid and then again in my late 20′s when I use to draw images for my own Tee Shirt Line. I remember how fanatical I was about my Sakura Pigma Micron Pen. I would usually buy mine at Sam Flax on 18th street in NYC. If they were out of pens there I would travel all over the city until I found it.
Enjoy
TrVZ
The Bin Laden Era Begins & Ends In East Flatbush
We will never forget that day when the planes hit the towers and changed our lives forever. Nor will we ever forget the day we heard that they finally got Osama Bin Laden. When I heard that they killed Osama Bin Laden coincidentally I happened to be in the same apartment I lived in on 9/11/2001. It was my first apartment now It’s my Dad’s NY residence as he continues working as a NYC Taxi Driver. My mom is also here visiting from Florida so I decided to pay them a visit last night. They weren’t home when I got there and I was falling asleep watching Iron Man waiting for them to return. When they walked in and broke the news I immediately leapt out of bed and glued my eyes to the TV.
On 9/11/2001 I was two rooms over when I heard the first plane hit while listening to the Howard Stern show. After turning on the TV and seeing the smoke and witnessing the 2nd plane hit I ran to the corner of Church Avenue and Remsen in East Flatbush Brooklyn where I could see the towers in the far distance. It was there where I saw the first tower crumble and where cars literally screeched to a halt with people falling to the ground screaming and crying. I remember sprinting home at full speed screaming that I wanted them Dead! The moments and days that followed are etched in my memory. My dad was driving his Taxi in the city and I couldn’t reach him. My cousin who lived nearby came over to my place to watch the events. He had been trying to reach his live-in girlfriend who went to school in one of the towers but he couldn’t reach her until much later. She was evacuated safely. My ex-girlfriend who I was still good friends with at the time worked in one of the towers around the point of impact (I think it was the southern tower), She avoided being there because she decided to work-out that morning and was running late. My dad was also Ok.
Unfortunately so many others were not so fortunate and our national psyche was changed forever. One image I remember so vividly that epitomized the shock came while riding the subways a few days after 9/11. I will never forget the dead silence and the look of shock etched on everyones face. Everyone had that thousand mile stare you hear so much about. I get chills just thinking about it now. My dad and I cried together in that apartment in the days following. And EVERY SINGLE DAY for more than two years after 9/11 I would think about it obsessively many times to the point of tears. Last night I happened to be at the same place where I was on that day and appropriately my Dad was the one who broke the news to me. In the same apartment where we cried together we were able to cheer together. A fitting bookend. Happily we can now refer to this as the post Bin Laden era.
I uploaded a couple of iPhone images I took last night and this morning in my old neighborhood. One was taken from the exact same vantage point where I saw the first tower fall. There is also an image of a faded flag, one of the thousands that were placed on city buses right after 9/11 that are still there. A fitting symbol of the faded but enduring hope that defined this decade long search for justice.
God Bless America!
TrVZ
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- Watching The Pres on CNN with my folks.
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- This was my point of view of the 1st tower falling.
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- 10 years ago these now faded flags were placed on buses. A fitting symbol of the faded but enduring hope that defined this decade long search for justice.
