Videomaker's Annual Video Horror Stories

1. Jennifer O'Rourke
   Staff

   

   Every year Videomaker posts a “Video Horror Stories” feature, appropriately in our October issue, for a Halloween fun. These stories range from newbie videographers just getting their feet wet to the pros who have been at it for a long time, and they validate that things do happen when you have a lot of gear to manage, locations to navigate and people to deal with. But for those of us with a passion for video producing, pitfalls and calamities happen, and it’s just another day on the shoot.
       Every year we print those stories from the trenches, but this year we’ve added a forums post where readers can add their own Video Horror Story. Here are links to our past stories, and please add your story to the forums thread below.

   http://www.videomaker.com/article/15113/ [this year’s, not on line yet]
   http://www.videomaker.com/article/14864/
   http://www.videomaker.com/article/14284/
   http://www.videomaker.com/article/13761/
   http://www.videomaker.com/article/13011/
   http://www.videomaker.com/article/12659/

   Managing Editor
   jorourke@videomaker.com
   VM Customer Support: 1-800-284-3226

   Posted 9 months ago #

2. Jennifer O'Rourke
   Staff

   

   VIDEO HORROR STORY FROM KYLE CASSIDY:

   A client had hired me for a short promo of a band. I met them at night in a field by a railroad and planned to shoot them with a bright light in a chinese lantern ball hung from a bridge, they'd play, it would look weird and great, i'd go home. Upon arriving I discovered that I'd neglected to bring the cable that connected my power source to the lamp. I had NO LIGHT. The band milled around while I pretended I had everything under control. I cranked the ISO on my DSLR to a place nobody would have thought possible five years ago, turned the shutter speed down and the band played, lit by the moon and far off street lights, exposed far better on video than my eyes could make out in the dark. It looked beautiful and in the end, they thought me bold and daring.

   Posted 9 months ago #

3. Jennifer O'Rourke
   Staff

   

   VIDEO STORY FROM PETER ZUNITCH:

   One of the worst situations is working with someone who's never been near a video production until the day they spent exuberant amounts of cash self-producing their own idea. When business is bad though, you'll sometimes compromise on the projects you'll agree to. You do what ya' gotta do.

       During one such hardship, I worked a [discounted] gig on a straight-to-DVD niche project. I put up with panic attacks, needless revisions, drastic over-cutting, several rounds of the blame game, and endless attempts to use the same inappropriate and annoying music. Virtually every suggestion I offered was dismissed. At one point I was even told that I “owed them” extra time simply out of commitment to the project. I needed the money though, so I bit my lip and learned to be the good little button pusher they thought an editor should be. The creative process was lost and the “final product” suffered.

       I quoted that because they went back for yet another round of re-shoots. I'm sure the project is either still in development, or has been abandoned.  In retrospect I don't think they learned anything. Tons of  time and money wasted because someone knew better. If you hire professionals, trust them. As for me... never again.

   Posted 9 months ago #

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