My Maniacal Plan Phase I Notes II

So, I've submitted work to Shutterstock. I didn't expect to fail as badly as I have, but I have nonetheless. Of the 10 submitted for approval, 10 were rejected. Yikes, that's rough! Now, I understand videos are easy uploads and they are easier to pass through the gatekeepers. Perhaps I need to adjust my focus? Perhaps I need to start by uploading videos instead of photos. My long-term focus is to shift from shooting photos to shooting videos. Moving images move me. That's just how I work. The best part? I can use my Canon Rebel XT camera to shoot things like timelapse (just a set of still photos). Maybe my focus needs to shift sooner than later.

I receive my camera today. I'll be waiting anxiously for its arrival.

Dreamstime
I've submitted photos to Dreamstime. I like them: they read from the EXIF data included in my images. Will they bite? Good question. That remains to be seen.

All is not lost
No, not in the least. In the arts and/or entertainment field, one must be able to handle rejection. This just means I need to spend more time being creative and less time lamenting my lack of finances or equipment. I've always said an expert photographer or videographer can do more with minimal equipment than someone with all the money and equipment in the world. Am I that expert? I would like to think so and I'll do what I must to make it happen. Look out bitches! Here I come. ;)

Some books for today (click the links, I make $$$):
A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative
The E-myth Revisited

Progress of Phase I

So, first I need some pictures and then I need to access some stock places to begin selling. I already have an iStock account here. You'll notice when you look at my portfolio that there are a number of nature photos and only a few "staged" photos. I had been using iStock as a clearinghouse for my experiments to see what people are interested in. Also, I needed to get my chops up a bit to make myself a sellable photographer. Let's explore that a little bit. The photos peppering this post represent some of the latest photos I've uploaded to iStock in this phase of my Maniacal Plan - much smaller of course.

My most popular work and my most profitable

Just because something is popular, doesn't mean its profitable and vice versa. Now, I am not making massive amounts of cash from my iStock account, but I am on with one of the more profitable sites, though I'm not making oodles. This image is my most popular photo right now. Pretty cool, huh? I created the envelope by hand from, of all things, handmade paper! I was on a paper-making kick and created the envelope and card. That photo is all that remains of it, but it has made me small amounts of money. Now, my most profitable image is here. This was a photo I took while on assignment for another client (AZ Fish & Game). I have done a bit of photoshop work to make it better: the sky was hazy and white and the water needed some work. I have only one less download with that photo versus my most popular, but it's making almost twice what the most popular image is making. The difference? Larger files; you get more per download with larger images.

For a more detailed comparison, let's have a look at a mid-level photo. This photo comes third in popularity, but second in royalties. It's pretty plain, I know. It's a photo of flat, rough turquoise. Now, I uploaded this photo for one reason only: to see what would catch and what wouldn't. The envelope picture is very green - I think it capitalizes nicely on the current trend in business to make everything "green." Since the envelope is made from recycled paper and it's on wood, the entire setup screams green. I really like the palm trees photo. It took a minimum of work. It looks like it's on a tropical island near the ocean. Yet, it's only a couple palm trees at a public park in West Tucson. The turquoise photo captures plain turquoise and as long as southwestern art remains popular, I can use that as a draw. Now we get to something I've an interest: what works for the end-user.

Shooting for the end-user

Who is the end user? The average joe? Not likely. Instead, it's likely small-to-medium-sized companies with a single designer or a small team who need access to useable, inexpensive stock photos. They aren't spending oodles of time on finding these pictures. Instead, they have a short set of keywords and they use them to find pictures in several different stock photo sources. What are people downloading? How can I stack up?

The cheaper stock sources have been cropping up like mad and places like Getty Images, Corbis, and Jupiter are branching out with their own user-stock photo sites and snapping up these companies. They are profitable and they represent a different model of licensing: micro stock. It puts high-quality, inexpensive photos in the hands of smaller licensees. Now, there is also a distinct community developing around these sites - photographers help one another with their images, assist with photoshop work, compete for titles and prizes, give advice, etc. One great thing: iStock gives you a list of what's most popular for the last 3 months. For example, right now, the most popular images have to do with sunsets, green-ness, businesspeople, families and children. Let's do a little distillation: Nature, Business, and Family.

Where do I stack up? 

Hmmm, I'm in the middle somewhat. Having no cash to pay models, I don't have a large cache of photos with people (or any for that matter). My nature photos are good, but not stellar. I've learned how to take good pictures and how to make them better in photoshop, but I'm still very much an amateur. So, here's my idea: let's get some models in a natural setting. The agreement will be they will get headshots and photos (of my choosing) to use for themselves. These will be high-quality images they can use for prints or what have you, BUT they also agree to let me have free reign with the rest. It's a decent trade-off and a win-win. I seem to remember reading someplace this was a standard for many new photographers. Once I have a better picture of what will and will not sell, then I can move ahead and maybe even pay models.

I have the nature thing pretty well down. I'm guessing this is fairly typical of new photographers. What is new, however, is my plan to do stock footage. Since the mid-nineties, several inexpensive digital SLRs and cameras have come out. They have placed quality photographic equipment in the hands of the average user for less money. With the latest crop of DSLRs that also shoot HD video, it puts super high quality video in the hands of the average user. Now, many people still are not using these cameras or, if they are, they don't know how to use them effectively. Now is a great time to capture this market. Once the camera comes in, it's time to start shooting. I'm very excited.

Sorta sum it all up

Okay, so I'm not making what is popular now, but I know what is popular so I can start shooting these things. I need to include models in my photos and I have a rough plan for doing that. My nature photos may need work to get them up to par with the big boys - just because you've been accepted, doesn't mean you will be successful.

Something else: plan for holidays 3-6 months in advance. The biggies are coming: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's. Your picture or design may be the trend everyone follows this coming year so be prepared.

All the best equipment won't guarantee your success. A good professional photographer will make the most from any equipment. Also, I am signed up with only a single micro stock photo dealer. I will spend this week refining images and getting them up to other stock places while I await the delivery of my new camera (arrives on Tuesday!). When the camera arrives, I'll run it through some paces and then begin shooting as much and as often as I can. Volume is key since I am getting about 2-5 good, usable photos for every 50-100 shot. If I can shoot 300+ per day, I can have at least 5 or 6 solid, usable photos and as many as 15-20 every single time I shoot. This simple numbers game may well be bankable.

Stay ahead of the curve everyone (even if you're starting behind).

My Maniacal Plan

I'm fed up. I've been job-hunting for the last several months now. No dice. I can't even get a job at Burger King or Mickie Dees. I've even hunted for the occasional freelance gig. It's not going well. Worse, I don't have a camera so what good is all this video knowledge without a camera? As my wife would say, "here is my maniacal plan..."

Stage 1: Camera Acquisition

So the first part is fairly easy: I go buy a camera. With little cash, this is not a quick process. I discovered some extra credit on one of our cards and held on to it for months. As recommended by Robert Kiyosaki in Rich Dad Poor Dad, I'm going to use my available credit to my advantage, buy a camera, and move on to stage 2. I'll need to acquire additional batteries, hard drive storage and SDHC memory cards. My total investment for this endeavor will run about $1200. Per Rich Dad Poor Dad, this will be to create passive, recurring income.

Stage 2: Photo/Video Acquisition

Using a list of good photo sites in and around the Tucson area, I'm going to make morning and evening trips to various local sites to shoot. I'll be shooting video and photographs using the above camera. I'm quite familiar with the camera's capabilities so I'm not too concerned with technical issues or my ability to resolve them efficiently. Furthermore, I'll be able to use available lenses and supplies from my present Canon DSLR camera. I'll be hitting state parks, local sights, and other places where I can shoot. Models require payment, BUT I can likely trade out a set of good headshot photos for unlimited rights to said photos and sell them as below.

Stage 3: Sales

Within the last 2-3 years, numerous stock photo companies has sprung up all over the internet. To name a few: Shutterstock, iStockphoto, and Pond5. These are just a few of the sites online making active sales. What do they pay? Well, my research suggests I can generate an average of $.05-0.25 per image per day. I know, not much. On the other hand, if I can generate an average of only $0.05 per image per day with say 1000 images (I can shoot 300 usable pictures a week if I push it, reasonably about 100), I can make $50 a month. Videos are going to be the real money makers, generating $1.25-5.00 per video. Videos take longer, use up more drive space and take longer to upload, but 25 or so good videos a month can bring in as much as $125.

I forgot to mention these numbers are per site. I have 3 specific sites ready to go (including my existing iStock site). More will come. If I can start selling with places like Getty, I can literally increase my income by 2-5x or more. Some stock agencies give $250+ per image and videos can net $1000.

Is there a market? Yes. Is there competition? Most certainly (I'm not the only one doing this). Is there still money to be made? Most definitely. See anyone with a camera can get it right once in a while and still produce high-quality stock photography. I like the baseball analogy - you can hit the ball 30% of the time and still be considered a great ball player. Now, with experience and an artist's eye, you can hit the ball only 50% of the time and be an amazing photographer.

Stage 4: Sales and Promotion

Now, since I'll own the rights to all of the images, I can still use them to promote myself. I'm merely licensing my images through another agency and making a percentage. Sort of like sales commissions, but I produce the artwork and they provide a handy central clearinghouse for my work (and others). By actively promoting my work (creating photo galleries and short YouTube video clips featuring my work) on my websites, blogs, and social media sites, I'll be able to ensure traffic and better search engine hits going to my site. This will be used to create my secondary sales (Phase II which is in the planning stages) of commercials, corporate videos, product videos, etc. These will be used to create good income, but only on a once-per basis (the photos and videos will be used to create recurring bread-and-butter income).

Not being satisfied with just doing a few things, I can use the income generated from one-off gigs like company videos and commercials to boost the rest of the company and reinvest. Stock photo is a lot of work, so it would be nice to have a better business model to take it's place and continue licensing the entire collection or sell the collection to another company for a substantial single amount.

Stage 5: Financials

So, make the photos and videos, create neat little videos featuring my work with my company logo, promote, sell, rinse, repeat. This will continue until I have a solid monthly income of at least $500 a month and my estimates put it closer to $1500 a month in 1 year with a library of over 10,000 photos and 500 videos. Many small stock agencies don't have libraries that large and my earnings numbers are quite conservative. Truly, with a library that size, I should be getting $0.25 a photo and $1 a video a month for around $3000 a month, but its hard to say where the market will go.

Additional costs will consist of basic essentials like gasoline, consumables like hard drives, memory cards, and optical media, new equipment like lenses, cameras, new computer equipment, insurance, licensing, accounting, legal, taxes, debt resolution, etc. Unfortunately, with no cash coming in, I have to operate without the majority of these things. I will need to make the most of what I have now: TIME. If I'm really busy, I should be pulling in lots of money and may not have time for stock, but I'll be making that up by making more money in a shorter time frame. That will also take time and patience. Got to remember not to jump the gun or put the cart before the horse or any other cliche you can think of.

Stage 6: Make Big Movies

That's my ultimate goal: produce films for theatrical and/or personal consumption and substantial profit. This will also take time and money. This part of the plan is incomplete.

Stage 7: World Domination

I can dream.

Let me know what you think.

Shooting Notes and a Little Advice

So we're now on to about our third week of production. We have had an aggressive schedule thus far - this is in comparison to many other indie film projects I've worked on. In all fairness, those productions were light - a few days/nights/weekends here or there, but nothing every single day. This production has taxed my personal will and limits to the max. I now know I can do a hectic large production with no problem. It would seem light in comparison based on what I've heard from others who work "in the field." That's fine by me. I'm seeing my ambitions rise.

My next project will be a Steampunk Spaghetti Western. I hope it will be anyway. I'm working on the story and concept right now and I'm reviewing a number of films: The Man with No Name Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), Hang Em High (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray], and even True Grit (Special Collector's Edition). These are links to the relevant stuff from Amazon - yeah, I try to make an extra buck or 2 here and there. Furthermore, I'm looking at Hong Kong flicks like Sukiyaki Western Django and the new The Good, the Bad, the Weird which has yet to come out on DVD, but I'm going to see it at The Loft soon. I think the market is just right for a good Steampunk film and a Steampunk Western would be even better. More details on this to follow as time moves on.

Some good advice for filmmakers (I hope):

1) Trust your people. I've said this far too many times to count, but it still holds. If you can't let your people do the job they want to do, you can't have a good production and people will leave you in droves or, worse, just give you a lackluster performance. Learn to let go and learn to let the creativity flow.

2) Protect your body. After 9 straight days of shooting, I was almost unable to walk. My dogs are beyond barking - they are HOWLING. Take every available opportunity to SIT DOWN. I've taken to shooting in chairs my feet hurt so bad. Worse: I have athlete's foot! So my dogs are barking, howling, and they're cracked and itchy. Same is true for your knees: don't fuck with them - when they are groaning from use, take some time to sit. For shots when I need to be low, I have a pair of knee pads I got for $5 at Home Depot and I use them a lot. As DP of the current production, I have declined to shoot some shots because I knew my knees couldn't do it. Since we are shooting the whole thing handheld, I have to.

3) Don't forget to eat and drink. On set, I get so focused, I forget to eat. This is probably why I lose 5-10 pounds on average during production. I just forget to eat. When I get really bad, I get way cranky. My body gets slow, my brain gets slow, I make dumb mistakes. Do yourself a favor, at least keep hydrated (way true in Arizona) and make sure you eat.

4) Don't overeat. Kind of the opposite to the last note, but if you overeat, you'll be in the same boat. I prefer to keep small amounts of snacky, healthy food with me - raisins, nuts, crackers, etc. I eat little bits at a time so I'm never hungry and my metabolism goes through the roof and I have tons of energy. Also probably why I lose weight during production. Stay away from high-sugar and high-starch foods - they will make you sluggish.

5) Get some exercise. You are worthless without energy. I have literally twice the energy on days I get even a short, continuous walk in versus days where I'm "just too tired." If I wake up and walk for 30 minutes, I'm fine the whole day with significant energy. If I wake up and work, I have minimal energy. It's healthy, good for you, and it doesn't take long. A walk is also better than all the coffee in the world.

6) Spend more time pre-planning. Every hour you spend planning will wipe out 2-3 hours of guesswork on set. For this production, for a variety of reasons, we had to shorten our pre-production time. This has proven to be the most costly decision we have made thus far both in terms of time and money. Had we started pre-production even a month earlier, we would have been fine (2 months would have been better). I read a great quote from JJ Abrams: "...So directing is sort of the reward for all the work you put in before..." Think about that. Directing is the reward for all the planning work you've already done. This is a man who manages numerous multi-million-dollar projects and feels rewarded by directing. I imagine him working for months and months (probably with a solid team that he trusts implicitly) on pre-production and then saying, "wow, neat, I get to direct this thing now!" I can't wait to see his next film, Super 8 - Spielberg and Abrams on the same project. Yummy! I may have to go see Cloverfield [Blu-ray]
now, too.

Already, we are having to plan shots the day of shooting or, worse, on set. This is aggravating the actors and crew and making things not only difficult, but tiresome. We look like we don't know what we are doing - sometimes I feel like we don't. Also, we have a production coordinator who can't coordinate because the schedule is completely fucked. Our actors don't know what scene they're on and the crew is just waiting around for us to figure it out. Unfortunately, the director doesn't always know and they look to me (the DP) for guidance which I can't give because I'm waiting on the director because we failed to plan it all out. We used to shoot a "run and gun" style, but for this production, we can't do it that way anymore without costing everyone tons of time.

7) Know your equipment. As director, I don't think you need to necessarily know the equipment thoroughly, but you need to understand what it can and can't do. If you are asking for a really low-light shot and the equipment isn't capable, it's not the equipment's fault. The equipment has always been the same, it's you who needs to be flexible. If you are doing a wide shot and need crystal-clear audio, don't expect the sound guy to be able to just walk in and boom the shot when there's nothing to hide behind. When we shot on a camcorder, the little on-camera mic handled everything, but now we are shooting DSLR with external sound. We have to rethink to solve a new set of problems and come up with creative solutions for the limitations. Complaining about the equipment only shows you are an amateur. A good filmmaker can make a great film with poor equipment than a beginner with the best equipment. Learn your limitations so you can go beyond them.

8) Don't talk trash about your cast or crew on set. Ever. In fact, don't give feedback until the production is totally wrapped. Why would anyone want to work with a production where the director talks smack or trash about everyone? On set, be professional and expect everyone else to be professional. Focus on getting the problem solved and the movie made not feeding your ego by telling people how much so-and-so sucks. I don't do it on set and I don't let others. Focus on your job and not everyone else's. If someone consistently fails to step up, then don't hire them again, but make sure you tell them why they're voted off the island.

I loathe people who pull me aside as if something were terribly important only to have them say so-and-so was doing XYZ. Often, the person telling me this useless information is seldom the cream of the crop. In fact, the best people I've ever worked with only offer that kind of feedback when they're asked for it and then it's more like advice. Word to the wise: if you spend any time talking smack or trash about anyone on set, you are probably the weakest link. On my set, the squeaky wheel gets replaced. I have zero tolerance or patience for people who can't seem to do their job, but have loads of time to tell everyone else what others are doing wrong.

More advice to follow, but this is some KEY advice for all of you: keep shooting and have FUN! If it's not fun, you're too damned serious!