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 Again

So, I've got some notes. I've been submitting some existing photographs to my current stock photo place: iStockphoto. Along with that, I've submitted photos to 2 other microstock agencies: Shutterstock and Dreamstime. Each one has an associated approval process. That's what I'm getting through now.

iStockphoto
I like this place. It's the first one I've ever done. To get approved, you need to upload 3 samples of work. Then, you wait for them to be approved. These must be your best work. Often, they will give you a reason for their refusal, but not always. Often, you can correct whatever problems may exist and re-upload. There is one thing I dislike about iStock: you can only upload 15 images per week. When you already have a library to select from, this can be frustrating. Regardless, don't expect your approval rating to go sky-high right away. I'm doing okay there and I have an approval rating less than 50%. Would like them to read EXIF data from Photoshop, too.

Shutterstock
This seems to be be everyone's favorite and may well be the one to be on. You need to submit 10 images for approval and they have to approve at least 7. For safety's sake, I uploaded 8 images I have already had approved with iStock and 2 that are pending. Still waiting to hear. One nice thing is that they have an FTP area where you can use an FTP client to upload your images several at a time. Would like them to read EXIF data from Photoshop, too. Regardless, they have an easy-to-use interface for keywording and such.

Dreamstime
New one for me. Uploaded the same 10 images from Shutterstock. I'll have to wait about 48-72 hours to find out where I'm at. They read EXIF data from Photoshop! This makes things sooooo much easier.

Keywords
Each site allows you to add keywords. Keywords are now a natural part of my image generation process. After the image is made, I save as a high-quality JPEG, then Command-Option-Shift-I and voila, I can fill in all the information I need about my images. I can make tons of subsequent copy-and-paste additions to other sites this way, but it would be nice if the data were already read and implemented immediately.

Keywords are more art than science. That's the idea, anyway. You can put in basics like specific colors, general categories like "nature" or "landscape," or general topics like "business," but the hard part is the way an image feels. These are the more esoteric aspects like "depressing" or "happy." The rest is gravy, I guess.

More later!

Eat Before You Go

When I'm on set, I will often let every other aspect of my life dwindle to a minimum. Financially, I'm a wreck right now: I haven't made any real money in weeks. The last time I was on set (last night) I had forgotten to eat. Whoops. Dunno what happened, but I forgot to eat. So we meet at 3:30 to start shooting one scene for Limbo.

First off, Melissa is great - the director. She has a great vision and is an amazing writer. I think she's floundering a bit here in sunny Tucson rather than spending her time with the "big boys" marketing scripts and sipping cocktails with the big players in Hollywoodland. Then again, she's here and she likes it here so, cool, lets make some great stuff right here in Tucson. I feel a little like I'm riding on someone else's coattails, but she likes my work and asks me back again and again.

I have my own personal feelings on how I think things should be shot: I don't like handheld, Melissa does (the makeshift stabilizer is a strange compromise); I despise wide angle shots (put the camera as far away from the action and zoom in so everything doesn't look all bulbous and distorted) - Melissa uses lots of close-up, handheld, wide angle shots. Then she goes and uses a jib to shoot and I love it: the camera is far away and zoomed in and I think it looks great. My point is that there are times when I'm chomping at the bit for a different camera angle and when I'm not the director, it can get a little frustrating. Especially when I'm hungry.

I usually do sound. I'm good at it, I have a really good ear and such, but NOBODY respects the sound guy. Actors treat you like a leper, cameramen dismiss you (what? sound guy? fah! he will follow my lead...), directors know they need you, but everyone is soooo concerned with the visual, they completely ignore the audio and set up these scenes that make it completely impossible to get good sound with a boom mic and pole (yeah, this is indie film). Who do they blame when they can't hear something? The sound guy. In fact, despite having perfect audio for several weeks of shooting, I only hear about the quality of my work as "boom in the shot..." Yeah, boy am I jazzed. Grips have more respect than this. Seriously.

And then I was really hungry. Some people just fall asleep when they're hungry. Not me. I get into a tare and take everyone with me. I am not a pleasant hungry person. I get tired and weak and I clench my jaw which gives me a headache. I drink water to offset the hunger and alleviate the oncoming migraine, but I really just need food. Sometimes we are pretty remote. Sometimes, despite all the nastiness described, I just plain FORGET to eat. If I can't have a cigarette, it's pushing up to a potentially lethal scenario.

Now, I feel disrespected (okay, I know I'm not, but I FEEL that way), ravenous, nicotine deficient, and I'm starting to have issues with the director's choice of shots. I'm good friends with Melissa: we worked for a very long time on Crewing Up at Access Tucson, but that doesn't change the fact that the last 4 takes were exactly the same as the first one and minor details like hair are not so important (to me) and we're shooting it wide angle...AGAIN! I am filled with adolescent rage and I may kill one of the actors if they can't keep their FUCKING LINES STRAIGHT...AAAAAUUUGGGH!

Melissa looks at me and I can see her eyes do a mental triple-take. She stops everything and smacks me for not eating. I think she said something like, "what they hell is wrong with you?" I'm immediately calm...well, calmer. I apologize for not eating, but not for the delicious, evil thoughts running around my mind. I'm normally so calm.

Until next time, bring a snack with you - like a granola bar, candy bar, bag o' sugar, soda, sandwich, whatever. Food is a great equalizer: we need it or we die. Melissa is the only one I know who can drop like 30 pounds during a production because she forgets to eat entirely and must weigh in at like 70 pounds at production's end. I have a Klaxon alarm system in my stomach that won't let me ignore it unless I'm heavily caffeinated which is not a good place for me to be. There is usually some kind of food on set, but not always or always what you want to eat. So bring something small that doesn't need refrigeration. The life you save could be the director's.