Behind the Scenes: Stock Video Shoot

[@FilmshooterOH]

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing. Here's my 2 cents and you can do with it what you want. I come from a narrative filmmaking background so I have staged literally thousands of shots. My advice is flip the couch around 180 degrees or so, so it faces away from the fireplace then place you actor on the couch. Place the photo on the side table so we can see it at the beginning of the shot, then your actor picks it up and looks at it as the camera trucks left or right. You can have the fireplace and tree as background elements during most of the shot. (I know moving a couch is not fun.) The other option is place your actor so that they are straight on to the fire and do the grabbing the photo action and we can see it during most of the shot with the tree and fireplace in the background again. I think the straight on shots are more powerful as we can see expressions better. Two thumbs up to the cat!

[@boycefitzgerald]

This is excellent advice. So much so that I may reshoot this the whole scene as you describe. I’ll give you full credit for the staging, of course. Thank you!

[@JWhyte123]

The cat really needs acting lessons! ha ha... I thought it all worked out great. Thanks for doing this one.

[@boycefitzgerald]

The cat loves the fireplace and treats us like servants. I appreciate your humor and supportive comment. Thanks for watching!

[@yuval6354]

This was absolutely great. You made the emotional side very well. the cat did a fantastic job too. Thank you and a Happy year to you and your wife.

[@boycefitzgerald]

Thank you. Yeah, the cat loves to sit by the fire! And I think she did add some realism to the clips. Appreciate your kind support.

[@GregKelton]

Lovely Job. I think a slow zoom in, would also worked. Keep us posted on any sales of these. Good work.

[@boycefitzgerald]

For sure I hope to both improve and report sales. It just feels like that if we keep at it, we are going to hit on something that finds buyers. Thanks for your kind support.

[@RuneLangeland]

Nailed it! The one where you/your wife hold the picture and the cat sat in front of the fireplace were good. Totally see that one could be used in so many places. I like the tilt/pan movement. I only have a slider, not the same at all. (Would you get a release from the person on the picture as well in this case?) Also, the one with you and your wife in the end was great. And you feel nervous? Tell me about it 😂 But the nervousness will pass with time in my opinion. i can dm you with a shot i did the other day if you want. Sitting naked on the shower floor pretending to have a mental breakdown/victim of rape/personal crisis! Everything one would do to make some stock footage, haha!

[@boycefitzgerald]

I appreciate your kind feedback. Lucky for us, the person in the picture is me and I took it when I was an army photographer about 35 years ago. I did provide a release for it. I am not sure if that is essential, but I made one. Yeah, we were very self conscious when we reviewed these. We have to get over that. We have filmed vacations, hobbies, is at work - but “acting” seemed a whole new level of vulnerability. I hope those feelings do pass. I have another idea to use my old military dog tags and retirement flag for another shoot - like a veteran reflecting on his service or lost buddies or something. Thanks so much.

[@Thebogdanpascal]

Nice one! Please also consider to do the behind the scene showing your workflow on titling and keywording/posting. That’s something absolutely no one does. And it’s in even bigger demand.. as shooting is someone straightforward… Also please show what to do when you’re the model. How do you do with the release forms. Do you give your rights to yourself in the model release? Doesn’t really make much sense. Also if your partner holds the camera while you stay in front of it to model and take your stock video how do you do the release form for that? Do you have to give permission to your partner to use the footage but then the stock footage account is not hers. How does it work? You can only be in front of the camera as a model if it’s on a tripod ONLY? Obviously talking about blackbox policies..

[@boycefitzgerald]

All good questions. I’ll do another video about keywording and titles. I did one a few years ago, but I do things slightly differently now. For releases, I use a smartphone app called “Easy Release.” Blackbox does accept it and it is easier to fill out and sign on a smartphone. When I film myself, I sign as both the videographer and the model. It is 100% legal and not uncommon. Then, I just need a witness for my signatures. Thanks for watching and for your good questions. I can do a video about the keywords and releases.