I had two great experiences that I want to share.  They unlocked the door to getting the kind of budgets you need to do a professional project.

I was pitching a video about a top secret helicopter.  There were a number of companies represented around the table because they were each kicking in a part of the budget.

I finished my presentation and told them the budget figure to accomplish the video I had just described.  The video was going to be a “double-wide”, 4 x 3 video projected on a widescreen video wall.  What that meant is that we were going to shoot it in cinemascope (anamorphic) 35mm film and then chop the image in half in telecine so that we’d have a LEFT show and a RIGHT show, each on their own 4 by 3 videotapes.  When the videotapes played back in sync at the convention video wall, it would leave the impression to the viewer that we’d somehow shot cinemascope video.  The video wall would be like watching two huge video screens next to each other.

The point is that it was a complex undertaking and many dollars would go to making it all work seamlessly.

So, the questions started coming from the company reps.  I fielded most of them and finally one came that set off a fight among the company reps.  One man slammed his fist down on the table and said, “Goddammit, we’re gonna fund this project and let this young man get to work on it right now.”

Now that’s a good closing line but one that I wasn’t in the position to use.  Here’s what had happened.  These company reps had been at this for weeks…arguing about the color of the bunting, or the number of chairs to be at the booth, the depth of the carpet and I’d unknowingly walked into the middle of an ongoing fight.  So when I got in trouble on the budget figure one of the reps championed my cause for me.  They voted to go ahead and off I went.

The second time was a similar thing.  I was supposed to meet with the president of the company but he was delayed, so I met with the operations manager.  I hit it off with him.  He was a video guy and had shot many videos himself, although in an amateur class, which he readily admitted.  But here was his chance to work with a professional production team from Hollywood (although our offices are in Burbank, we’re close enough).

So we went through the budget and the big item was the air to air budget. It was almost half as much as the rest of the entire budget.  But the GM knew the intricacies of air to air video shooting and knew that we wanted a gyro-stabilized platform if we were going to do this right.  So, he was closed.   We broke for the day and I went back to the hotel to await the president’s arrival the following day.

I went into the meeting a little on edge because the president was a bean counter and I knew he’d try to slash the air to air budget and basically chop out the vital part of the show.

Anyway, I took a deep breath as I ended my presentation.  To hedge my bets I said we could probably find some places to cut if the air to air budget seemed too steep.  But the president cut me off.  He said he’d already talked to his people about it and he wanted to go first class and get the best air to air shots we could give him.  So everything was approved before I even had to make my pitch.

What had happened in both cases?

I had unknowingly found allies that would fight the budget battles for me.  This made it immeasurably easy to get the kind of money I needed to blow their socks off.  I just hate to do a cheap video.  It impresses no one.  It shortens my career because new clients think all I do is crap so why call me.  I don’t want to show it to anybody. AND, most importantly, it doesn’t DO THE JOB for the client.  So they’ll never hire me again.  I can’t see a single reason to do a cheap video.  It’s like agreeing to take cyanide.  It’s too hard to find a client to let cheap budgets poison the relationship.

So find an ally whose as passionate as you are about doing a great video and sell him and then sit back and let them fight for the budget you need.  Don’t have an ally available? Better read this blog post on how to sell the value of video to your clients.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/3#sthash.icERYS6E.dpuf

You can’t deny that the Master Painters knew lighting.  Our boot camp filmmakers told us learning better lighting was their #1 concern.

So when we saw Bill Bennett, ASC had traveled to Rembrandt’s studio in Holland and shot his “lighting setup”. article we thought we’d light like the master himself.  (see the complete article in Film & Digital Times – Sept 2012 issue.)

We blocked off the north-facing windows where we teach our Boot Camps for Canon DSLRs. And we draped a white cloth overhead to approximate Rembrandt’s sketch.

Rather than filming a crusty old Rembrandt Van Wyck look-alike, we decided to film our actress, Rachel, who we would costume to resemble ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring’, Vermeer’s famous painting.  Just seeing her in Rembrandt’s north light with the sheet overhead was breathtaking.

Once in costume, Rachel, brought ‘The Girl’ to life.

Notice the light in the eyes.  We hope Rembrandt and Vermeer are smiling on us. Then we wondered if we could duplicate Rembrandt’s north light setup with a couple of Alzo’s PAN-L lite Quads.  Not that other fixtures couldn’t have done it but Drew had asked us to try some of their lights and this was a perfect opportunity.

We pulled the honeycomb grids out of two QUAD Pan-L lites and installed all 5600 K bulbs, and dropped the Alzo’s diffusing material over them.

Here’s the two lighting setups side by side.  We haven’t retouched them at all.

We wanted the Pan-L lite to be as wide as Rembrandt’s window so we put up two,  but I think we got a little more “wrap” with two Alzo’s side by side.  Our mistake.

This is just how the Canon 5D Mark III saw Rachel (EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS II USM @ 1250 ISO).

CLICK HERE to see a behind the scenes video of the boot camp’s lighting setup.

______________________

As our digital filmmakers indicated, learning how to light is the key to great digital cinematography.  We have two workshops at the Palm Springs Photo Festival at the end of April.  Here’s a link to some of the lighting setups we filmed last year with the Canon 5D Mk II and the Canon 5D Mk III. (below - a scene from ‘Escape’, shot at the Palm Springs Photo Festival workshop.)

Shameless Plug – The PSPF is a delightful confluence of creative filmmakers and photographers in the Spring each year.  We’d highly recommend it if you want to get your creative juices flowing again.

Workshops will be held at the following two locations:

• the Palm Springs Photo Festival 

          (Basic DSLR Workshop April 29 & 30 and Advanced DSLR Workshop May 1 & 2, 2013)

• The Association’s studio next to Warner Brothers in Burbank on May 25th and 26th,.

Please sign up now as attendance is limited so each filmmaker can receive individual attention and enjoy the full benefit of the experience.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/3#sthash.icERYS6E.dpuf

Too many times filmmakers get in a rut with their lighting.

So we decided to break out.  We did some lighting setups that really showed off the power and versatility of the Canon HDSLRs’ sensors.

In February, we held a Canon Boot Camp and later a HDSLR Lighting Workshop.  In both,  we experimented with more “filmic” lighting set ups.  We basically emulated the “Masters”, both with an artist’s brush and with a camera.

 (The shots below were all done with the Canon 5D MkIII and the magical 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM lens….the glass that captures modern filmmakers’  light paintings.)

We emulated Vermeer’s ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring’.

(below) We changed the background…the rim, the fill…a china ball on camera left.    Alzo’s Pan-L Lite supplying the soft moonlight.

(above) We changed the color temperature to a warm romantic dinner. We bounced an MR16 desk lamp off a white disk below the actress’ face to give a pool of light to reflect in the eyes.

(below) “Rachel 2013′ (w/o Vermeer’s model’s clothing)

(below) And now for something completely different,  Rachel in a “morning” lighting set up.

So, five lighting set-ups that really showed off the power of the Canon 5D Mark III’s sensor’s ability to capture the magic of light.

Our filmmakers were happy to get out of the rut and try out some new fixtures.

We’ll be posting more of our filmmakers’ lighting setups.

I can’t tell you how utterly magical the Mk III is with that 70-200.  It takes your breath away.  Thank you, Canon!

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/3#sthash.icERYS6E.dpuf

The Top Ten Tips on How to Squander your Marketing Budget:

(What follows is the wreckage we’ve witnessed from other ad agencies’ failed campaigns over the years.  For example, those wonderful creative spots that you never forget but you can’t remember the product name and never would buy it in a million years. Just because an idea is edgy and creative doesn’t mean it’ll bring in any return on investment to the client. Some ad agencies just want to win awards.   An effective marketing plan starts with market research data collection…REAL market research where we actually talk to the target audience, not just facts gathered off the internet.)

So here we go. Let’s roll the dice.  The Top Ten Tips on how to squander your marketing budget:

Number 10 - Don’t define your target audience at the beginning of the project.

Number 9 - Don’t define metrics to measure the success of your marketing campaign.

Number 8 - Don’t survey your target audience to find out what they want, how they talk, what moves them, what turns them off i.e. what problem they’re interested in solving that you may have the answer to.

Number 7 - Hire a “cool” ad agency who “knows everything” (but doesn’t actually know your target audience.)

Number 6 - Go with their “cool creative” without testing it on focus group of your target audience.

Number 5 - Let the head of marketing pick the actors to be used instead of test marketing a range of actors.

Number 4 - Make only one commercial.  Don’t test a range of commercials coming from different “personnas*” to see which one moves most of the target audience to do what you want.

Number 3 - Don’t test the top commercial with various demographics.

Number 2 - Hire a production company you can blame if the creative concept fails.

Number 1 - Make a commercial that will win awards to advance your career.

* “persona – A “beingness” for the commercial, i.e. businesslike, or “out-of-the-box”.  For example compare how The Good Hands People sell car insurance versus Geiko or Progressive.  Different personas work with different audiences.

There’s a road to marketing success. While that road isn’t paved with the tips above, we hope they’ll at least be the warning signs to watch out for along the way. Read my counterpart article to find out how to take off the marketing blindfold and blow the top off your marketing efforts.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/3#sthash.icERYS6E.dpuf

Some would argue that lighting is half the battle in telling a story with film. Really, we are telling story with light. So a technical knowledge of how to set up a camera is important, but it’s not the end all – it’s what you need to know after the shot has been properly lit.

Accordingly, we had many requests for a lighting class to go along with the Canon DSLR 5D classes we started several years ago. Having set the bar pretty high on the DSLR filmmaker training, the Chief Instructor, Fletch Murray, was determined to create a one-of-a-kind lighting workshop that met or exceeded the level of training we provided at the Canon Boot Camp. Many hours and late nights went into developing the course outline and related materials. In his mind, it’s not enough to just TELL students what to do – they need to actually do it hands-on, one step at a time, during the class. 100% proficiency was the goal.

History was made on 2 March 2013 when our first Lighting Workshop was held at our HQ in Burbank, CA. To get a copy of the Lighting Workshop Agenda, visit and “Like” our Facebook Page and simply download the PDF file. Just warning you – it’s two packed pages of hot lighting action.

Instead of going on and on about how great the workshop is, wouldn’t you like to hear from the students themselves? After each class ends, we ask the students to take a moment and give us feedback on various part of the class. So here’s a couple snapshots of the actual surveys two students filled out, so you can have it right from the horse’s mouth.

“Exceeded expectations” is the usual result at our Canon Boot Camps and we have successfully carried the same results over to our lighting workshops. The next lighting workshop is May 25 & 26. At the time of this writing, no other Lighting Workshops have been scheduled, so don’t wait, sign up for the May workshop before it fills up. Got questions? Call us at 818-841-9660 and we’ll be happy to talk to you.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/4#sthash.FEZaGm4n.dpuf

Heidi Marie is a still photographer who desired to add film to her portfolio of abilities. So she came to The Association’s Canon DSLR 5D Boot Camp to learn the video portion of her Canon. Here’s what she had to say after the 2 day workshop was complete and she’d received her Canon certification from us.

Heidi Marie – “Know the camera backwards and forwards.” from The Association/Canon Boot Camp on Vimeo.

I came to the boot camp because I was pretty comfortable with my camera as a still camera, but I didn’t know how to translate it into filming. So I wanted to learn how to use what I knew to make movies. I feel really comfortable with it now. I went home and bragged to all my friends after the first day, and the second day of actually filming, I feel much more secure in promoting myself as a DP.

I would definitely recommend it to anybody. It starts at, like, nothing, assuming you know not even what a camera is, and by the end you know the camera backwards and forwards. So there’s no required skill level. Which I thought was impressive! But if you have some skill, it adds on to it. So it kinda suits all different levels. I would recommend it to anybody who is interested in using a canon.

Need a Los Angeles based still photographer or digital filmmaker as part of your effective marketing plan? Heidi’s local to Los Angeles and may be reached through her website. She’s spunky, full of energy and enthusiastic about everything, and will help bring life to your photographic or video project.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/4#sthash.FEZaGm4n.dpuf

There’s nothing like the personal touch when it comes to expanding your network. As much as social media is great for increasing the size of your network, if you still haven’t met people in person, they usually remain a stranger.

Just like any other business, culture or group, there’s no replacement for meeting people face to face. Got food? Even better. Liquor can help “improve” conversational skills;  I don’t drink alcohol so I have to rely on my own skills! But you probably know all this already, so what am I sharing today? Meetup.com. The networking social site that helps just about anyone meet who they are looking for, in person.

If you can’t find a group of people already engaged in a specific interest, activity or business, Meetup.com can help you start your own group. Other folks interested in your activity can locate your group on the site, request to join, and then join you in person at various venues. And since everyone on the site is networking, everyone’s already on the same page about getting together.

Here’s an example of how to use Meetup.com to make valuable connections for your business.

The Association has DSLR filmmaker training (think digital filmmaking) every month called the Canon Boot Camp. Now, most of our students already find us online, because we have very good visibility from our blog. I’ve already covered how we achieved such high visibility online through blogging in another blog post, so I won’t retell that story here. Like many other companies, we’ve found that traditional marketing with print and newspaper ads is not effective anymore. So that leaves in-person networking as an alternative to online marketing.

But where to find groups of people in LA that are interested in digital filmmaking? LA411 is not the answer for networking purposes. And if I find filmmakers, how will I connect with them in a meaningful way? Is there a way I can provide value to them first? And how can our first encounter be as non-threatening (not a sales pitch) as possible? Meetup.com has made all of this possible. I was already a member, but if you’re not a member yet, you’ll have to create a profile for yourself first.

After selecting a number of film and DSLR related interests (or whatever you are looking for – suggestions will be offered), Meetup.com will suggest some groups to join. When you find some groups you like, hit the Join button and follow the instructions. More often than not, you will be asked to complete a profile for each group you join. Take the time to answer the questions so that other people will know something about you. The little bit of information you supply can help facilitate the first conversation. Each group has one or more Organizers who run the actual events and maintain the group’s page. The Organizer may or may not need to approve your request.

Once you are part of the group, you have some opportunities to provide value and make a good first impression. The most basic way to participate as a valuable member of any group is to RSVP and actually show up! This helps the organizers plan appropriately, obviously. And you don’t want to be that one guy or girl that always says, “Yes” but never arrives!

Another way to provide value to a Meetup group is to offer a Sponsorships or Perks. Sponsors are able to provide a specific group with something of value to their members, such as discounts, a place to meet or supplies of some kind. Perks are much the same, but are offered to a number of groups through Meetup.com as a more general offer. For example, I offered a $50 discount off of our Canon Boot Camp for members of the Los Angeles Filmmakers Network. The Organizer approved my offer, and even posted it on their Facebook Page. Literally a few minutes later, I was contacted by a member of the LAFN asking about the class. It can be that fast.

Once you are a member of a group, you can contact other members directly and start a conversation by email. This can be useful to set up an in-person conversation at the next Meetup, if you locate someone that appears to be a good connection for your business. However, avoid starting with a sales pitch or spam as members may report you and you could be kicked out of the group, defeating the purpose of networking.

Is there another networking group or site you’ve had success using? Tell us about it in the comments box below, we’d love to hear your suggestions or tips.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/4#sthash.FEZaGm4n.dpuf

Reaching more customers and generating sales are two of the most important parts of an effective marketing plan a business owner needs to accomplish. And fast.

Increasing taxes, cost of living and a generally competitive climate make a challenging environment for any business to grow. Fortunately, we have the World Wide Web. Never before have so many had such massive potential reach to every corner of the globe. I’ve heard there are places in 3rd world countries that have no running water – but they DO have access to the Internet. Even so, for many who are in business for themselves, the cost of designing or programming a branded presence online leaves them stuck with the usual templates and “basic” options.

But not anymore.

Customize your Facebook Page Presence – Without Coding

Before I explain, let me make clear that the single most important web presence you can establish, for the long haul, is a blog. But that doesn’t mean social networks should be ignored. Facebook and other online social networks can be quite powerful. And if you are just getting started in business with limited capital, social networks can be VERY helpful in getting the word out at extremely low cost. But a Facebook presence alone is just a third of the battle. With smart phone madly increasing, having a mobile presence is also important. And what about having a website? Often fledgling businesses are missing all three online tools.

Getting a professional looking Facebook Page, mobile site and website can be expensive to program. Well, it used to be expensive. Then Heyo came to be.

Heyo is an amazing online service. It allows you to “drag and drop” a professional looking Facebook Tab Pages together without any coding. Everything you need to create custom Tabs on Facebook is neatly presented in Heyo, and easy to use. I’ve been using it for some months, and I can verify it is truly a Do It Yourself (DIY) service – because I am not a programmer or coder myself. If I can use it, so can you.

No coding means you save time and money implementing your enterprise social media campaign yourself. Or at least implementing it in house.

For example, The Association produces the Canon Boot Camp, effective training for digital filmmakers. In 2012, we held a Premiere event showcasing 8 short films produced by Canon Boot Camp students. All the films are amazing, so of course I wanted to showcase them on our Facebook Page by creating a new Tab. If I didn’t have Heyo, I wouldn’t have been able to create the Tab without it either looking ugly our waiting for our Webmaster.. But I did have Heyo. So in a couple of hours, I had dragged 9 videos into place on a new Tab, added some text and social buttons and I was done. Click the photo below to check out the Tab:

Reaching More Customers with Facebook

If you already have a website you’ve spent time designing and coding, Heyo allows you to drop already existing webpages right into Facebook Page Tabs in about 3 seconds. No coding required.

If you’d like to run a contest, Heyo already has a contest page template designed. Just drop it in to the Tab. Provide a place for people to sign up for your newsletter while you’re at it!

Are you a Realtor? Heyo has several templates for showcasing properties. Want to add a Facebook Share button? Go ahead. It’ll take you about 30 seconds. Put the button wherever you like! Heyo truly is a Do It Yourself solution that pretty much anyone could learn to use quickly and easily. There are several templates already in place for restaurants, Realtors and retail outfits.

Once you’re done building out your Facebook Page, Heyo allows you to turn your Facebook Page into a mobile application and a website in minutes. But don’t take my word for it. Take Heyo for spin yourself with their free trial. Give your Facebook Page a DIY facelift today!

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/4#sthash.FEZaGm4n.dpuf

Lawrence is a graduate of the Canon Boot Camp and has helped us pull off several boot camps as well. But that’s the tame description. In the real world, Lawrence falls (literally, sometimes) into the category of “high risk” shooters, creating and filming stunts and other adventerous moments in time for his clients.

On top of showcasing his new reel (see video below), we asked Lawrence for his experience and advice for others considering his line of work and how his training at the Canon Boot Camp helped him:

More often than not it’s about the basics. Yes, these shots can be quite difficult and risky but it was the fundamentals of training my eyes. There is no room for error as things are happening so fast that the very thing you are shooting actually “seems” to become secondary, if you can believe it.

Mind you everything has been planned. In fact, my shoots seem more like a Bank heist than a shoot itself as timing and somewhat rhythm are key.

Reel – Lawrence Ribeiro from Destination Unknown on Vimeo.

One thing that my mentor preached to me, repeatedly, was training my eye to be discriminate. The tool? A toilet paper roll. Yes, I did say that. You see, at any given time there are thousands upon thousands of objects of interest in view, but you only need a couple or so. And when things are going so fast, you need be precise in your actions. How you frame and compose a shot has to be discovered by following the greats and sometimes looking at Art/Photographs, as opposed to advertising, can be a great vehicle for such.

Once you have keen sense and [training] you will start developing your own style.
The Canon DSLR is a great tool for images, but your eyes need to be trained. Bang for your buck…this is still the ticket. For the really fast stuff, the DSLR can be limiting. However, if you move at the same or similar speed as the object than that can be accomplished with the Canon DSLR.

Lastly, practice is needed. I know veterans that have been shooting for over 40 years…they still practice and so do I.

Be the best that you can be…

Lawrence Ribeiro
Freelancer
https://vimeo.com/58590233
Manhattan Beach, CA
Great words of advice for any filmmaker. Thanks, Lawrence, and we look forward to viewing your future work.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/4#sthash.FEZaGm4n.dpuf

I hate long, verbose articles. Why can’t they just say what they promised to reveal?

So, I’ll cut to the chase. (By the way, I’ll explain the Vampire picture at the bottom of the article.)

THE SIMPLEST SECRET

The simplest secret of marketing is that you (your company or service or product) has to be what the target audience wants.

Skillful marketeers know what the target audience wants. Once that’s known (with really good survey research, not the blah blah you get in the canned marketing surveys) the marketers move to the real challenge, i.e.  how can we make your company or service or product look like what the target audience wants.

A TRUE STORY

We agreed to do a marketing campaign for an attorney who wanted to help people being abused by debt collectors.  A noble cause.  So we were aboard. But when we did our market research (actually calling people being abused by debt collectors) we found out they didn’t trust attorneys.  (Apparently some congressmen must have had some one of their friends or family abused by debt collectors because they passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act which gave  $3,500 automatically if they had evidence they were being abused by debt collectors.

So, we asked the people being abused by debt colletors a question (I’ll get to how we found them later on), “If you had a case that proved you were being abused by debt collectors, would you want an attorney to take the case and get you your automatic payment?”

Their answer?

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t trust attorneys.”

Another said, “They make you sign something you don’t understand and you end up owing them money.”

So this was a problem.  How could we get them to sign up??

We did a second round of calls.  Our question was, “Would you trust a Consumer Advocate Group to take your case?”

The answer?

A resounding “YES!”

So, we talked our client into changing the banner on the website pages we were building for him to say “Consumer Advocate” instead of “Attorney at Law.”  Now he was a trustworthy fellow. Now they would call him.

What happened?

We changed the target audience’s perception of who this man was.  He’s the same attorney.  They embrace his help because he’s what they want.

HOW WE GOT PEOPLE WHO NEVER PICK UP THE PHONE TO TALK TO US

You may be wondering how we figured out how to reach people who were being abused by debt collectors.  These are people who sit in their homes ignoring all phone calls coming to them because it might be a debt collector.  So how did we get them to talk to us?

Well, we designed the perfect bait to attract them.  Any ideas what we did?  Send your bright idea in.  Next Thursday, we’ll tell how we did it.

WHY THE VAMPIRE PICTURE?

You tell me.  Email in your best guess why I put the vampire picture in this article.  We’ll reveal that in next week’s blog.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/4#sthash.FEZaGm4n.dpuf