It occurred to me last night that what I was talking about the other day was ROI—Return On Investment. Except that I’m not looking for monetary return, but a body of creative work to share and distribute. I don’t know why that term has never come up inside my head in all the years I’ve been using the same method of evaluating purchases. It’s not like I didn’t know it either.
Have a drawing of a unicorn.
I’ve long contended that for each dollar I spend on a particular piece of photographic equipment I must take at least one photograph with it. So, if I spend 1800 dollars on a Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS zoom lens, then I’d better well take 1800 photos with it. (note: I have. More than that, in fact.) It’s simple math, easily managed, and, most of all, it makes sense. I’ve written about it on here somewhere else before, I think, but I can’t find the post so you’ll have to just trust me. It has worked quite well for me as a guideline while informing new purchases and once I’ve purchased an item. Am I going to use x piece of equipment to take y number of photos or is it something I can live without? Now that I’ve purchased item z, I’d better throw it in my bag because there’s no way I’ve taken n photos with it yet. It has protected me from frivolous purchases in the past and made me think about using the tools I already have. It’s a good system. I recommend it to any photographers out there.
But photography is not my only artistic endeavor. I am also a writer (as you well know), a professional in the moving image field, and I dabble in songcraft. It occurred to me while I was walking to the Apple Store to purchase a laptop backpack—the current messenger style bag I use hurts my fucking back—that I don’t have a useful metric for justifying those purchases. No, “justify” is the wrong word. It makes it sound like I’m making an excuse for the purchase; I’m not. I don’t have a useful metric to ensure that I get my money’s worth out of an item. What sort of production quotas make sense to meet to make the expenditure, and thereby the time I’ve spent working to make that money, a fair trade? With the photography, it’s easy. I’m constantly producing. Look at my hard drives. They’ll tell you all about it. But that’s not necessarily true of video editing or music creation software. They are tools I use to create things but are not inherently productive in and of themselves. Music production software (Logic) can be used to make something from scratch. Editorial or VFX software is even more difficult because they are often just PARTS of the chain of production. Making beautiful photographs and making beautiful films are both difficult things, but photography is a much more solitary craft than filmmaking. A craftsman can make beautiful photographs all by himself, but good luck making a beautiful film all by yourself. It’s all but totally impossible.
But difficulty has nothing to do with it. The difficulty is just a challenge to the creator, a hurdle, a bump in the road.
Therefore, I propose this system to make my purchases of music and video tools feel reasonable. Consider it a challenge to myself to make the time I spend working, earning money to spend on tools, fruitful. To make the late nights and weekends at the office work toward making me a self-sufficient creator of things so that I can get myself to a point where all this dicking around IS THE JOB. Imagine that.
Guidelines for expenditures on video tools
For each hundred dollars spent on video tools, I must create at least one minute of finished footage. Dailies do not count. That’s absurd. Finished means that I’ve put time and thought into it. A finished piece is something I would not be embarrassed to show someone. I do not have to provide qualifications for rough bits in finished footage. 1 minute of footage per 100 dollars spent.
Guidelines for expenditures on audio tools
For each hundred dollars spent on audio tools, I must create at least one song or three minutes of mixed audio. Audio demands a higher creative price since I can sit and create without outside help. Audio also has two possible avenues for amortization since using audio software to mix for video is a perfectly valid use. A song is defined similarly to a piece of finished footage, that is, I’ve put thought and effort into it. I would not hesitate to post it here on The Black Laser. I do not need to qualify it in any way.
I think these are pretty useful guidelines, and will definitely help me focus my energies into short term, highly feasible goals. I’ve already mentioned plans to put together music videos, and many people know about the mystery that is Fantasies About Time Travel. I’ve also been thinking about dropping some choice Ghettotech beats under a pseudonym, like DJ Muad’Dib, MC Kwisatz Haderach, or Duncan Idaho. Bonus points for pinpointing how badly I just dorked out there.
So, I’m just sitting here at work on a Sunday night and it occurs to me that, by gum, I would really like to get a new record from The Sword. Really, it’s about damned time. Seriously. Anyway, a quick check of their Myspace page reveals that not only are they currently writing the new record, but IT’S GOING TO BE A CONCEPT ALBUM CENTERED AROUND A SCIENCE FICTION NARRATIVE.
Holy fucking fuck. It’s like that news was made specifically for me.
Here’s the video that sold me on The Sword in the first place.
Long time readers of this site will know that I watch A LOT of music videos. Many more, in fact, than I post here. And no one can say that I don’t post a wide variety of videos. I love the music video as a venue for a band to promote themselves. Yeah, it just one step away from a commercial, but music videos are an excellent playground for people to experiment with imagery and animation and whatever. There is tremendous skill in being able to tell a story in 3 and a half minutes without the benefit of any dialog at all. Conversely, there’s tremendous training to be had in learning to tell a story in 3 and a half minutes sans dialog. No telling now! You must SHOW.
Well, I’ve been thinking about making a bunch of music videos for songs I like (so I don’t get annoyed listening to them a gazillion times in a row) for a while now as an exercise in editorial, vfx, writing, shooting, directing, color correction—you name it. The idea was born when I found out that the 5D Mk II I had pre-ordered supported video, and full 1080 to boot. Pretty exciting. And since I already own a fleet of lenses, I’m almost all the way there in terms of production equipment. All I’d really need is a tripod. But that expense can wait for now.
And since I’m already a proficient video editor, a decent photographer, a music buff, semi-skilled in After Effects, a decent colorist, and in dire need of some reel material, why not throw together a bunch of inexpensive (i.e., FREE) videos for random songs and use those to promote myself? I am FULLY confident in my ability to use the tools at hand to produce not only professional quality, but beautiful work. I have a sweet new computer, time on my hands, and the inclination to do so, so why not, right?
Right. Why not.
Consider this my statement of intent. Over the coming months I will be sharing with my fine readers the progress of these currently nebulous videos. I’m thinking of making at least three with no sort of deadline or guidelines beyond that they are awesome. I’m thinking of doing one metal song and one electro song at least to vary my visual palette a little. I don’t really know what songs I want to do yet, but I’ve got a hazy mental shortlist. The one constant on the shortlist is Genghis Tron. I don’t know why. Probably because they’re fucking awesome.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Want to help? Think I’m amazing? Leave a comment!
Hi everybody! I’m back from the great wild northlands of Minnesota where and tremendous time was had by all. But that is not what this post is about. I have photos and thoughts and anecdotes forthcoming. Now, I am here to let my readership know that I took the previously considered plunge into the deepest pools of computational mystery. I placed the order just before leaving for my trip and everything arrived safely and soundly at Juli’s work the week I was gone. On Monday, I called Herr Jesse Allen up to borrow him (and his car) to help me move the boxes home. It would have been a total shit show otherwise.
The breakdown of the system purchased is as follows, with notes describing any alterations to my plan:
A savvy reader will notice to omissions from this list. The first is the new Final Cut Studio. I decided at this time to hold off at least until Apple releases a round of bug fixes for the brand new software. I do have Final Cut Studio 2 already. The new features are seriously tempting, but tacking an extra grand onto an already serious expenditure was unnecessary. Perhaps when I get toward the end of The Frontiersman’s Wife I will take the plunge since I am particularly excited about the changes regarding the integration of Final Cut and Color.
The second is that I went with the much less expensive Edirol MA-15Ds instead of the Focusrite Pro DSP 24 and a pair or KRK RP5g2s. This was a financial decision also. Initially I didn’t buy any speakers at all, but after using the system for a few days with just headphones, I recognized that this was no way to go about working. I went to B&H today (tied with Adorama for best place in the world) and picked up a pair and an optical cable so I could enjoy direct digital output from my computer. I am not displeased. After getting them about 1 and 1/4 inches off the desk (thanks 2 identical copies of Crime & Punishment!), they sound fantastic—much better than the 179.00 price tag would lead you to believe. There’s something really nice about good stereo separation that makes my ears feel nice. Also, these things will get much louder than I would ever need them too. If zero volume is at 7 o’clock, I currently have them at 8 o’clock with iTunes at 75% and I think it’s a pretty comfortable listening level.
Really, this has been such a tremendously positive new computer experience I’m almost afraid. The only hiccup I experienced was using Migration assistant to move my old data from the laptop to the MacPro. It seemed to transfer fine, but my system was just totally fucked afterwards, so I wiped it clean and started over. One bonus was that I had expected to have problems with the EVGA card since it’s not the card that ships in the tower. EVGA’s tech support had confirmed my fear that if I needed to reinstall the system from scratch that I would need to reinstall the original GT120, install the system, install the EVGA drivers, and then reinstall the GTX285. But, when I tried to install the drivers for the first time, I noticed that it told me that the system was already compatible which I thought was weird, but just went with. And when I wiped the hard drive clean, I was able to install 10.6 without replacing the GTX285. It just worked fine right away. Awesome! I guess I should tell EVGA about that.
Anyway, that’s it for now. More thoughts later as I continue hacking away on this thing. Now it is time for tacos and dailies syncing.
I will be in the wild mists of Minnesota for 8 days. Photos when I get back! FUN!