Post Magazine

40 Post • May 2009 www.postmagazine.com people tr ying to make the transition from another medium — like those who have lost work in the print world — to motion graphics, visual effects and editing. "The print people know Photoshop and Illustrator, but because of the way that advertising and the Web is going, they need to learn Flash, After Effects, Motion, some kind of digital com- positing package to get them started." He says one trend is event videogra- phers, guys doing weddings, are tr ying to break into the pro world and bidding on packages. "They have always been trying to get into corporate jobs but now they are looking to learn about working on the high end. You have people who are using Red, XDCAM and P2 workflows and they are coming from shooting DV. It's a totally new world for them and they are jumping on workflows they don't understand. And they are finding it pretty hard.You can't just jump into those higher-end workflows, so people are looking for resources to learn these higher-end workflows." But with these lower-end guys tr ying to break into an already crowded pro market, something has got to give. "It kind of sucks because when you have somebody with a lesser budget they are going to go with [an ar tist] who fits their budget, not the best person for the job. It's unfortunate." Geduldick says because of the economy and the flooding of the market with ar tists, these days require negotiating your rate. "Personally, I've had to take less than my rate on some jobs just to keep going some- times. Just because you have to sometimes negotiate your rate doesn't make you any less of an ar tist for doing so. Your body of work will do the talking for you in the form of your reel." Even though cutting corners due to smaller budgets was happening before the economy took a dive, Geduldick says it's ob- viously become more prevalent this year, but now it's affecting the work produced. And because of the cost cutting, he's seen people who aren't familiar with cer tain as- pects of the job at hand. "There's a lot of quick work coming out, and a lot of people that aren't as experienced with the work- flows. They hope that people in post will be able to salvage it, but that's not always the case. The saying goes, 'Garbage in means garbage out,' even if you have some of the best people working on it." It's not that he hasn't seen projects with good budgets and good shoots with good people knowing exactly what they are doing, but he has also seen his share of others "needing to understand the work- flows or pipelines for the task at hand. When people are not as familiar with the technical side of projects this can lead to some potential barriers down the produc- tion line. Time expectancy becomes a big deal when you have to explain why a par- ticular shot might have to re-render overnight after note changes when dealing with a new producer or client." With budgets dr ying up in one area he suggests that freelancers or studios may need to expand into new mediums. "Learn about social media and how it can help you get your word out on your projects. If you are a DP, learn a new application or go to your local user group meeting, network and if you have time and you have been doing this for a long time, mentor someone or give back to the post/visual effects com- munity in some way." A U D I O A N D T H E C I T Y AES committee member John Kilgore runs Pro Tools-based John Kilgore Sound & Recording (www.johnkilgore.com), providing music, audio and, he says, "in this economy whatever we can get in the door." Kilgore's career began in the late1960s, so he is seen many ups and downs and in- dustr y changes in his time. And while he acknowledges it's tough out there right now "myself and a lot of people I'm talking to are taking a wait-and-see attitude. No one is panicking." But the reality is that some businesses have closed. "Whenever the business model changes, some are going to sur vive and some are not, there is always going to be a shakeout," he explains. "We've seen some companies contract in the city; I don't know if that trend is going to con- John Kilgore Sound & Recording is a Pro Tools- based audio post studio. Kilgore is taking a wait-and-see attitude to the economy. Trends in New York Post continued on page 51 "In a time when our clients have less staff, less time and less money, we decided to counteract that by giving them more. By merging the talents of Guava and Nice Shoes, we've created a more powerful entity capable of solving even the most complex creative enigmas. Our flexibility to bundle ser- vices is a welcomed result of the merger that will help us meet our clients' budgetary needs." Mike Donovan, managing director, Nice Shoes, New York

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