http://www.lastcut.com/news News regarding the business of video production, including corporate, wedding, viral video, and events Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:41:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://www.lastcut.com/news/2009/07/2013-video-will-be-90-of-web-traffic/ http://www.lastcut.com/news/2009/07/2013-video-will-be-90-of-web-traffic/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:05:37 +0000 tbanucci http://www.lastcut.com/news/?p=104

How’s this for your marketing outlook? I’ve been sitting on this article for a month or so, but wanted to post it for a while. Cisco released a forecast of IP traffic saying that video will be 90% of all web traffic come the year 2013. That’s something I can take a bite into!

View the entire article here.

2 Exabytes a month in 2013 will be web video traffic…. that’s a lot of bytes! 2 Million terabytes to be exact!

Now have you managed to let video become part of your marketing strategy? Maybe this news will give you the motivation you need!]]> http://www.lastcut.com/news/2009/07/2013-video-will-be-90-of-web-traffic/feed/ 0 http://www.lastcut.com/news/2009/07/graphic-effects/ http://www.lastcut.com/news/2009/07/graphic-effects/#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:41:59 +0000 tbanucci http://www.lastcut.com/news/?p=99

I’m a big proponent of new features to shows and innovation, however, sometimes, I just can’t wrap my head around the usefulness of some ideas. For example, the 10 yard line innovation in football- amazing and useful for the football fan. Even more so, the way it operates is incredible.

The glowing hockey puck…. well… I didn’t hate it, but it kind of made hockey look too much like a video game. With HD, it’s now essentially useless because the puck is really much easier to see on the screen as compared to when SD video was what we were watching.

Now comes the latest, the ESPN ball tracker, which was introduced during the home run contest tonight. I’m still thinking about why someone would even come up with this idea, store it in the “what were they thinking” folder. If you did not see the homerun contest, there is basically a yellow streak that follows the ball (this is all in real-time). When it is determined that the ball will go out for a home run, the streak turns green.

I’m flabbergasted. We can’t wait an extra 1.5 seconds to see if the ball is a homerun or not? Add to the fact that half the time, this incredible technology was not working or being used. If you intend to use something, then use it!

Sometimes technology can really help us out. This is one of those times when the money that went into this should have been put into something better, like giving Adriana Monsalve overtime pay for more SportsCenter appearances.
]]> http://www.lastcut.com/news/2009/07/graphic-effects/feed/ 0 http://www.lastcut.com/news/2009/07/at-what-cost/ http://www.lastcut.com/news/2009/07/at-what-cost/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:52:21 +0000 tbanucci http://www.lastcut.com/news/?p=57

Apologies for the lack of posts to this blog, I have been short handed here at the office and have been running around creating videos and making clients happy!  Things have settled down here and I have decided to re-engage my marketing, which includes this blog.

In one marketing segment, I often look at new job posts on eLance.com,DoNanza, and even Craig’s List! I never get anything from these sites, as these are the people usually looking for something incredibly cheap and unrealistic. I’m curious just how many videographers spend their time on these types of jobs, because if they did, they would be out of business pretty quickly.

Why do I waste my time? Well, every now and then something interesting actually does pop up. For example, recently a poker site posted a job looking for someone to record vlogs (video blogs) to their website while following their players at the WSOP (World Series of Poker) in Las Vegas. Being a poker aficionado myself, this was a dream contract that actually paid well for doing 3 weeks of work in Vegas. Who would turn that down? So I submitted a proposal, only to be shot down (most likely to the cheaper guy).

One recent job that I noticed made me fall down laughing. A man was requesting for someone to create a set of 3 half-hour erotic massage videos for under $500. In these videos, a male masseuse needed to make a female climax using certain techniques that this person had invented. In other words, this was porn. He had no idea how he wanted it shown, but he did want two very good looking people to act in the video…. oh yeah, and you had to hire the “models” using your budget.  All of this to the lowest bidder, under $500!  This just screams money maker for any videographer out there.

If I sound a little annoyed by the expectations of people when it comes to video, you may be right. It’s the age-old problem in this profession where a new up-and-comer will lowball their prices to get work, not realizing the impact it has on the industry. The sad reality is that those people last about a year and then go out of business. That is the point when they realize that not only do they have to pay for new equipment every few years like computers and cameras, but they have to pay for rent, insurance, education, marketing, taxes, and other costs of living.

I do a lot of things when it comes to creating video, it doesn’t end with a few hours of filming. I have to make original concepts all of the time, brainstorm how I am going to make a unique video for each of my clients, write scripts, drive to locations, film, direct, transcode video to computer format, come up with an editing style, search for appropriate music, edit the piece (sometimes 50 hours of editing), color correct, audio correct, add titles and graphics, render, encode for another format, and upload. This does not even include making DVDs or the endless unpaid hours of consulting with my clients.

With the advent of YouTube and Internet video, this low expectation of creating quality content for minimal pay is just going to get worse. This is why I sit on the board of an organization trying to promote professional video. The Bay Area Professional Videographers Association (BAPVA) is dedicated to educating both videographers AND the public about what makes a quality production. In the past few months, I have been live streaming our meetings for free in hopes of gaining new members, and to show the general public all of the behind the scenes aspects of videography. Granted, these are not the most professional productions, but they are FREE (You get what you pay for, the idea behind this article)!

I’d like to sum up this post by encouraging you to think of how long it will take to create your production, and what is going to go into producing it. Think realistically about how you can control costs if that is what you need. Most importantly, think about how a professionally produced video will add to your marketing, rather than a cheap clip created by an inexperienced rookie to the video field.


]]> http://www.lastcut.com/news/2009/07/at-what-cost/feed/ 0 http://www.lastcut.com/news/2008/11/video-to-communicate/ http://www.lastcut.com/news/2008/11/video-to-communicate/#comments Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:08:09 +0000 tbanucci http://www.lastcut.com/news/?p=31

Today, it was announced that President-Elect Barack Obama would be using YouTube for weekly addresses to the American public. Here is the story from the Mercury News.

This is, in my mind, a terrific form of communication evolution, and something I have been promoting for years with my business within the corporate video sector. In fact, we have been producing quarterly corporate video updates for some businesses as far back as 1996, before we were even officially in business! Here is a sample of an ATMI quarterly report from a few years ago that was used to keep the employees of the company abreast of business operations (this is a 20 minute video, you will probably just want to skip around in it).

Click on the picture to play the video:

When you are trying to keep thousands of employees in many countries up to date on the operations of the company, then video is an excellent medium to spread the word in a convenient form.

What bigger company do we have than the United States of America? Which is why I applaud Obama for making the move to weekly updates of public addresses, and other pieces which he plans to include, such as policy talk with head administration officials. This will bring the discussion of politics and life to a larger forefront in our society, and will hopefully even enlighten a few people on multiple sides of a political argument.

These types of videos are not only convenient for large countries and large companies, but for small businesses, niche stores, even families who want to send vlog posts to each other. Think about it, instead of wasting a bunch of paper this year on your holiday cards, how about a message via video to update friends about your family and send holiday wishes? Inexpensive, green, and creative!

If you would like us to produce a professional message for yourself or your business, contact us today!

]]> http://www.lastcut.com/news/2008/11/video-to-communicate/feed/ 0 http://www.lastcut.com/news/2008/10/welcome-to-the-blog/ http://www.lastcut.com/news/2008/10/welcome-to-the-blog/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:20:11 +0000 admin http://www.lastcut.com/news/?p=6


Blog, news, whatever you want to call it, it’s here, and it’s new.  I’ve wanted this blog for 5 years now, but because of other excuses, have never implemented it…. my bad!

But now you can be sure to find the latest ramblings of a weary videomaker right here, through an RSS feed or through our newsletter.  I plan to post our latest projects, as well as marketing information that you can use for your businesses, as well as wedding observations.  What a combination!

You can also check out our real estate only blog at LastCutHomes.com]]> http://www.lastcut.com/news/2008/10/welcome-to-the-blog/feed/ 0 http://www.lastcut.com/news/2008/10/new-website-up/ http://www.lastcut.com/news/2008/10/new-website-up/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:13:08 +0000 admin http://www.lastcut.com/news/?p=3

Wow, I’ve been waiting over 3 years to finish our new website and I finally have it up!  Holy cow….

Take in that fresh new look, admire the re-invention of our marketing, drool at those terrific video samples, all in H.264 format (crisp and clean)!

Now what am I supposed to do with myself now that I finished my website?  I guess I could finally get back to editing.  Naw…. let’s start on the next website revision!]]> http://www.lastcut.com/news/2008/10/new-website-up/feed/ 0