Guardian re-writes
When the Guardian pasted up the pages for the tutorial I’ve done for them, they discovered they could fit in another 300 words. They asked me to stretch the introduction which I did today. I’ve also got an email today from another publication I’ve never written for – Computer Music – again it’s future publishing, and they’ve got my name from one of the other mags in the stable.
more re-working is needed for the anatomy poster too - not quite sure what's happening with that.
Documentary feature
Digital Video want quite a long feature for the next issue on documentary filmmaking - this is something we've had on the cards for quite a while so I've known for a while what I was going to write. I managed to do a rough outline and much of the text on my journey to Manchester on Friday - this means I'm a little way ahead.
Lucky really because I've also got to fit writing their helpdesk into this week somewhere!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Not working
Not working
George going into hospital has meant I’ve had to tell Imagine FX and Digital Video that my deadlines are going to be delayed. I don’t like doing this – even though they’re all very understanding. Still, I should be back on track by the middle of next week.
George going into hospital has meant I’ve had to tell Imagine FX and Digital Video that my deadlines are going to be delayed. I don’t like doing this – even though they’re all very understanding. Still, I should be back on track by the middle of next week.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
the solar system to scale
Poster
Re worked the anatomy poster again. They wanted it a little more traditional, so I’ve used a hand drawn filter and a paper texture to give it a softer edge. I actually prefer the first version, but it’s not what the client is after, so hopefully this will be more to their taste.
I’ve also rendered out brief clips from my celebrity shooting session at the premiere of the golden compass and put them up on http://www.footage.shutterstock.com/
Hopefully they’ll make a little cash – I’ve got high hopes for Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant and Daniel Craig… not so much for Trinny and the X factor crew!
Solar system
I’ve also been doing a couple of requests for science photo library. Planets and their scale compared to one another. These shots are mainly aimed at textbooks, so they’re informative rather than arty. You have to reign in your desire to make things strikingly unusual when doing stock – you want to create images that will be interesting, but still fit in with whatever style the buyer wants.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Recession in the USA
Recession in the USA – am I bothered?
It seems everyone in the US is predicting a recession. The UK usually follows the US in this kind of thing, but what does it mean for me as a freelancer?
Well, initially, there’s the weak dollar. This is good and bad. When I sell pictures or video clips in the US, which I do on alamy, Science photo and shutterstock as well as a few other sites, the weak dollar means I get a pitifully small amount of cash. 2 dollars to the pound means I get roughly half of what I’d have got a few years ago.
On the other hand, increasingly the Internet means I can buy goods and services from the states – I can get someone to do a video interview for me, or buy in stock video or photos really cheaply. I can even order computer equipment from the states and get a really good deal.
The other issue is the recession itself. If there’s a UK recession, then how will I be affected as a freelance? Well, you’d think it would be a pretty bad story. It’s easy to get rid of freelancers.
However, in the magazine arena, there are two types of mag- those that depend on sales (so tend to go for anything that will sell more copies) and those that depend on advertising (so tend to go for anything that will increase their standing and reputation for quality).
I tend to work mostly for the 2nd group, which means it matters less if people can’t afford to buy a magazine every month. These ‘prestige’ mags aren’t likely to go under in a recession and any cut-backs will tend to be in in-house staffing, so there’s likely to be more work for me if anything.
In terms of TV documentaries, which I’m branching out into, there will still be the same number of TV channels and although advertising revenue may decrease, this will only lead to more use of bought in programmes like mine.
Illustration may be hardest hit as people prefer to rely on stock pictures rather than specially commissioned work, but then I supply the stock libraries so…
Science photo library
Got my notification of the last 3 months’ sales on Science Photo Library on Friday - £3,000 in royalties should be on its way. I really must do some more pictures for that library. They’re very successful and expanding my range of science pictures is always a good idea.
It seems everyone in the US is predicting a recession. The UK usually follows the US in this kind of thing, but what does it mean for me as a freelancer?
Well, initially, there’s the weak dollar. This is good and bad. When I sell pictures or video clips in the US, which I do on alamy, Science photo and shutterstock as well as a few other sites, the weak dollar means I get a pitifully small amount of cash. 2 dollars to the pound means I get roughly half of what I’d have got a few years ago.
On the other hand, increasingly the Internet means I can buy goods and services from the states – I can get someone to do a video interview for me, or buy in stock video or photos really cheaply. I can even order computer equipment from the states and get a really good deal.
The other issue is the recession itself. If there’s a UK recession, then how will I be affected as a freelance? Well, you’d think it would be a pretty bad story. It’s easy to get rid of freelancers.
However, in the magazine arena, there are two types of mag- those that depend on sales (so tend to go for anything that will sell more copies) and those that depend on advertising (so tend to go for anything that will increase their standing and reputation for quality).
I tend to work mostly for the 2nd group, which means it matters less if people can’t afford to buy a magazine every month. These ‘prestige’ mags aren’t likely to go under in a recession and any cut-backs will tend to be in in-house staffing, so there’s likely to be more work for me if anything.
In terms of TV documentaries, which I’m branching out into, there will still be the same number of TV channels and although advertising revenue may decrease, this will only lead to more use of bought in programmes like mine.
Illustration may be hardest hit as people prefer to rely on stock pictures rather than specially commissioned work, but then I supply the stock libraries so…
Science photo library
Got my notification of the last 3 months’ sales on Science Photo Library on Friday - £3,000 in royalties should be on its way. I really must do some more pictures for that library. They’re very successful and expanding my range of science pictures is always a good idea.
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