Posts Tagged ‘YOUTUBE’

My Actor’s Demo For The Internet

June 2nd, 2009

Okay….so I’m working on a new demo for play on the internet. Each clip is kept brief in an effort limit the total file size and to maximize the quality after all the video compression takes place. It’s still a work in progress but here’s where I am today. This version was uploaded to YouTube in HD and pushed their file size limit to the max.

The first ‘reel’ is my final edit…maybe… and one that I’m happy enough with to distribute to casting sites. I’ve always tried to keep demos to 5 minutes or so, knowing that few pepole will sit through more, if that much tape on a actor’s reel. This online version is a trim 1:43.

So, while I’d like to let scenes play longer, I’m trying to reach a ‘happy medium’ of showing enough to get the character played before having to move on to the next clip, and keeping the total reel to a manageable file size. I’ve had to leave off some clips I’d like to use for various reasons….they’re good material, but just way too old, or I couldn’t find a way to put them into the mix and still keep the time and quality combination at an acceptable level for internet distribution

The issue I faced, that everyone faces when trying to put decent looking material on the net is the issue of what settings to use for conversion and rendering of the footage so that you have the best results once YouTube gets through processing your clips. This is where YouTube itself is a big help.

A search on YouTube will result in quite a few video tutorials on how to optimize your video for YouTube. Frankly I haven’t been much of a YouTube user and I’m not up to speed with all the nuances of how to use the service. But I’m learning. If you’re like me and want to take a shot at editing and publishing your own demo, it’s definitely something that can be accomplished. But even if you take your footage to a professional editor, the best choice for most of us, you can use this information to make sure that the person who cuts your demo will give you at least a version of your reel that will play nicely on the net.

Here are the rendering settings I used in Sony Vegas 9 Platinum Pro Pack to get the results above…results with which I, at least, am happy:

File Type: MP4 – Some tutorials suggest saving as WMV, others as MP4. I had the best look with MP4. If you use WMV, try the WMv 9 setting in your software
Frame Size: 1280 x 720
Frame Rate: 29.970(NTSC) – same frame rate the source material was captured in
Field Order: None (Progressive scan)
Pixel Aspec Ratio: 1.0000
Bit Rate (bps): 10,000,000 -This may be adjustable in your software – I used as high a setting as possible and still keep the final rendered file under YouTube’s 1 gig file size limit.
Audio Sample Rate (Hz): 44,100
Audio bit rate (bps): 128,000

Below is a slightly different edit of basically the same material except for a clip from Dancer,TX Pop. 81 which is not in this version:

In case anyone is interested I’m using Vegas Video 9 Platinum Pro edition to edit. Each scene is a DVD rip using DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink and MovAvi Converter in that order. I’m converting the rips to uncompressed .avi files, bringing those files into Vegas Video for the edit. I’m now playing with various rendering schemes in order to get the best quality for YouTube and other online distribution outlets. When I get that done to my satisfaction, I’ll cut a somewhat longer version for DVD distribution to my agent, etc.

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Posted in AFTRA, Acting, Auditions, Austin Actors, Austin Film, Demo Reels, Friday Night Lights, SAG, SAGIndie, Screen Door Jesus, Self Promotion, Texas Actors, Texas film, Tommy G. Kendrick, Video Demos

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BIG PRODUCER$ Monetize YouTube Clip$

July 17th, 2008

While we wait for a resolution of the current contract ‘negotiations’ between SAG and the AMPTP, a few show biz reports give a look under the tent at why SAG is so concerned about issues like clip usage and residuals from new media. As an example, look at the deal announced this week between YouTube and Lionsgate as reported in the trades Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter:

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Rather than fight its fans, Lionsgate has made a deal with YouTube aimed at satisfying — and monetizing — the people who post clips of its films, like “Dirty Dancing,” which receive millions of views.

The studio will make excerpts from several hundred of its film and TV productions available on a branded YouTube channel that will allow users to share, embed, upload and mash up the clips.

Nothing to get excited about. Or is it? What does this move portend for the actors, writers, directors whose work is featured in these clips?

…”Jordan Hoffner, YouTube’s head of premium content partnerships, said his company is in talks to strike similar arrangements with other studios.

Pact follows other clip deals, but is noteworthy for its user flexibility at a time when Viacom is embroiled in a $1 billion copyright infringement suit with YouTube parent Google.”The deal also could highlight the contentious issue of what digital residuals might be owed to actors and other profit participants.

“Revenue generated with any piece of Lionsgate content is recorded and documented,” said Curt Marvis, Lionsgate’s president of digital media. “Splits are still to be determined, but there will be a trail of knowledge. I think that’s still being discussed (with guilds)…

…The deal has similarities to one struck between YouTube and CBS nearly two years ago, just before Google announced its acquisition of YouTube. A few months ago, Hulu, the joint venture of News Corp. and NBC Universal, loosened its restrictions on YouTube file-sharing, allowing short clips with embedded Hulu ads to stream on a branded YouTube channel.

However, the Lionsgate partnership calls for a heretofore unseen spirit of generosity in its user permissions.

“(The partnership) grew out of discussions about claiming — the process of getting content off YouTube,” Marvis said. “But if there’s an audience for our content, it was like, ‘Wait a minute. Let’s not put our heads in the sands here. Let’s give them what they want and get revenue from it.’”

Let’s not put our heads in the sand, indeed. For a group of people in the communication business, it seems to me that SAG has done a fairly poor job of informing the public of the moves being made by producers and studios on an almost daily basis that are directly related to the key issues in this contract negotiation.

Unfortunately, the horse is already out of the barn on this round of negotiations and it doesn’t appear likely that issues of clip use and residual income will be decided in a manner that will significantly benefit actors going forward. Based on prior experience, if we don’t ‘get it now’ we likely won’t be getting it at all.

The producers have, it appears, once again been successful in getting SAG to accept a contract that has terms that will make it very difficult for the average working actor to make a living….certainly not if he/she is counting on residual income streams.

It has become clear that this round of negotiations was seized by the AMPTP as the moment in time to roll back or even eliminate actors residual income streams as we have come to know them. We are at a time of changing technology that has opened the door to this move by producers.

Perhaps more of the Hollywood elite would object to the AMPTP tactics if we would refer to them as BIG MEDIA, BIG PRODUCER$, BIG ENTERTAINMENT or the BIG AMPTP, or BIG STUDIO$. It doesn’t have quite the ring of BIG OIL or BIG CORPORATIONS but somehow some of the same group of stars who constantly rail about BIG EVERYTHING don’t seem to see the studios and producers in the same light.

Could it be because many of these BIG STARS also have BIG FINANCIAL INTERESTS in BIG STUDIOS and BIG PRODUCTION COMPANIES? I guess not. These people have far too much integrity to do something only the Bushes and Cheneyes of the world would do. Right?

I’ll think about that when the next round of residual checks comes in and I deposit those checks for $10 and $20. I just don’t see how the producers can afford to pay those kind of prices for shows running on cable TV. I mean, nobody watches cable TV. Do they?

I’ll sure be glad when that infant technology grow$ up.

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Posted in AFTRA, AMPTP, Actors, Daily Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Producers, Residuals, SAG, Strike, Tommy G. Kendrick, WGA, Writers

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