Category: Strategy

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The Inner Game of Tennis.

Tennis? What? Did I come to the right website?

Yes. Chill and hear me out.

About two months ago I shot an interview with a highly successful businessman. The interviewer asked this gentleman “is there a book that you’d recommend to anyone starting or running a business?”

And he answered “Absolutely! I’ve read, re-read, and gifted “The Inner Game of Tennis” many many times in the past 20 years.”

Twenty years? I thought. How come I’ve never heard of this book? And tennis? Nonsense.

Until this past weekend, that is, when I found the audiobook version, and could not do anything else, but listen carefully and take LOTS of notes. The book is truly fantastic.

Here’s the first minute of “The Inner Game of Tennis” audiobook’s introduction and the transcript.

“Every game is composed of two parts an outer game and an inner game. The outer game is played against an external opponent to overcome external obstacles and to reach an external goal. Mastering this game is the subject of many books offering instructions on how to swing a racquet club or bat and how to position arms legs or torso to achieve the best results. But for some reason most of us find these instructions easier to remember than to execute. It is the thesis of this book that neither mastery nor satisfaction can be found in the playing of any game without giving some attention to the relatively neglected skills of the inner game. This is the game that takes place in the mind of the player and it is played against such obstacles as lapses in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self condemnation. In short it is played to overcome all habits of mind which inhibit excellence and performance. We often wonder why we play so well one day and so poorly the next or why we clutch during competition or blow easy shots. And why does it take so long to break a bad habit and learn a new one. Victories in the inner game may provide no additions to the trophy case, but they bring valuable rewards which are more permanent, and which can contribute significantly to one’s success. Off the court as well as on.”

Why post a book review on a website for filmmakers? Because the whole book it’s about something I strongly believe; learning how to use the tools of our craft is important, but we should also learn how to control our mind, our inner game in order to craft better stories.

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This article is not paid or sponsored by anyone. It reflects my own independent opinion. I only recommend companies and products that I trust. Some links might be affiliates, which means I may get a few pennies if you decide to purchase something.
Thanks in advance for your support!

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How I Use Hard Drives for Video Productions.

On my last post, I shared where to find information about reliable hard drives and a couple of people asked “How is this applicable to a 1 Person Crew video production?”

Well, if I know that a specific 3TB drive from a certain brand has a 50% failure rate, that’s all I need to know to not even consider getting it, regardless its price or features.

Once I know which brands and sizes are the most reliable, I set up my workflow using three hard drives. On this video tutorial I quickly explain why:

Takeaways

  • For video production, you only want hard drives that are 7200RPM, not 5400 RPM.
  • Keep only your OS and Applications on your computer’s internal hard drive.
  • Keep all your project’s assets in ONE location. It’s good for productivity and peace of mind.
  • An USB-powered drive is almost always slower than an AC-powered drive.
  • Having a clear and consistent back up strategy is essential. Don’t wait until it’s too late!

Solid Sate Drives

Solid state drives are still very expensive, but they tiny, extremely durable, and they are coming down in price.

On location, I like using cheaper internal solid state drives like these to backup my footage.

How are you setting up your hard drives for video production? Leave your comments below.

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DISCLAIMER
This article is not paid or sponsored by anyone. It reflects my own independent opinion. I only recommend companies and products that I trust. Some links might be affiliates, which means I may get a few pennies if you decide to purchase something.
Thanks in advance for your support!

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When to replace your hard drives.

All hard drives will die. The question is not if, but when. This is why finding reliable hardware AND having a solid back up strategy is extremely important.

Finding Reliable Information.

Reading tech reports like Backblaze’s annual report on hard drives is important, because they provide priceless information on which brands and models NOT to buy. At the end of 2018 Backblaze was monitoring 104,954 hard drives used to store data, so they REALLY know which hard drives are good, and which ones should be avoided.

For example:

“Based on 1,220 drives and nearly 500,000 drive days, the AFR (Annualized Failure Rate) of the Seagate 10 TB drives continue to impress. For 2018 it was just 0.33%.”

When can you or I test a thousand hard drives, let alone a hundred thousand? Never, that’s when.

Last year alone, Backblaze had 180 Western Digital 3TB drives remaining, and ALL of them where removed and replaced with 12TB drives. Sometime this year they plan to replace all of their 4TB and 6TB drives and upgrade them to 14, 16, or even 20TB drives.

Annualized Hard Drive Failure Rates from January 2018 to December 2018.
Annualized Hard Drive Failure Rates comparing 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Annualized Hard Drive Failure Rates from 2013 to 2018.

Key Stats.

There are a LOT of useful gems we can extract from Backblaze’s 2018 report:

  • Backblaze replaced 3TB, 4TB, and even a handful of 6TB drives with new 12TB drives. The drives replaced are about 4 years old.
  • The failure rates of all of the larger drives (8, 10, and 12 TB) are very good: 1.21% AFR or less.
  • In September 2018 Backblazde added 79 12TB drives, and as of this publication, none of them have failed.
  • The Seagate 10TB drives, which have been in operation for over 1 year now, are performing very nicely with a failure rate of 0.48%.
  • In 2016 the average size of hard drives they had was 4.5 TB. By 2018 the average size had grown to 7.7 TB.
  • The 2018 annualized failure rate of 1.25% was the lowest by far of any year they’ve recorded.
  • The Seagate 10 TB drives continue to impress as their AFR for 2018 was just 0.33%. That’s based on 1,220 drives and nearly 500,000 drive days, making the AFR pretty solid.
  • None of their Toshiba 5 TB drives has failed since 2016.

Do you find this info useful? If so, leave your comments below.

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DISCLAIMER
This article is not paid or sponsored by anyone. It reflects my own independent opinion. I only recommend companies and products that I trust. Some links might be affiliates, which means I may get a few pennies if you decide to purchase something.
Thanks in advance for your support!

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The fourth production stage.

National Geographic Brain Games TV show print ad campaign

A common misconception is that there are three stages on any video production: pre-production, production, and post.

Marketing

I’d argue that there’s a fourth element, perhaps as important or even more so than the other three. I’m talking about marketing.

Marketing is something we should start thinking about as soon as we start working on a project. Who is going to be interested in this message? Why? On which platform are these people spending most of their time? How do we reach them? Which other projects are similar to ours? How are we going to differentiate ourselves?

Here’s a brilliant example:

In today’s tutorial I use a National Geographic TV show called “Brain Games” as an example of a marketing campaign that is very unique and effective. The premise of the “Brain Games” show is how easy it’s to fool our brains. To prove a point they fool the viewer THREE times within 30 seconds.

Most noteworthy is that National Geographic not only fooled us 3 times with the 30-second commercial. They do it again 37 more times with their print campaign!

National Geographic Brain Games TV show print ad campaign
National Geographic Brain Games TV show print ad campaign
Brilliant marketing campaign for a National Geographic show.
Brilliant marketing campaign for a National Geographic show.

Yes, Jason Silva, the show’s host is a master storyteller. And yes, National Geographic is a powerful global brand with over 10 million followers on YouTube alone. But even they are thinking different and trying new things to promote a show. So, why shouldn’t WE do our best to find different approaches to market our projects? Perhaps starting with a killer 30-second trailer is a good start.

Do you have other marketing campaigns new or old that you admire? If so, please share a link or two below.

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Why you should cut a trailer RIGHT AWAY.


I’m a big fan of Vashi Nedomansky, a brilliant video editor who has worked on 11 feature films and trailers, and over 50 national commercials for major brands like Nike, Volkswagen, Ford, NHL, EA Sports, Adobe, and the US Army. I recently read an interview where he says:

“The trailer game is an ever-changing pursuit that tries to stay ahead of the intelligent public but must also find new ways to tease, cajole and intrigue. Show scenes that aren’t in the film. Manipulate dialog and visuals to make a scene more interesting. Shift the order of shots to make it more interesting or compelling. Add music not in the film to hit an emotional beat. Use every trick in the book to make an effective trailer.”

I don’t agree 100% with that approach, but the article reminded me one of the (many) valuable lesson I’ve learned about marketing. The lesson is: cut a 30-second trailer as soon as you’re done shooting. Here’s why:

I’m not sure how, but Vashi was able to select 46 individual shots that were shared in the promotional material for “Rogue One” but never made the final cut of the film.

Actually, “Rogue One” serves to prove my point about the paramount importance of teasers and trailers as marketing tool; the 2-minute trailer has attracted over almost 38 MILLION views on YouTube alone!

What about you? Do you always use teasers and/or trailers on your projects? Why or why not? Leave your comments below.

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Robert Rodriguez explains the 1 Person Crew approach.

I’ve been a huge fan of Robert Rodriguez for years, and his book “A Rebel Without a Crew” was among the first I’ve recommended to filmmakers, photographers, musicians, and really, anyone working alone or with a very small crew.

I recently listened (again for the nth time) to a fantastic 2-hour interview that Tim Ferriss did with Robert Rodriguez. There are SO many wonderful stories and useful lessons that you should listen to the whole thing. Trust me, every minute is worth your time. 

Robert Rodriguez directing El Mariachi as a 1 Person Crew.
Robert Rodriguez directing El Mariachi as a 1 Person Crew.

On today’s post I’d like to share the most interesting parts, especially those applicable to the 1 Person Crew approach. Here we go!

“The creative process applies to anything you do.”

“That creative process blows me away and it applies to so much, even if you’re not a director or a filmmaker. The creative process applies to anything you do. How you raise your children, how you cook food, how you run a business. Creativity is so much a part of that.” Robert Rodriguez

“I only do one thing, I live a creative life.“

“When people say “Oh you do so many things. You’re a musician, you’re a painter, you’re the composer,  you’re the cinematographer, you’re the editor”…. I go “No, I only do one thing, I live a creative life.” Robert Rodriguez

“Everything can be creative, even a business call.”

“I write my scripts, come up with ideas, while I’m play with my kids, while I’m cooking them a meal, which is a creative exercise, art you can eat.

“When I want to get into a character I might I’ll paint him first, and see visually what he looks like, or musically what he sounds like.”

“Everything can be creative, even a business call. Suddenly you go “this is kind of out of my league” but let me add my creativity to it and maybe I’ll solve something no one else will be able to solve.” Robert Rodriguez

“Stay where you are and come up with something that can be sold.”

“As a film student coming from a family of 10 kids living in Texas people constantly said “if you want to be a filmmaker you need to move to L.A.” Stay where you are and come up with something that can be sold.” Robert Rodriguez

“There’s no separation between work and play”

“When you put creativity in everything, everything becomes available to you. Anything that has a creative aspect is suddenly yours to go and do. And there’s no separation between work and play.” Robert Rodriguez

“Doing a $7,000 movie wasn’t impossible, but nobody had done it before.”

“People kind of forgot that that’s how movies really started. It was always like couple of guys with a wind up camera and Buster Keaton in front. It wasn’t a business yet. When it became a business suddenly everyone had a job and you needed 200 people, because it was now an industry! But that was not what the art form was originally. It was just the manipulation of moving images and you can do that with two people, one person. That was a breakthrough idea.” Robert Rodriguez

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Sisu and the 1 Person Crew approach.

I often read books that have (seemingly) little or nothing to do with filmmaking. They provide ideas, different perspectives on how to tackle challenges, and inspiration.

The book “Tribe of Mentors” from Tim Ferriss is structured as interviews with approximately 100 very successful people from different fields. What’s unique is that all the interviewees answer the same set of 11 questions. One of the interviewees mentioned the word “Sisu” which I find extremely relevant to the 1 Person Crew approach.

From Wikipedia: “Sisu is a Finnish concept described as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness and is held by Finns themselves to express their national character. Sisu is a grim, gritty, white-knuckle form of courage that is presented typically in situations where success is against the odds. It expresses itself in taking action against the odds and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity, in other words, deciding on a course of action and then sticking to that decision, even despite repeated failures. It is in some ways similar to equanimity, with the addition of a grim kind of stress management.

Here’s a Time Magazine quote from 1940: “The Finns have something they call sisu. It is a compound of bravado and bravery, of ferocity and tenacity, of the ability to keep fighting after most people would have quit, and to fight with the will to win. The Finns translate sisu as “the Finnish spirit” but it is a much more gutful word than that. Last week the Finns gave the world a good example of sisu by carrying the war into Russian territory on one front while on another they withstood merciless attacks by a reinforced Russian Army. In the wilderness that forms most of the Russo-Finnish frontier between Lake Laatokka and the Arctic Ocean, the Finns definitely gained the upper hand.”

Sisu is so simple and straightforward that sometimes it takes a whole book to explain it.
Sisu: A word that explains Finland and working as a 1 Person Crew.
The BBC also has an interesting article about Sisu.

What do you think? Is there a filmmaking term that closely matches the meaning of “Sisu”?

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Being unfaithful (and testing new mics).

I’ve been using Rode wireless mics for many years and never expected to change. There’s even a blog post on why I have been completely loyal to Rode for so long.

But, for the past couple of weeks I’ve been using a new set of wireless mics from a company I didn’t know: Comica.

Features

The complete kit comes in a nice hard case, and offers all the expected features:

  • 96-channels
  • Auto scanning
  • Real time monitoring
  • AA batteries
  • Lavalier mics included

Some other features stand out:

  • Adjustable RF signal strength which can be lowered to reduce power consumption and increase battery time 
  • A working distance up to 394 feet (120 meters) in a open area

But there’s ONE feature that tipped the scale for me: two transmitters can be used with only one receiver.

Audio Workflow

In practical terms I need only one receiver connected to an audio recorder (like this or this or this) and can record two people simultaneously. As you can see below, as a safety net and to record high-quality scratch audio, I used a Rode shotgun mic on my camera. Later in post I simply duplicate the track, keep subject A on Channel Left and subject B on Channel Right, and sync the audio and footage manually in a few seconds using PluraEyes.

The 1 Person Crew Approach

This past weekend I shot at a wonderful winery in Alentejo, Portugal. I previously wrote how I found this amazing location.

I wanted to document my two main characters, one winemaker on the field collecting the grapes with a small group of people, and a second winemaker at the shop, receiving and pressing the grapes. They both were working at the same time at two different locations.

Do you shot on the field with the beautiful early morning light and miss an event that happens only once a year, OR do you document the grape crushing process and get b-roll later with super harsh mid-day light?

As a 1 person crew my options were very limited. I did run like crazy all day to get enough footage of both, but by having a wireless mic on each subject the whole time I was able to also capture wonderful moments. For example, the small group of farmers singing and joking while picking grapes, and at the same time one of the winemakers describing his winemaking philosophy, and why they choose to use ancient methods over modern ones.

Trying to record a long and formal interview on the most important and busiest day of the year for the subjects was out of the question. And if you have done any interviews before, you know it is extremely rare to get this kind of spontaneous sound bites.

Pros and Cons

I used this kit for about 5 hours straight on a single set of AA batteries per unit, which is very impressive. I always use and recommend Eneloop rechargeable batteries, they cost a bit more but last much longer.

I’ve seen some complaints on Amazon about the quality of the mics. I haven’t noticed any issues, but will test the wireless transmitters with other lavalier mics in case I’m missing something.

There are also a few complaints about the battery holders (aka cartridges).  I agree with that one. The batteries are super tight, so I’d recommend getting three extra sets of battery holders to swap batteries much faster.

There you have it; how to record two people at two different locations with only one receiver and getting fantastic results. The 1 person crew approach. 

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Pre-Production Guerrilla style.

I wanted to shoot the upcoming wine harvest in Portugal. Where to start? This is where having a good understanding of pre-production is vital.

A quick Google search taught me that there are 26 DOCs (main regions), 4 IPRs (sub regions) and 11 VRs (regional wines). In other words, lots of options to choose from. A good problem to have.

The Strategy

Since I’m based in Lisbon and don’t own a car I decided to focus on two nearby regions, Alentejo and Setubal. After researching online a bit more, I found a very comprehensive and seemingly up to date website for the Wines of Alentejo. 

I located the info for the marketing department and emailed them, asking for help selecting a few small wineries that would be willing to participate on a video shoot.  Surprisingly, they replied, but the answer wasn’t good. Alentejo has 160+ wineries and they can’t recommend some over others. Understandable. 

Field Research

The next step was to pay a visit the marketing department.  Perhaps over coffee I could ask more specific questions. For example: How many female wine makers are in Alentejo (answer: two). Who are the youngest winemakers with most potential? Any wineries using ancient or very different winemaking methods. Bingo! Now I had a list of 15 candidates. The pre-production research was starting to pay off. 

Back in Lisboa I went to the offices of Viniportugal at Praça de Comercio. A complete waste of time as the two young employees only cared about checking Facebook on their phones.

My next move was to go to my favorite wine store in Lisbon, where I have developed a wonderful friendship with the staff. They helped me narrow down the list from 15 to 7 candidates. Much better.

Engaging the Target

Then I drafted a short, to the point email, indicating exactly what I wanted to do, why I wanted to do it, and how shooting as a 1 Person Crew would not interfere with their busiest and most important time of the year. Then I asked Fernanda, my incredibly awesome Portuguese teacher to help me translate the email to Portuguese. 

I sent the seven emails and within two days received three replies, all positive. Honestly, much better than I expected.

With my friend Gonçalo we scheduled an early morning to scout two of them, Cabeças do Reguengo  and Herdade dos Outeiros Altos. Both produce high-quality wines in very small batches, and both have incredible stories behind them.

The First Battle

Here’s a quick video that my friend Bruno put together from the location scout footage at Herdade dos Outeiros Altos.

A couple of weeks later we spent a whole day documenting the harvest and now we are just missing one last interview with the winemakers to deliver the final video.

The total pre-production process took me about a day or day and a half counting the roundtrip drive to Evora, and the location scout at two wineries took another day.  Shooting was less than two days, including the interviews.

Keep it simple.