Film at 11 (long post)

Greg Boston · August 30th, 2004, 10:48 AM

1) It depends on the camera. If you have a little mini-DV consumer camera, changes are the police are going to tell you to put it where the sun doesn't shine and make you move along. But if you have a camera that looks like a news-gathering camera, most cops will just assume you're on assignment. I'd suggest you just look like you know what you're doing and act like you should be there. That demeanor alone may get you the shots you want. But even if you have a press pass and a logo on your car, you may get booted.

Charles,

That's exactly how I handled a major accident on a local freeway a couple weeks ago. I parked at a local tire shop off the service road and walked up to the accident scene. I shot from just outside the guardrail and many law enforcement people saw me and said nothing. They did shoo away a couple kids trying to run up the hill to see what was going on. Like you said, just act like you belong there. Funny side note, I came across this accident shortly after leaving my day job which requires me to wear a badge. I'm thinking they may have mistook that for a press badge.

I always have at least 1 video camera in the vehicle for this type of scenario.

This is good stuff. Again, thanks for sharing a looks like the thread has new life.

regards,

Don Parrish · August 30th, 2004, 01:28 PM

If they want it they will direct you to a local affiliate.

A word to the wise, be careful creating this, are you an agency representing the Independents, or an organization displaying their work? You must think liability here. If someone gets postal and decides to create a ficticious story you will have to have an agreement and their business info (license) in case someone creates a bad story or gives the wrong info or slander. I cant impress upon you enough to know who is shooting for the website and what type of individual they are. This is no small undertaking, this is a big, expensive project. Not saying it cant be done but a business plan must be made,

1. legalities
2. startup & monthly cost, software and security, business license.
3. how is profit generated
4. how to limit liability or make each videographer responsible.
5. how to select videographers / register them.
6. hours working on site vs profit

This is a large task, not a small one. Think this through!!

Ken Tanaka · August 30th, 2004, 02:27 PM

I've been following this thread since its inception and have to agree with Don. While it's fun to chat somewhat altruistically about such a venture the fact is that it does essentially represent an independent news agency. It simply won't fly as a loose coalition of people with video cameras. Getting it off of the ground in the face of the mega-agencies (Reuters, AP, etc.) would require at least several million dollars worth of initial investment and a great deal of skilled business planning and organization. It's not a hobby project and definitely not a part-time venture.

Bill Graham · August 30th, 2004, 02:35 PM

Guys, guys, Oh ye of little faith.

www.dvnewssyndicate.com is still propogating through the net's DNS servers but will be viewable in a few hours. As soon as I can get FTP access I'm going to put a design graphic on it which should show you basically what's gonna happen. The legalities are well covered and the site is essentially self-publishing. Once you have seen the design, I'll give you more details.

Trust me, I've done this kind of thing before.

Ken Tanaka · August 30th, 2004, 02:45 PM

I really do wish you all the best of fortune, and suspect that Don does also. But a Web site doth not a news agency make. That's the trivial part.

Don Parrish · August 30th, 2004, 03:19 PM

Most certainly wish you good luck. Everything has to start somewhere and I hope this turns out great. Just tried to give some tips so that you will think, remember, I don't know you or how deep you think about things. The comments were all meant to help.

Paul Nuttall · September 1st, 2004, 11:57 PM

Bill,
The site looks awesome and easy to use. Looking forward to it!

Scott Silverman · September 2nd, 2004, 12:04 AM

Hmmm, for some reason I can't seem to access the site. It doesn't load...

Jim Quinlan · September 2nd, 2004, 06:50 AM

How soon before the site becomes functional? I think it's a great idea and will check back periodically.

EDIT: I just saw the October 1st notice at the bottom of the site.

JM Underwood · September 2nd, 2004, 06:24 PM

Bill,

Your site has a very nice layout. Good colors, easy to read. I like the DB search feature. And you developed the design very fast!

I do have one suggestion. Can't tell about your site because the current home page is just an image. But please do NOT use fixed size fonts, like Arial 8pt. Use relative sizes like Arial x-small. This way if a person has a hard time reading the small print they can just increase the browser text size. And if you are going to use the small size, use Verdana. It's much easier to read than Arial for very small font sizes.

I look forward to being a member. Let me know if you need any help testing the site before it goes live.

Kevin Galliford · September 11th, 2004, 11:01 AM

Your site looks great, cant wait until it opens!

I am from New Milford Connecticut, small northwestern CT town. I am 21 years old with a Canon GL2 setup; wireless mic's, boom mic etc.

I really want to start to get into the field of news gathering. Or even just making videos of local events, etc. I love the rush of being behind the camera, getting the footage.

I'm not the type of person who has a GL2 to make Short movies I'm more into, I dont know what to really call it, photojournalism? We recently had a Balloon festival here in CT, and I went down with my cam got some footage and made a 6 minute video of the balloons, edited with Pinnacle Studio 9, with music. I was going to get some interviews with the owners, but it was my 2nd "video" so I didn't know what to say, as far as who I am and why I want to film them. You know what I mean, Im not a member of the media. But I'm in the process of getting my video put onto the websight http://www.nwballoonfest.com/ so people can see whats at the festival next year, or what thy have missed.

Does this seem out of the question, I want to see / find local stories of people in the area, and try to get them to air on a local TV news station, there are 2 in Hartford and one in NewHaven. Both an hour away. Does that seem out of the question. What is if it breaking news etc? We also have a local public access station, but thats not that great.

Also How can I get in the field in the future to be behind the camera as a freelancer? I mean I would love to work for a type of company that film shows on TV Ie: HGTV, Food Newtork, Discovery, Travel Channel, TLC, etc How do I go about that? Any advice?

I appreciate any feedback or comments that you may have, thanks alot, this site has been awesom.

Bill Graham · September 18th, 2004, 04:32 PM

Update on the site progress at www.dvnewssyndicate.com.

I'm a little behind schedule with the site coding after the failure of my hard drive early in the week, but I still hope to be able to launch by October 1. The database is done and the Crew Registration is working, so any early adopters can get their details into the database. I'd appreciate it if some of you would get stuck in so I can test. For those interested in websites, it's being done in ASP.NET using MSSQL 2000 database so it should be fairly robust. It also will allow a lot of sexy stuff in the future, such as an RSS newsfeed of new stories uploaded, but at the moment, I'm concentrating on getting the core site work done, which I'm having to do in my (very little) spare time due to pressure of work. I'm having some problems with my registrar getting www.dvnews.tv resolved to my server. This will point to the site too, but for some reason, it has hit a glitch which the registrar has spent the best part of two weeks trying to solve.

The Terms and Conditions of use still have to be written, but they will basically say that any contract will be between the crew and the broadcaster. DV News will not act as an Agent for either, just as a contact point. There is no charge to either for registering.

Please give me feedback of any problems you encounter on the site, bearing in mind it is still in Beta stage.

Kevin Galliford · September 19th, 2004, 03:28 PM

I just registered, Cant wait, lookin good

Bill Graham · September 19th, 2004, 03:35 PM

Thanks, Kevin. You have the (dubious) honour of being the first in the database. :) Having a few in the db helps me set up and test SQL queries for searches etc. so thanks for the help.

Bill Graham · September 26th, 2004, 12:12 PM

www.dvnewssyndicate.com a.k.a www.dvnews.tv is nearly there. Crew can now register, login and post stories. Crew and news stories are searchable. I've also added Stock Footage, where Crew can post details of footage. This is also searchable. The Forum is working.

Still to do: Broadcaster Registration and session cookies to allow viewing of Crew contact details. Email News Alert for Broadcasters. Admin section for approval of Crew and Broadcaster registration. Some cosmetic work to be done. Once I've finished all the functionality, I'll go back through the site and shine it up.

It's your site, so get stuck in and get your stories and stock footage into the database. Once we have a few entries in the database, I'll produce a Press Release and go after the Broadcasters to inform them about the site. Any feedback or bugs, please put in the forum.

August 30th, 2004, 02:27 PM	#63
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	I've been following this thread since its inception and have to agree with Don. While it's fun to chat somewhat altruistically about such a venture the fact is that it does essentially represent an independent news agency. It simply won't fly as a loose coalition of people with video cameras. Getting it off of the ground in the face of the mega-agencies (Reuters, AP, etc.) would require at least several million dollars worth of initial investment and a great deal of skilled business planning and organization. It's not a hobby project and definitely not a part-time venture. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

August 30th, 2004, 02:45 PM	#65
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	I really do wish you all the best of fortune, and suspect that Don does also. But a Web site doth not a news agency make. That's the trivial part. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

September 1st, 2004, 11:57 PM	#67
Paul Nuttall New Boot Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Atlanta, Ga. Posts: 22	Looks Great! Bill, The site looks awesome and easy to use. Looking forward to it!

September 2nd, 2004, 12:04 AM	#68
Scott Silverman Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Cupertino, California, USA Posts: 301	Hmmm, for some reason I can't seem to access the site. It doesn't load... __________________ Scott Silverman Shining Star Digital Video Productions Bay Area, CA

September 2nd, 2004, 06:50 AM	#69
Jim Quinlan Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Clearwater, Florida Posts: 177	How soon before the site becomes functional? I think it's a great idea and will check back periodically. EDIT: I just saw the October 1st notice at the bottom of the site. __________________ Jim

August 30th, 2004, 10:48 AM	#61
Greg Boston Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DFW area, TX Posts: 6,117 Images: 1	1) It depends on the camera. If you have a little mini-DV consumer camera, changes are the police are going to tell you to put it where the sun doesn't shine and make you move along. But if you have a camera that looks like a news-gathering camera, most cops will just assume you're on assignment. I'd suggest you just look like you know what you're doing and act like you should be there. That demeanor alone may get you the shots you want. But even if you have a press pass and a logo on your car, you may get booted. Charles, That's exactly how I handled a major accident on a local freeway a couple weeks ago. I parked at a local tire shop off the service road and walked up to the accident scene. I shot from just outside the guardrail and many law enforcement people saw me and said nothing. They did shoo away a couple kids trying to run up the hill to see what was going on. Like you said, just act like you belong there. Funny side note, I came across this accident shortly after leaving my day job which requires me to wear a badge. I'm thinking they may have mistook that for a press badge. I always have at least 1 video camera in the vehicle for this type of scenario. This is good stuff. Again, thanks for sharing a looks like the thread has new life. regards,

August 30th, 2004, 01:28 PM	#62
Don Parrish Major Player Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Tavares Fla Posts: 541	If they want it they will direct you to a local affiliate. A word to the wise, be careful creating this, are you an agency representing the Independents, or an organization displaying their work? You must think liability here. If someone gets postal and decides to create a ficticious story you will have to have an agreement and their business info (license) in case someone creates a bad story or gives the wrong info or slander. I cant impress upon you enough to know who is shooting for the website and what type of individual they are. This is no small undertaking, this is a big, expensive project. Not saying it cant be done but a business plan must be made, 1. legalities 2. startup & monthly cost, software and security, business license. 3. how is profit generated 4. how to limit liability or make each videographer responsible. 5. how to select videographers / register them. 6. hours working on site vs profit This is a large task, not a small one. Think this through!!

August 30th, 2004, 02:35 PM	#64
Bill Graham New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Notts, UK Posts: 19	Guys, guys, Oh ye of little faith. www.dvnewssyndicate.com is still propogating through the net's DNS servers but will be viewable in a few hours. As soon as I can get FTP access I'm going to put a design graphic on it which should show you basically what's gonna happen. The legalities are well covered and the site is essentially self-publishing. Once you have seen the design, I'll give you more details. Trust me, I've done this kind of thing before.

August 30th, 2004, 03:19 PM	#66
Don Parrish Major Player Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Tavares Fla Posts: 541	Most certainly wish you good luck. Everything has to start somewhere and I hope this turns out great. Just tried to give some tips so that you will think, remember, I don't know you or how deep you think about things. The comments were all meant to help.

September 2nd, 2004, 06:24 PM	#70
JM Underwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Houston, TX (Clear Lake area) Posts: 42	Bill, Your site has a very nice layout. Good colors, easy to read. I like the DB search feature. And you developed the design very fast! I do have one suggestion. Can't tell about your site because the current home page is just an image. But please do NOT use fixed size fonts, like Arial 8pt. Use relative sizes like Arial x-small. This way if a person has a hard time reading the small print they can just increase the browser text size. And if you are going to use the small size, use Verdana. It's much easier to read than Arial for very small font sizes. I look forward to being a member. Let me know if you need any help testing the site before it goes live.

September 11th, 2004, 11:01 AM	#71
Kevin Galliford Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: USA Posts: 139	Awesom! Your site looks great, cant wait until it opens! I am from New Milford Connecticut, small northwestern CT town. I am 21 years old with a Canon GL2 setup; wireless mic's, boom mic etc. I really want to start to get into the field of news gathering. Or even just making videos of local events, etc. I love the rush of being behind the camera, getting the footage. I'm not the type of person who has a GL2 to make Short movies I'm more into, I dont know what to really call it, photojournalism? We recently had a Balloon festival here in CT, and I went down with my cam got some footage and made a 6 minute video of the balloons, edited with Pinnacle Studio 9, with music. I was going to get some interviews with the owners, but it was my 2nd "video" so I didn't know what to say, as far as who I am and why I want to film them. You know what I mean, Im not a member of the media. But I'm in the process of getting my video put onto the websight http://www.nwballoonfest.com/ so people can see whats at the festival next year, or what thy have missed. Does this seem out of the question, I want to see / find local stories of people in the area, and try to get them to air on a local TV news station, there are 2 in Hartford and one in NewHaven. Both an hour away. Does that seem out of the question. What is if it breaking news etc? We also have a local public access station, but thats not that great. Also How can I get in the field in the future to be behind the camera as a freelancer? I mean I would love to work for a type of company that film shows on TV Ie: HGTV, Food Newtork, Discovery, Travel Channel, TLC, etc How do I go about that? Any advice? I appreciate any feedback or comments that you may have, thanks alot, this site has been awesom.

September 18th, 2004, 04:32 PM	#72
Bill Graham New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Notts, UK Posts: 19	www.dvnewssyndicate.com Update on the site progress at www.dvnewssyndicate.com. I'm a little behind schedule with the site coding after the failure of my hard drive early in the week, but I still hope to be able to launch by October 1. The database is done and the Crew Registration is working, so any early adopters can get their details into the database. I'd appreciate it if some of you would get stuck in so I can test. For those interested in websites, it's being done in ASP.NET using MSSQL 2000 database so it should be fairly robust. It also will allow a lot of sexy stuff in the future, such as an RSS newsfeed of new stories uploaded, but at the moment, I'm concentrating on getting the core site work done, which I'm having to do in my (very little) spare time due to pressure of work. I'm having some problems with my registrar getting www.dvnews.tv resolved to my server. This will point to the site too, but for some reason, it has hit a glitch which the registrar has spent the best part of two weeks trying to solve. The Terms and Conditions of use still have to be written, but they will basically say that any contract will be between the crew and the broadcaster. DV News will not act as an Agent for either, just as a contact point. There is no charge to either for registering. Please give me feedback of any problems you encounter on the site, bearing in mind it is still in Beta stage.

September 19th, 2004, 03:28 PM	#73
Kevin Galliford Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: USA Posts: 139	I just registered, Cant wait, lookin good

September 19th, 2004, 03:35 PM	#74
Bill Graham New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Notts, UK Posts: 19	Thanks, Kevin. You have the (dubious) honour of being the first in the database. :) Having a few in the db helps me set up and test SQL queries for searches etc. so thanks for the help.

September 26th, 2004, 12:12 PM	#75
Bill Graham New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Notts, UK Posts: 19	News Site Update www.dvnewssyndicate.com a.k.a www.dvnews.tv is nearly there. Crew can now register, login and post stories. Crew and news stories are searchable. I've also added Stock Footage, where Crew can post details of footage. This is also searchable. The Forum is working. Still to do: Broadcaster Registration and session cookies to allow viewing of Crew contact details. Email News Alert for Broadcasters. Admin section for approval of Crew and Broadcaster registration. Some cosmetic work to be done. Once I've finished all the functionality, I'll go back through the site and shine it up. It's your site, so get stuck in and get your stories and stock footage into the database. Once we have a few entries in the database, I'll produce a Press Release and go after the Broadcasters to inform them about the site. Any feedback or bugs, please put in the forum.