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Matt Hepler

Basic Member
  • Posts

    15
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About Matt Hepler

  • Birthday 10/09/1981

Profile Information

  • Occupation
    Student
  • Location
    Philadelphia, PA
  • Specialties
    Filmmaking, Well-timed punch-lines.

Contact Methods

  • Website URL
    http://
  1. That would be fantastic Adrian, thank you. I've been getting my legal documents from a pay site.
  2. All of the above has been great advice and I thank you. I don't expect to get paid. My post here was more of a notice to other freelance videographers. Be weary of this company. It was a situation where I had no leverage. If I asked for money up front I would have been turned away. Anything I was to shoot that day would have been scheduled to one of the other freelancers running around the complex. One thing I can do next time is draft or download a work-for-hire contract and have them sign it before hand.
  3. I was recently screwed out of $300 by Productions East Video, supposedly a small production house out of White Springs, NY. The long story. Answered craigslist ad. Spent two days filming hockey tournies in Ashton, PA. Developed bronchitis. Sent invoice but never heard anything back. Multiple emails to multiple email addresses and no replies. Phone calls are never answered. I'm wondering if anyone else in the community has dealt with this company. Its sucks I got screwed but I never signed a contract, never did research. I take responsibility for that.
  4. I had no idea Roger Deakins was so beloved. But yeah, if I could I would with Deakins. Wall-E has a feature documenting the Pixar animators getting a lighting lesson from Deakins. He spends a couple of hours trying to properly light this fellow on a set, but then something catches his eye. Deakins asks the camera op to swing around to a Grip. The camera turns and you see the Grip, lit perfectly by all the crap Deakins strung up to light the other guy with. That was a cool moment.
  5. Reluctantly I could not find what I needed online for free so I opted to pay for the form. I found a lengthy and detailed Service Agreement for videographers at legalzoom.com. It was 14.95 but I own the file now, I can print as many as I want. I've gotta say though, I'm disappointed I couldn't find what I was looking for amidst all the other free legal forms out there. But whatever, I'll work it into the budget.
  6. I am producing a local television commercial for a local restaraunt and I need some contract templates. I need release forms for: unpaid extras, contracts for paid PA's, Production Assistant, Cameraman/Lighting manager, and a contract between myself and the managers of the establishment. Pardon me if I'm using the wrong terminology. I'm not sure what the contract between myself and the manager is called. I've searched the forums but found nothing that fits what I need. Thanks in advance.
  7. Believe me if I could shoot actual diners I would. The atmosphere that Im trying to capture is also my biggest enemy. I can't just setup a camera and quickly grab shots of people enjoying their meals. It is way too dark in the restaurant and I am not touching that gain switch, I've seen the results of that and I'm not reliving it. The result will be ghastly lit, nervous patrons. That's the quality I was talking about. When people go to an upscale restaurant they don't expect nor do they want a camera roaming through the dining room and hot lights ruining their pleasant experience. I just don't see it working. I did a restaurant profile as part of an internet video a while back and it was agonizing. Folks did not want me anywhere near them. They saw the camera and they shriveled away. Waiting until later to worry about the release forms doesn't solve anything. I STILL have to get those signed. If not, then I can't use the footage. I don't have insurance, its not in the budget, so if I am sued then I'm toast. You're idea is sound. I'm not knocking that. I'm thinking of the safest thing here, a controlled environment. Maybe the lighting won't be so bad (I'm taking readings while Im there). Maybe the manager knows some regulars who would flip at the chance of being featured in a commercial spot and will bring in their friends and family. I'll be talking to the manager on friday about everything and we'll see what works out.
  8. I've been developing dual ideas since I first met with the manager. The one I'm more interested in has a narrative and focuses more on selling some of the novelties of the restaurant (choosing your own fish, the immense wine cellar, and live entertainment) but also displaying the establishment's atmosphere (the decor, the staff.) There is no dialogue, nor narration. The Manager didn't want that, he wanted imagery that speaks for itself. He first suggested something more akin to a vacation video; random clips of beautiful greek locales inter-cut with shots of the restaurant's amenities, including a very large "underground" ballroom. Considering the budget I'm going to talk him out of the ballroom shot. It is very dim down there. I would need more lights, PA's and/or grips to handle the lights, at least 10 or 15 extras to fill that space, a production manager to wrangle those folks, and it all has to be done by 4:30pm so we can start breaking everything down to leave by 5:30pm. I'm in love with how complicated it all becomes. About the old film look. I'm concerned with quality, always have been. I figure I can shoot in a high-quality medium like 720p or 1080 and if I decide I want that old look I can get it in post-production. Degrading is much easier than upgrading. I am also finding myself limited by the need for stock footage. I've gotten close to what I need but not to what I want. There is surprisingly very little interesting footage of Greece. And Greek fishermen? Forget about it. Gettyimages.com has been my main source so far. I'm amazed and infuriated by the NBC News Archives page. You can search for clips and purchase clips, but damn you to hell if you actually want to preview them before hand. A side question, should I include my fee in the budget?
  9. The best site I've found so far has been BBC Motion Gallery. They have a wide selection and in HD. But I'm still browsing. Originally I wasn't going for a film look. I wanted nice crisp HD video, but I'm going to give 24p a chance when I test shoot.
  10. Thanks Adrian. I'm shooting test footage on thursday and I'll give that a try.
  11. I don't know why they are broadcasting from Greece. But Greece uses PAL, maybe they convert the broadcast. That's their problem. They want it in PAL I'll give them PAL. I'm just looking for the best and most affordable stock footage. This list has helped a bit. http://www.apple.com/quicktime/resources/t...ockfootage.html
  12. Forget about PAL i can use whatever type I manage to find. I can always convert.
  13. According to the manager there is a large greek community in the area.
  14. I'm having a nice long detailed sit down with him on friday in which I will pitch him my proposal for the commercial. These guys know nothing of video production and I have a feeling they are in for a rude awakening. Especially when I go over the lighting, man that place is DIM.
  15. I've been contracted to produce a commercial for a local greek restaurant. They want me to intercut footage from their restaurant with stock footage of greek locals. What are the best resources for high-quality video stock footage? I live in Philadelphia if anyone knows local businesses instead of websites. I want to shoot in 720p so I'm looking for footage to match that, but footage of a higher quality will work as well. They want the commercial to be in PAL format so it can be broadcast from Greece to the local Greek television station. Which I find hilarious because now I have to learn everything about the PAL format. I really never thought I would need it. Thanks for the help. edit: Im not concerned about what format the footage is in because I can convert it, although that will lose quality.
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