Being a stills photographer can be an exercise in wearing many hats, but most of these hats are similar, from the same basic wardrobe. You are the shooter, the editor and supplier. Editing may take many forms, but at the end of the day, few shooters farm out their editing, few editors are divorced from delivery of their work. They are all too close to split most of the time.
This post was triggered by this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGRG2DZGKac a much better explanation probably.
Where it often ends is in the produced product. You supply the client with the work, but rarely do the graphic design or presentation at the end. I supply schools, sports organisations and charities with processed stills images, they can then decide which, if any, will be used, when and how. They do not employ me to do their advertising project, update their facebook or print their wall hangings, I just provide the edited content.
Videography on the other hand is a set of crafts, layers of after process and often some creative input towards the end product. This is important for you to understand, because if you do not want to do it, you need to be clear up front.
Horse 1
The Videographer.
The videographer is the visual content creator, but often several of the other roles below. What goes into the camera is their responsibility, so if another role is vacant, they will still need to address it. This is the crux of it all, but not all of it.
The cinematographer, AC or videographer is going to frame, time and execute the visual image capture. You may have the help of a Key Grip in bigger productions, someone who helps with support and camera movements, or maybe you are even controlling other cinematographers as senior Camera AC, but often you are it. Under this banner also falls scouting and space and time management.
Horse 2
The Sound Technician.
Sound, which is important if done right, but the whole ballgame if done wrong. Solo shooters absorb this into their skill set, sometimes grudgingly, sometimes happily, but it has to be done by someone and should really be done multiple times for safety. This is often the first role filled by a second operator.
Horse 3
The Lighting Technician.
Like sound, lighting is a sub-set of videography, possibly the senior partner and its own skill set. Good cinematography is good lighting, simple as that. The videographer wants a look for their footage, you as Spark, Gaffer or Grip need to add, modify or remove light to suit. The two are so interwoven, they could be seen as the same thing, but they are not in their purest form.
Horse 4
The Director.
This role is many roles depending on the dynamics of the shoot. From liaising with the client, threshing out the concept, script and determining the needs of the product and getting it all to gel together, the director is the head person on set. That may be you, the video-light-sound guy or it might be a team.
Horse 5
The Editor.
Once captured, the hard work starts (well, for me), often with up to ten times as long put into editing the end product than it took to shoot it. This may also require sound editing outside of the norm, maybe even special effects, but it is rarely quicker than shooting time and can be a monster for storage. Most one person organisations have to edit their work and for me personally, this is one horse too many, although shooting to your own formula can have benefits. Time is the first casualty, enjoyment the next.
Horse 6
The Salesman
Either before, after or both ends of the process, some marketing needs to done, people don’t just decide they need your work by osmosis. The project needs to be presented and/or sold.
Horse 7
The Administrator.
The boring stuff that makes a business work has to be done.
Horse 0 or 8
(depending on priority)
The stills shooter.
If you are a sole operator, this may be a reality and potentially adds an exponential increase in difficulty.
How many of these are you and how well do they sit?
Recently, I have done a couple of things that will help me get through the year without imploding, mostly identifying the things that I am not and not doing them.
I am ok with being the top three and the stills shooter within reason, something a one man operation needs to do.
I am only just getting on top of the grading thing. Too much more to deal with for now.
The fourth and fifth I am scaling down as they are both for me pathways to unhappiness, areas of weakness and I feel disingenuous offering them. I deliver content, so my directing will be limited to doing as asked and the editing will also be limited to what I enjoy, which is colour grading and sound balancing. Capture and deliver, not end product creation, simple.
The last two are sort of left to their own devices. My business model is very simple, lazy even, but it works well enough.