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Filtering by Category: Business
I've talked a lot of talk about 20-Mile Marching over the years, but I finally created an actual video about it. Check it out!
About a year ago I wrote an article about 20-Mile Marching. It's got the elements that are in the video, with some more details on the matter:
Lastly, if ya like posters, there's a poster that you can buy and hang on your wall:
Work smart and rest well!
Bailey
I spent some time this week editing video and dialog tracks. I love me some video editing, but the voice work continues to be a tough learning experience. Besides practicing my ability to speak well, a sleuth of practical issues are always cropping up.
Weird buzzing noises caused by an interference of some kind, coupled with a less than adequate recording environment have been the latest culprits. I think I may need a better mic, but surely there's a work around? Regardless, the point is that every new endeavor is bumpy ride, but of course totally worth it.
Next week I'll be releasing the most ambitious video essay I've yet created. I'm practicing up for a video I conceived last summer, but didn't feel my skills were good enough to tackle. Hopefully I'll learn enough from these video essays to make the game analysis that I've been cooking up in the back of my mind.
Until then!
Bailey
Achievement is the direct result of diligence. And diligence is a matter of consistent effort over a period of time. I've found that sustained effort is often made more difficult because it can be hard to see the big picture when I'm down in the details.
For instance, last summer during one of my periods of drumming up business, I had to contact a lot of people. A lot. Now, I could have just contacted a whole bunch of people and hoped that it would work out before I got too tired of reaching out. But that can be dangerous, at least for me, because I can over estimate how much work I've put in at any given moment.
Instead I kept careful track of the number of people I contacted. And at the beginning I reminded myself that only about 1 percent of contacts will result in a working gig. What this did was it set up the right expectations. So, when I got to day 30, and there still wasn't any bites, I could rest easy knowing that I still hadn't played the odds sufficiently.
All this is a long way to say that setting proper expectations, followed by disciplined action, results in better returns (I eventually got a client, but it took many weeks).
So, these days I track almost everything I do with a list of numbers. It's reassuring and helps me to see the incremental progress toward my goals. I have a number for how many tutorials I've made, how many cinematic articles I've written, and of course how many potential clients I've reached out to. I even have one for the number of blog entries I've written for this blog.
This was blog entry #79.
Bailey
Now that Behind the Cinematic has launched, I've been thinking about how I'm going to expand on it and how much to use it as a vehicle for another project I have in mind. But what I'm slowly realizing is that not every project needs to make perfect sense. That is, I don't need to know exactly how it's going to evolve over time.
So, my mind continues to race. Always calculating how best to invest my time and energy. And I think I've finally got a good idea for what to do next.
I'll talk more about it later. For now, check out this recent entry into the Behind the Cinematic database:
Bailey
Despite having recently created a video essay about time and how it helps us, I couldn't help but feel a little helpless this past week. Why does everything have to take so much damn time?
I feel lucky to be working on a couple pretty sweet projects, but it's no surprise that they're all huge time investments. Anything worth doing is hard, right? Still, it's aggravating at times.
The principle point of tension is just how damn difficult it is to get the snowball moving. All four of my projects are piddly little snowballs that haven't picked up much steam. I just hope that they can start to speed down the mountain before it's too late.
With all of that said, my love for art can never be squelched. No matter how much shit I've been through, my passion has never died down. In fact, it burns stronger and more fiercely than ever. Art truly is the single greatest source of joy in my life, second only to the happiness I get from being with my family. I feel lucky to have that energy behind me. It's a weird thing, if you think about it. Or maybe it's not. I don't know.
Bailey
Today I'm pleased to release the first Forma Pictures showreel. Check it out:
It's been a long time coming, but I finally got everything put together. Hope ya like it. Now, what else has been happening, well...
Bailey
It's been a while since I just had a normal update post without a bunch of philosophy thrown in. So here are the facts!
Working on a game right now. An awesome designer (this guy) hired Forma to make the art and UI for it. I'll show stuff later!
The new website I'm developing is coming soon! A few close friends have already previewed it and I've gotten some good feedback on its direction. Will launch in March!
Been going crazy with the tutorials. Really working on my speaking presence and learning (slowly) how to be myself on camera. Not there yet by any stretch of the imagination, but one day. Also teaching myself a lot about lighting and stuff like that.
Side projects are crawling along. Getting a better mic set up so that I can do narration over videos. Also learning about how to clean up audio so that it doesn't sound like trash.
That's all for now! Love!
-Bailey
This post should be read while listening to this music, so hit play and read on! ;)
One of the best things about working as an artist is that I get to work with a wide variety of awesome people. It's honestly one of the best things in life, especially when collaboration is involved.
But as a good friend of mine once said (I'm paraphrasing): people make things interesting, they are both the best and worst things. Most big problems are derived from the messes people make, both emotionally and physically. What does this have to do with art? Well, the things people want and the way they behave make the artistic process a never ending thrill ride. Sometimes this is good and sometimes it's not.
Being a freelancer necessitates that I work with clients (for now). For the most part my experiences have been exceedingly great. I've been lucky to work with high-achieving people/companies that really get the artistic process and how I work. And, most importantly, they understand what they're getting when they work with me. Namely that they're not paying for the art I create, but rather they're paying for the time for me to make the art. This is a crucial thing for people to understand.
Whenever a client of mine doesn't understand this, I suppose it's my fault for not educating them about it. However, I'm gonna be honest. I don't really care to work with clients who aren't already super professional about this. My services are professional and what I create is pretty expensive, at least for individuals (but less so for companies). So, anyone not willing to engage in this sort of thing really shouldn't be talking with me.
Bottom line, if you hire an artist, just know that you're not paying for a painting. You're paying the artist for the time to make the painting. And even then if you don't like the painting, it's irrelevant. The artist still worked for that period of time.
Love, B
December was a quiet month for the blog and other updates, but it's been a hectic month for me. On this new year's day, I was hard at work on a new commercial. It was fitting to ring in the new year by spending it doing what I love most...working.
I'll probably be too exhausted next week to post much, but there will be another batch of content coming to the site soon after. And there's a lot in store for this year. But with so much uncertainty about the business, it can be easy to feel nauseous all the time. Thankfully I'm ready to roll with whatever happens. I can only work so hard before I have to leave my future to lady luck.
C'mon baby! Gimme a 20!
Bailey
This week has been primarily devoted to family time (holiday), which is always good. Rest is essential, as any good 20 mile marcher knows. ;) Still, I did a few things this past week.
I attended CTN again this year, which was nice. I got to see a few artists I knew, which is always good. And on the development front, the commercial I'm working on is moving along steadily. It's due early next year. I'll be talking about it more in the coming months.
I've also begun some design work for a new website I'm developing. In my world of art, I've found that there is a curious lack of resources on one particular subject. So, I'm in the beginning stages of filling this need! Exciting stuff.
Bailey
People say that when you're a freelancer, all that matters is keeping your client happy. And while I make every effort to establish and maintain a healthy and productive working relationship with my clients, ultimately the product is what's important. The effectiveness and quality of the art is more important than simply doing what my client wants me to do.
“The effectiveness and quality of the art is more important than simply doing what my client wants me to do.”
First and foremost, my job is to make a good product. Those sixty to ninety seconds of story, art and music are all that matter. But the journey to that moment is a long and arduous process of toil, joy, frustration, anxiety, learning, epiphanies, excitement, fear, and exhaustion.
Understanding that the art is what matters gives me the confidence to perform to the best of my ability. Sometimes it's tempting to agree with a client and give them exactly what they ask for. After all, we want to please. But it takes guts to push back when it's called for, and to educate when needed. On the surface it may seem right to immediately give them what they want, but often times it's a disservice to them. Why? Because artists can deliver so much more.
Ultimately what a client really wants is for the artist to tell them what they want. As artists, it's our job to interpret what they tell us into actionable endeavors and then to expand on that. And when a client takes issue with something, they're usually not sure how to fix it. Often times they don't know how to describe the thing that's rubbing them the wrong way. It's not their fault, but they will use language and terminology that doesn't translate well to the art tasks. Or it may be misinterpreted. It's a language barrier of the professional variety. They speak the language of their profession, and we speak ours. An experienced artist knows how to bridge the gap, and determine what they actually want to convey.
“They learn to trust how I work, and I learn how to interpret their desires. ”
I work to develop strong communication channels with my clients. The more I work with specific people, the better we're able to work together. They learn to trust how I work, and I learn how to interpret their desires. This requires that I occasionally educate them on how things work. It can be tricky, but I strive to gently show them how the artistic process works to build trust and ease their fears.
On the whole, this profession of mine has caused me more than a few heartaches. Art is an emotional, vulnerable and risky endeavor. It's one hell of a journey, I'll tell ya.
Bailey
It should come as no surprise that I care about the treatment and well-being of artists. Today I want to address a pervasive issue. Based on behavior alone, it would seem that there are a number non-artists (for lack of a better word) that devalue the artistic professions. These include any kind of creative professional, like a musician, filmmaker, designer, performer, and more. And this negative behavior leads to poor treatment, unreasonable expectations, and underpaying.
Artists working at companies might not feel the effects of this devaluing or are at least shielded from it a little bit. However, I would guess that most of my peers are extremely aware of this bizarre stigma that has adhered itself to artists everywhere.
The art profession is a lifelong pursuit that takes decades to get good at. It requires significant study, practice and time just like anything worth paying good money for. The best artists dedicate their lives to the craft, working in excess of 80 hour weeks, researching and relentlessly practicing in their downtime. Good art is very difficult to create. It's painstaking and demands patience. It’s a profession in every sense.
So, why are artists devalued? My best guess is that people are simply uneducated about how it works. Creative endeavors appear easier, and it doesn't help when some unmotivated, so-called artists perpetuate the stereotypes. But the truth is that is that there is a large group of top-notch, hard working artists out there who don't get the pay and proper treatment that they deserve. These words are coming from me, and I am an artist, so I understand if you feel I am biased. However, I can only speak from my experience, and I am eminently familiar with the art industry that I am part of.
This issue will take time to correct. I believe it starts with artists standing by their own self-worth as artists, and not caving to poor working conditions (if they can help it). If a client is asking an artist to do three days of work in one day, they need to say no. It will require artists to gently and kindly educate those around them about why art demands good pay, proper treatment and reasonable expectations.
I recently came across a humorous essay that pokes fun at the idea of doing speculative work. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's basically doing some work for free for a client before they decide whether to hire and pay you. The point is that it's ridiculous that some people feel this is an okay thing to do.
Bailey
Before I started working for myself, I was trapped in a world where I had almost no control over what I got to work on. The projects were decided two or three levels above me. And while I had some creative freedom in the actual work, I hated how little influence I had on the bigger picture. Not to mention the fact that the high-level decisions were made by the arrogant, but I won't get into that.
People on the outside of freelance almost always say this exact sentence to me "You have freedom now, right?" This idea is flawed. The truth is that I'm still beholden to my bank account. Money has to go in it. So, that means I have to take jobs on a regular basis. However, I do have a lot more freedom. I get to define the rules of my engagement with clients, in the form of legally binding contracts...that I write.
After the basics of pay and project scope, there are a couple rules that I don't budge on:
Still, I've been lucky. Most of the gigs I've had so far have been with pretty great people. I'm fortunate in the quality of my friends and clients. And I have no regrets. Quitting my well-paying job over a year ago was the best decision I ever made. In my whole life. Period.
Some recent layout work for some style frames!
Bailey
