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Stock Footage - Getty Image Etc.


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Curious to know if anyone here is selling material to any of the stock houses? If so, can you comment on your success?
I have a friend who recently picked up a Red 8k, and if I'm not mistaken, that is a $30k body. He must be doing well in this area.
Any thoughts?

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@fuzzynormal It's not like trying to get a commission deal for a feature film. It's something you can walk out your door,  jump on a plane and go and do. I'm lensing tons of material but have not approached stock houses yet. You shoot, if the stock house think they can sell it, then they licence it. Very little risk for them.

 

 

 

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Can't really afford to jump on a plane unless I'm getting paid, so it's actually a silly biz model for me.

Of course, for more affluent people that want an excuse to go somewhere on their own dime and "work," it's a decent rationalization.   That's not snark.  It's part of the reality of creative crafts.  One sees it in many creative fields.

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7 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

Can't really afford to jump on a plane unless I'm getting paid, so it's actually a silly biz model for me.

Of course, for more affluent people that want an excuse to go somewhere on their own dime and "work," it's a decent rationalization.   That's not snark.  It's part of the reality of creative crafts.  One sees it in many creative fields.

If you look at the stock photo market, prices have totally collapsed over the past 10 years and so have photographers incomes from this source.

Stock video footage is much more expensive, so there maybe a decent income to be had there at the moment. I suspect it will follow the 'stock photo' market within a few years though.

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1 hour ago, Robert Collins said:

Stock video footage is much more expensive, so there maybe a decent income to be had there at the moment. I suspect it will follow the 'stock photo' market within a few years though.


Many opportunities await to make dozens of ¢!

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2 hours ago, Aussie Ash said:

Absolutely. Thanks.

 

3 hours ago, Robert Collins said:

If you look at the stock photo market, prices have totally collapsed over the past 10 years and so have photographers incomes from this source.

Stock video footage is much more expensive, so there maybe a decent income to be had there at the moment. I suspect it will follow the 'stock photo' market within a few years though.

For sure. My friend moved over from stills to video - now with a RED 8k - most probably for the reasons you mentioned and to keep his head above the water. He paid the camera off very quickly during the olympics if that gives you an indication of what kind of cash is on the table.

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To be successful in this area you really have to know what kind of content is trending and what advertisers are looking for. You have to be very methodical and discriminate, and put your bias or preferences aside. The cheesy shit in a can sells like hotcakes, unless you're a in-house hired gun to capture antiquity. If you're abstract I wish you luck.

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8 hours ago, User said:

I can imagine, both.

If you're unsure of the exact source of your buddy's income working with his camera, I'm going to assume it was almost exclusively work-for-hire.  Unless your colleague is a stock footage content creator wunderkind.  

For most, however, as IronFilm said, in the stock footage game "many opportunities await to make dozens of ¢!"

11 hours ago, Robert Collins said:

If you look at the stock photo market, prices have totally collapsed over the past 10 years and so have photographers incomes from this source.

My point is that a subset of people doing creative jobs have the luxury of underwriting their own adventures.  What they can or cannot get paid doesn't matter so much because they're already loaded.  Nice "work" if you can get it.  --And if you can get it, won't you tell me how? ;-)

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9 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

My point is that a subset of people doing creative jobs have the luxury of underwriting their own adventures.  What they can or cannot get paid doesn't matter so much because they're already loaded.  Nice "work" if you can get it.  --And if you can get it, won't you tell me how? ;-)


Yup, don't follow trust kiddies "business plans" path to success if you want to achieve financial stability yourself!

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5 hours ago, IronFilm said:


Yup, don't follow trust kiddies "business plans" path to success if you want to achieve financial stability yourself!

This is why I work a day job and do film on the side. If I had to rely on my passion doubling as my main income stream it would add a layer of stress that I just don't want to associate with my artistic endeavours.

True, no doubt I have less extra time to pursue my passion, but the time I do get is better spent knowing the rent is covered and I'm not on anyone's else's agenda but my own. 

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3 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Many many people have discovered a sure fire way to kill their passion is to try and turn it into an income/career!

Sadly. Absolutely correct.

And I totally respect those people who have managed to succeed in turning their passion into a career - it is simply a risk I am not prepared to take - in that I dont want to risk killing my passion.

Back on topic. I do buy some stock footage occasionally because I am too lazy to shoot it myself. Stuff like 'smoke' or 'chalk dust'... My guess is that it is this that sells ...or say glitches, flares or flashes - rather than the sexy girl on the beach shots we take on holiday.

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5 hours ago, Robert Collins said:

Sadly. Absolutely correct.

And I totally respect those people who have managed to succeed in turning their passion into a career - it is simply a risk I am not prepared to take - in that I dont want to risk killing my passion.

Back on topic. I do buy some stock footage occasionally because I am too lazy to shoot it myself. Stuff like 'smoke' or 'chalk dust'... My guess is that it is this that sells ...or say glitches, flares or flashes - rather than the sexy girl on the beach shots we take on holiday.

I worked as a graphic designer back in the day, and evn as a UI/UX designer today I still have to work with stock images and videos all the time. 

Practical keyed effects are used, but moreover the "sexy girl on the beach" is used way more. It's whatever has broad market appeal, which for many clients is the stuff that's the cheesiest, most canned bullshit out there, but that's what these clients believe works for their demographic.

I also see the content that doesn't sell well. It often seems it wouldn't fit easily into marketing messaging, abstract, arbitrary and non-strategic in that context. 

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Good insights all around. Thanks.

@Matthew Hartman Your reflections on the kind of material that is used fits with everything I've recently seen in my friend's stock footage collection. Everything from beautiful women on the beach, to corporate boardrooms to modern Asian shipping yards. Generic, made to order, sellable to the kinds of ad firms who peddle it and a comment on the times we are living in.

He started as a young photographer chasing global his dreams, then in the last few years transitioned to video, where as @Robert Collins has duly noted the cash now is. No house but boat, and a boarding pass to everywhere. We compared notes and he said he wants to work more on story telling projects that have meaning and message. Fortunately he's recently worked on a spot for Nat Geo and a few others which should offer a bit of this while pulling in royalties from those stock houses. Not bad, and as @fuzzynormal has suggested, nice work if you can get it. Though it's also worth noting that these don't just fall in our lap,  if one has the courage and insight early enough, it can happen. But let's not talk about his trouble with women ;)

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On 8.3.2018 at 9:13 AM, IronFilm said:

Many many people have discovered a sure fire way to kill their passion is to try and turn it into an income/career!

I have to disagree here. Just try to separate visual from financial aspect - "think with two brains". Nothing wrong when getting financial compensation for good and hard work. Getting bread and butter on your table with passionate work is fine. Much better than pseudo appreciation with likes, views and thumb ups - because noone can eat this shit. The most valuable and objective appreciation of your visual work is the status of your bank account. Anything else is a matter of personal and subjective perception. Everyone makes his own luck.

But working for stock portals is mostly a modern form of online slavery. That's the result of listening to propaganda puppies of the parasite industry, people who want others to work nearly for free while maximizing own profits. 

@User Just read this article on "stock photography parasitism" too: https://petapixel.com/2018/02/27/beware-500pxs-flexible-pricing/

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