Midland Pictures FM

Midland Pictures FM

Welcome to Midland Pictures FM! Tune in to listen to us interview filmmakers, discuss gear/tech/apps we use on a daily basis, and get real about our successes and failures with running a company where we work with/for clients, create our own original content, and figure out this whole process of building a company and a brand from nothing. This should be fun.

  1. We Made a Spec Commercial | A Conversation with Writer/Director Alex Carter

    03/31/2021

    We Made a Spec Commercial | A Conversation with Writer/Director Alex Carter

    To view the version of the spec with music, go here:  https://vimeo.com/503267765   BTS VIDEOS:   Camera Test for a Spec Commercial | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHrzkxrmJ78&t=215s   BTS of our Spec Commercial | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAEwxx7uY4E&t=25s   It's finally here! Last fall Alex Carter, Cody Jones, and I got together to assemble a team to produce and post-produce Alex's spec commercial. We filmed it in one day last fall and finished post-production in mid-December. We tried connecting with Gillette to see what they thought about the spot we made, but we didn't hear back from them. 😢   But we didn't really expect to, either.   So now we're bringing the spec to you to see what you think AND to learn more about Alex's idea, the issues we had in production in post-production, and what we learned from making our very first big brand commercial on spec.   TECHNICAL DETAILS:   Canon C300 MkII  Vintage Nikkor Photo Primes (cine-modded, of course)  Edited with Final Cut Pro  Color in DaVinci Resolve  Sound Mixed in Adobe Audition   CREDITS:   Santa | Gary Planck  TV Personality | MJ Peters   Written & Directed by Alex Carter  Produced & Edited by Matthew O'Brien  Cinematography & Color by Cody Jones  Gaffer | Cadet Fowler  Key Grip | DJ Hornacek  Sound Mixed by Kyle Ranney   ALEX  YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCguzWaeZ0DaJDezjmN0Yu0Q  Instagram | @made.by_alex  Letterboxd | https://letterboxd.com/alexcrter/  Website | https://alexccarter.com/n   CODY  Instagram | @codyjonescolor  Website | https://www.codyjonesdp.com

    1h 2m
  2. Starting Over When What You Made Isn't Good Enough

    09/04/2020

    Starting Over When What You Made Isn't Good Enough

    "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." That saying has been ringing in my (Matthew's) ears for the last few weeks. To get my head around this whole COVID-19 lockdown, I found myself wanting to work on projects in my studio that could move the needle for how I film and create content - a bunch of drywall work, a bathroom in dire need of updating, and a back hallway were all nagging at me over the years, but I kept putting it off due to busy-ness. What I learned while doing this work - work I didn't have much experience with - was how to challenge myself to push through the desire to "just finish" and really task myself with doing better, doing more, focusing on the quality of the work. From drywall patches that weren't smooth enough to caulking that didn't have straight edges, to areas where the paint could use some touch ups and maybe an extra coat - I found that sometimes I had to really discipline myself to make the work I was doing rise from "yeah, it's okay - kinda good" to "yes, that looks RIGHT." So in today's video I'm chatting about that experience and how it relates to my business and my filmmaking. Let us know in the comments how work unrelated to filmmaking and video has made you a better artist, creator, technician - AN ARTISAN. FOLLOW MIDLAND: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MidlandPictures Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midlandpictures Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MidlandPictures Website: https://www.midlandpictures.com Podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlandpictures FOLLOW MATTHEW: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewtobrien Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/matthewtobrien

    16 min
  3. Pricing Your Work

    09/04/2020

    Pricing Your Work

    Pricing your work - especially Creative Work - can be incredibly difficult. Which method do I use? Hourly? Day rates? Cost Plus? What amount should I markup my costs? Are you stressed about projects that aren't profitable, too little profit to actually grow your business? Are you tired of feeling like you're just a vendor who's there to take orders from your client? Frustrated that your client thinks they know what's best for them more than you do?  Let's talk about the Value Mindset before we go all-in with Value-Based Pricing. What does it mean to think about the value your work creates for your clients and their business rather than the time + materials it takes to make a video for your client? How can thinking based on value lead you to greater profits and happier clients? If you've even touched on the world of Value-Based Pricing you need to know these FIVE advocates for the practice: Blair Enns | The Win Without Pitching Manifesto & Pricing Creativity | https://www.winwithoutpitching.com Chris Do | The Futur | https://thefutur.com Jonathan Stark | Ditching Hourly | https://jonathanstark.com Marcus Rideout | Video Warriors | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw7uK6zDkqZwroM2rLzNtcQ Joel Pilger | RevThink | http://revthink.com FOLLOW MIDLAND: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MidlandPictures Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midlandpictures Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MidlandPictures Website: https://www.midlandpictures.com Podcast: https://anchor.fm/midlandpictures FOLLOW MATTHEW: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewtobrien Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/matthewtobrien

    10 min

About

Welcome to Midland Pictures FM! Tune in to listen to us interview filmmakers, discuss gear/tech/apps we use on a daily basis, and get real about our successes and failures with running a company where we work with/for clients, create our own original content, and figure out this whole process of building a company and a brand from nothing. This should be fun.