Freelancers should to charge more — Why businesses are happy to pay it
For the Creatives and the Business folk alike I can say with 100% surety that the consumers of “content” can tell when something is good and when something is bad. Or worse, contrived from salesy stereotypical double talk that hasn’t changed in sixty years. They can tell (and so can you) when something has no “heart” and zero creativity, so let the Creative do their thing. Speaking now as a Creative, we abhor salsey and, if let off the chain, we will kill everything that even remotely smells like it was in the same room as it.
As a Creative, I have been in many situations that require "white knuckling" a negotiation. Everyone wants to pay as little as they can for just about everything, I mean, why wouldn't you? So, we can't fault a business woman or man for trying to get the most for the buck. Artists do the same thing, some of us do anyway. It's a natural process of living as a human.
What I do know is that after a hard-fought concession that meets the minimum requirements for me to take a job, I feel dejected, used, grimy and totally drained. The exact opposite of where I need to be if I am to give the client what they paid for, or more. At home after negotiating this kind of contract, I always feel like I shouldn't have taken the job because I am mad as hell. There usually isn't any reason for me to be mad, but I typically am. Mostly because I feel that if the business really liked my work, why did they have to say that it costs too much? It's a pretty dumb way to look at it, but it's just another one of the emotions tearing at me on the inside. To look at it from the outside, I actually won. I got the contract, and I am going to get paid for my artistic work. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of soul searching for me to get over that hump and into the right mindset to deliver the best I can, if at all. I am sure most artists feel the same way about it too. It's also one of many reasons why artists tend to fall deep into despair and overflow with self-doubt right before they quit for good and become a hermit. Even though they should revel in the fact that someone actually wants to pay them for their art.
Speaking to artists and freelancers out there, I have a couple of useful tips that will help. To the business folk, I have some great tips on how to talk and work with someone who is genuinely creative.
To the artists: You have to defend your business. That's what the guy or gal across the table or on the other end of the phone are doing. It's nothing personal, they actually value your work as well as you.
Wait, what? I know, right…
Sometimes that seems so far out there you can't even begin to believe it. But it is true, Trust me on this one. I used to be that business owner. Whenever I hired an artist to help me with something I didn't do it because they were cheap to hire, it was because I thought they did excellent work. But that didn't mean I was a wealthy billionaire who wanted to bankroll the dream project.
They have a budget too. You have to look at this side of the project as the business only side, compartmentalize it. I know, that's terrible, but really that's the best way to look at it. That doesn't mean you have to be the one giving up everything. Don't hedge your bet. Hold to your standards and don't back off.
You, the creative, have bills to pay and budgets to meet, even if they are only scribbled on the McDonald's bag in your car. Guess what, so does the person in front of you. You may think spending $10 on Whataburger is splurging while they could feed the entire room and not miss it but a budget is a budget and money is money, that's about all there is to that. Don't take it personally.
Treat this part of the deal like you work for Walmart and give em hell. After all, they are going to do the same thing, at least before they read the rest of this blog. Hopefully, these next things will help the creative in business but not "content" understand that we are not tools, we are artists.
For the business minded folk who are confounded by the Creatives out there, I am glad you are still here, reading this blog. Don't be frightened that the price for every Facebook video or graphic just jumped 20% after all the artists read that. It won't, I promise.
Creative folks are kinda different than you are used to dealing with. Some are more "easier" to get along with than others, but that doesn't mean they are singing your praises either. Just like your employees, Creatives can suffer morale issues and, just like your employees, creatives work better when they feel respected.
If you have pushed your contract to the limits and negotiated the best deal you can get, you have probably pushed the Creative folks (especially if it's only one person and not a team) up against a wall. It is true that some people respond well to being cornered and do their best work under pressure, but I am here to say those folks are far and few between. What you have really done is poked a giant hole in the creativity bucket, draining away what you thought you were paying for. If it was stressful for you, these negotiations, then it was, at the very least, just as stressful for the Creative and that's not a good thing.
I would suppose that you, the businessman or woman, have an expectation that you must get what you ordered. You are right, you should. That's not always the case though. Creatives aren't order takers or line workers. These folks don't do well when working on the factory floor, they are artists after all.
The work they do cannot be dictated to them. When you do that you actually devalue them and their work. It makes it worth LESS than what you thought you were paying for.
Videos, graphics, designs and anything else that you want to be better than the bullet point slideshow you have open on your desktop right now cannot be done by dictating to the creative every pixel or brush stroke. You want it to be better than what you are making, right? Then why are you making them do it exactly the way you would do it? This happens more than you know and that shouldn't be why you hired them. Creatives can only shine when all the barriers are lifted, and they are free to express themselves. Sure, give them deadlines and parameters but let them surprise you. After all, they are the artist and not you, right?
For the Creatives and the Business folk alike I can say with 100% surety that the consumers of "content" can tell when something is good and when something is bad. Or worse, contrived from the salesy stereotypical double talk that hasn't changed in sixty years. They can tell (and so can you) when something has no "heart" and zero creativity, so let the Creative do their thing. Speaking now as a Creative, we abhor salsey and, if let off the chain, we will kill everything that even remotely smells like it was in the same room as it.
Being creative sells products plain and simple. You hired the Creative to fill the gap those bullet points can't fill. And you, the Creative, you took the job so you can work on your masterpieces without having to work at that nine to five soul-killing job. As a man who once was a business minded sales guy who's turned to the dark side and shed his skin to become a Creative, I say release the shackles and pay that Creative to be creative, and you will get more value out of them than you ever thought possible. I guarantee it.
I accidentally wrote a movie.
I actually sat down to write a ten page short that I could fund and shoot myself (by fun I meant it actually doesn’t cost anything other than time), I knew what I wanted, I knew what I needed to get there. Yet, I still held fast to the burnt in rules of screenwriting. I didn’t mean to, but I did it anyway. Like I say in my podcast all the time, I plotted it out, found the turns and went in for the kill, but ten pages just isn’t enough time.
Writing is hard. Just ask anyone who has tried to write something that is somewhat coherent and actually has a story that makes sense. There are so many rules, regulations that you have to follow as well as being creative at the same time. For me, I have always found it hard to get too far past the first act and into the “fun and games,” (as Blake Snyder calls it) portion of any script. Today, however, was the exception.
I actually sat down to write a ten page short that I could fund and shoot myself (by fun I meant it actually doesn’t cost anything other than time), I knew what I wanted, I knew what I needed to get there. Yet, I still held fast to the baked in rules of screenwriting. I didn’t mean to, but I did it anyway. Like I say in my podcast all the time, I plotted it out, found the turns and went in for the kill, but ten pages just isn’t enough time.
I got to the point I wanted to make, I set up the relationship of the main character with her boyfriend, I introduced the characters for the “B” story and gave the boyfriend more time to tell his story so his role could grow. Then came the mentor. The mentor is the Obi-Wan Kenobi character that teaches our main protagonist how to navigate the world and the tools they will need to defeat the Dark Night of the Soul. Then I thought, wait… How many pages is this? I looked, and I was on page 14. CRAP!
See; usually, a screenplay needs to have the first ten pages for setup and the turn into the second act, give or take. The reason for the ten pages is mostly due to the script readers at the studios only giving you ten pages to hook them. The mentor comes in just before that, and you should have a visit from every character so we can see just where they are starting out in the world, set the rules of the world and a couple of other things, things the audience needs to know.
After looking up and seeing my page count, I realized that I had accidentally hit every beat of a FIRST ACT. I completely missed my target of getting to all the beats needed to make a sound, readable story in ten pages. Heck, the mentor for the story was even introduced on page eight, and the turn into act two was expressed. DANG IT! I didn’t mean to do that.
Accepting my fate, I went ahead and thought about the next things that needed to be done. Fun and Games, Dark Night of the Soul, and the Finale. The damn thing is, I hit them all and more. The “B” stories come to fruition right at the page they should, they team up and war against the Antagonist at just the right time and find that one of the “B” story characters is the key to defeating the bad guy. I didn’t set out to make this a movie but damn it...
Why am I mad about this, you may ask. Well, I need a short film to shoot not ANOTHER screenplay to finish. I have about fifty already. But this one is way ahead of the game. The only downfall of this screenplay is that it is more of a Rom-Com than anything else. I’ve never attempted one of these before, and I am not sure it is a good enough story to actually spend all the time it takes to write.
I guess I’ll keep pluggin along. Maybe it will turn into something interesting a draft or two into it.
New Podcast now available
This episode of the podcast is to help anyone understand just one of the many devices that are necessary to create a good screenplay, book or any story.
The Dark Night of the Soul is an integral part of any good story. To write a good story the Dark Night of the Soul isn't just a device used by a character to get where they are going, and it is the reason they get there.
This episode of the podcast is to help anyone understand just one of the many devices that are necessary to create a good screenplay, book or any story.
Five things you didn't know about me...
I was bounty hunter in my younger days. Yes, an honest to goodness bounty hunter. I arrested three men and almost lost my sh*t the entire time I was doing it. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t afraid, I was hyper aware of everything that was going on.
Thinking about my experiences today I really don’t know how I could tantalize you, the reader. Blogs are supposed to be about the exciting and creative things the author has done during the day to show the world how great they are.
Well, today was actually kind of boring. I know, I know… I am supposed to never say that on a blog because it might mean that the folks reading might get disillusioned. It’s all about the clicks, right?
So I thought that it might be interesting to write about five things you don’t know, or probably don’t know about me.
One: I hate clickbait, and I am somewhat mad at myself right now for engaging in it.
Two: I truly put myself in the shoes of other people. I may be wrong about my conclusions, but I try very hard to make sure that everything that I do has a positive impact on the person I am talking to.
Three: I was a bounty hunter in my younger days. Yes, an honest to goodness bounty hunter. I arrested three men and almost lost my sh*t the entire time I was doing it. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t afraid, I was hyper-aware of everything that was going on. That meant I knew I was probably ruining these cats lives by bringing them in. I am older now, so I realize that their lives were already crap and they were the only one that was responsible for their predicament. I was just a symptom.
Truth be told, my right eye twitched 24/7 while I was hunting these guys down. I was smarter than them so I got everyone I was sent after, but it was absolute hell.
When I quit, when I told the bondsman that I wasn’t going to do it anymore, my eye immediately quit twitching. Thank God, cuz that sucked.
Well, almost everyone levels up.
Four: I used to be an American Idol level singer. I know, everyone says they are that good. But I was told more than once that I was great, and not by a bunch of drunks either (they think everyone’s great). It didn’t last long though, just like everything else I tried, it got hard and I had an easier way to make money now, so I did that instead.
What I should have done… wait. life isn’t about what we should have done. It’s about what we are going to do next. Want some unsolicited advice? Ok, I will tell you anyway. Don’t run from what is hard, run toward it. You will only get better and level up.
Five: I genuinely want everyone I work with to succeed. I feel jealousy sometimes, but when I recognize it for what it is, I immediately slap my hand with a ruler. When folks around me win, I win. I win because I get to learn from them (you can too, I believe this with my entire being). They are winning, and I want to win also. Bringing them down or chastising them behind their back or to their face is actually saying more about me than them.
Failure we can learn from. Winning benefits us all. We can learn and absorb what it took to win and use it for ourselves.
Because I put myself in everyone else’s shoes, I know that they may have won, but they are just as scared and full of self-doubt as I am and you are, believe it or not.
Thoughts on Work
You always have to jump into the deep if you wanna swim
I’m thinking tonight about my future. Thinking about what can lie ahead, about my past and just how things could have turned out differently.
See, in the past, I have always chosen the thing that seemed to be right because it will get me out of “predicaments” the fastest. I went into insurance for the money, went with the opportunities because of the money. Honestly, I had cash, and I learned to live with myself and my choice... mostly.
There always was that nagging feeling that I wasn’t doing anything with my life and nothing was satisfying. I had a prolonged bitter taste after the sweetness left.
This time it’s scary, just like all the times before. But this time I think I’m going to do what’s hard. It may ruin me financially, but I believe it’s going to pay off this time.
I’m a creative. That’s where my strength lies. That’s what made me an excellent salesman and also why I can never be a great salesman. This time I’m going to run down the path instead of detouring to the field full of flowers that are beautiful in the short-term but kill me with hay fever in the long.
If you pray, pray for me. I’m going to need it.
New podcast!
New podcast from me! Listen and subscribe.
As of today, I have a new podcast available on Apple podcasts called “Aul G Newton on Everything”. Go to the podcast app on your apple device or visit the page or go to the page if you don’t have an Apple device or use iTunes.
Work, Work Work...
Working for a job I’m not supposed to have?
Today was exciting, to say the least. Many of you don’t know, but I was laid off from my job as the Video Production Manager at a national orthodontic firm about three weeks ago. Usually being laid off means that you don’t work for that company anymore, strangely, this time that’s not what’s happening.
It seems that the company may have been a little premature with my departure from the company. Hey, don’t look at me, I didn’t want to leave after all. Last week I spent all week up there and nine hours today making videos for them. I don’t mind, since it’s too cold anyway, and it gives me something to do. But good grief...
The good news though is that I seem to have stumbled upon another opportunity. It seems the State has a program that will allow me to go back to school for Graphics Design. That’s pretty cool!
I already know a hell of a lot about color, composition, Photoshop and more but to get free training in all the other stuff, well that’s cool. Once I’m into the program, I actually may be able to qualify for a few grants as well. Maybe that will allow me to travel even more and get the really great shots I am looking for.
Quick journey through the fresh snow.
It snowed in North West Arkansas today so I went out into the cold with my camera and found some pretty interesting colors amidst all the white.
It is brutally cold here in the south. I know, I know… folks in Minnesota are used to being cryogenically-frozen until spring, but this is the south, my dear. We have brutally hot summers where the humidity is so high we sometimes have to wear scuba gear to breath, but our winters only get into the teens and twenties for a few days, and you know, we just ain't used to it. LOL. The good news for us, here in North West Arkansas, is that it snowed a little. Not a vast snow, just a good dusting that made everyone think it snowed.
Since there was a layer of white stuff on top of everything today, I figured I better get out and take a photograph or two. I enlisted my father (who is in his seventies) because my Mustang GT might just get stuck and his giant Dodge Ram probably won't. He and I bundled up and headed out.
The first place I stopped was Lake Fayetteville. It is easy to get to and just deserted enough to test the roads for ice. The calmness of the lake seemed the best place to start.
The cold touch of winter
While this photo is good, it isn't what I expected I would get, and I wanted to do better. When taking a photograph, its all about contrast. Not the contrast slider in your phone's photo editing app that can be taken too far and usually is, but about the contrast of the subjects. Being that winter in Arkansas is typically cold and grey with brown dominating all the scenes where green is overabundant in the summer. Things need to stand out when you take a photograph and not dominate.
I kept looking for something better, something that may spark my interest. I wasn't hitting on all cylinders by my eye caught the wavy vanishing point just to my right.
Wavy lines of man
But really, that wasn't what I was looking for, and it really isn't up to the standards I have set for myself.
Telling this to my father, he started the truck and headed south to the Boston Mountains. I was worried about this trek into the pretend mountains (they are really just very rugged and steep hills) as it is challenging to find the right viewpoint without traveling across private property. He assured me that there has to be something worth taking a photo of. So, off we went, but first, we visited Mount Sequoya in Fayetteville.
Usually, you can get a great photograph of the entire downtown of Fayetteville Arkansas from way up on top of the hill, but just not today. It seems that the upkeep of this particular spot has fallen short this winter, add to that the other sightseers and a persistent haze, it really didn't look all that great. NEXT TIME!
Old main was obscured by overgrown trees and a persistent haze.
I did get this cute photo of the guest house, though. It makes me want to go watch "Its a Wonderful Life" for some reason.
But then we decided to go south. Visit the river and follow it as far as we could stand. It was worth it. While not all my efforts were print worthy, for this blog, I think most of them will do.
Even better was that the cold of the day caused the water in the river to turn emerald green and turquoise. FUN!
But the best one, as it always is, was Devil’s Den State Park waterfall. It never lets you down.
Always running, this waterfall is great, any time of year.
After that, though, I was just too cold. We headed home and had some stew and got warmed up.
Old Man Winter
Old man winter is trying my patients.
Sitting on my front porch (yeah, whatcha going to do about it, lol) looking at the grey sky and sleeping trees trying hard to stay warm I can’t wait for spring.
The sky is grey and the trees are bare, Soon you will be photo-worthy after your long winters nap.
Spring is the best time of year for the most colorful shots and not freezing to death.
Oh, winter, you were fun for a day but three months is hard for a guy like me to stand.
The spring flowers are always in style.
Review of Thor Ragnarok
I do have to applaud the movie for trying to stay true to its roots in the 1970's, 1980's motif that the first one had with its cheesy subtitles and crummy music but even that left me rolling my eyes because of the recent phenomena of the Netflix Stranger Things. It actually cheapened it for me because I hate pandering, especially in film where the movie has to hold its own for the sake of itself. Even though, I must admit that no movie seems to do that these days. A practice that I believe should still be first and foremost in the minds of the creators of any film yet has seemed to fall out of favor.
I finally gave in and went to see the heralded Thor Ragnarok last night. I did not want to see it, really, but many of the screenwriting podcasts I have been listening to, like The Curious about Screenwriting Podcast, seem to love the story. While I felt it had some relative fun aspects to the movie, I did not feel that it left me wanting to see more or other films.
The story structure seems sound, its flow was not interrupted with randomness or unnecessary scenes that failed to complete the mission of furthering the story. It did have redeeming character traits that made the characters somewhat likable and, on the first watch, the story seemed succinct. That did not spur my imagination and left me with a feeling of emptiness when leaving the theater. It was not a bad movie, and it did everything right in the way that movies are doing them today, but it didn't do what I want a movie to do and create a lasting impression upon my psyche that I can carry with me on my travels through my own life.
I do have to applaud the movie for trying to stay true to its roots in the 1970s, 1980's motif that the first one had with its cheesy subtitles and crummy music but even that left me rolling my eyes because of the recent phenomena of the Netflix Stranger Things. It actually cheapened it for me because I hate pandering, especially in a film where the movie has to hold its own for the sake of itself. Even though, I must admit that no movie seems to do that these days. A practice that I believe should still be first and foremost in the minds of the creators of any film yet has seemed to fall out of favor.
The film opens with Thor being trapped by a Devil looking creature that makes no literal sense to anyone like myself... but there is a reason for the creature as it is blatantly and needed for the movie to have an ending. Unfortunately for this film, I knew exactly what this character's purpose was at about three minutes in. Ultimately telling me the conclusion of the movie and leaving no suspense or tension to make me WANT to keep watching. Then it did it again and again... Every new character that was introduced strengthened my guess and eventually left me with two hours of my time taken from me while draining my pockets of the money it took to purchase the ticket. At the end of the film, I found myself ultimately disappointed in the plot and story because at no point did anything task my senses or make me second guess the ending that was already completed in my mind. In fact, the only other movie that was more blatant about its end at the very beginning was a terrible film that had so much potential but the worst story ever called "The Others" starring Nichole Kidman. This movie is about a mother and her children who are haunted by ghosts, but it turns out that they are actually the ghosts. Something that was very thinly veiled at the beginning leaving nothing to the imagination and thus ruining the story.
One thing that immediately set off my alarms is when Thor losses his hammer just shortly after his father dies. The only recourse for the character is to take the throne from the bad, bad lady in the Maleficent outfit and kill her with the thing holding Thor prisoner at the beginning of the movie. I mean they didn't even try. The fact that her horns and the horns of what could be mistaken as the devil from "Pick of Destiny" look exactly the same are just some of the dead giveaways. Needless to say, any entertainment value from this movie could only come from the crude and silly jokes, insider trading of the Avengers prior films and fighting. None of which actually advance the story or make any sort of coherent point that might stimulate anyone other than fanboys who would watch any Marvel movie with exuberance just because it is a Marvel movie, regardless of its content or quality.
I tried to enjoy the movie, I honestly did. The laments of Thor as he tries to be cool but just isn't are humorous and usually might make him more human but fail miserably and only serve to throw us out of the film and remind us that we are in a theater and not somewhere else. Then there is the CGI. It is supposed to be, but it looks horrendous. None of the places looked real to me at any point other than the short scene on earth where they are talking to their father. Everything else was half baked and cheap. I know what it takes to make stuff in computer land look real and have done it myself, and I assure you, it could have been done much better for an extra couple of hours worth of work. Not only do the locations look very fake and seem to make us want to believe that outer space exists in the land of Roger Rabbit all of the animated characters look equally bad. At no point did I ever believe Hulk was in the same room as Thor and not just some cartoon skillfully drawn but poorly colored.
I would say this movie is worth a watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime, but that is about as far as I would go. It isn't a terrible movie, but it's not that great either. Films should challenge us, make us want to be right next to the character on the screen and endear themselves into our psyche when we are done watching them. Genuine cinematic gold must contain something of lasting value that stays with you. Thor, Ragnarok doesn't even come close to doing this on any level, and it is a waste of time. If you want pure entertainment for the sake of entertainment, watch something else because this doesn't even accomplish that. Terminator 2 is better at just tantalizing your brain, probably because it's endearing and leaves you different than you were before you saw it the first time. Something this movie and most of its contemporaries fail to do.