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[RC] Barn, Sunburn, Video Coverage - Darolyn Butler-DialHi All,
re: HOUSE/BARN We built a 3000 sq. ft living area on pilings in 1980 (like
a beach house)... we lived in a flood plain & it had to be built that way.
Later we added a five stall barn & breezeway underneath, a two car garage,
small storage room, small apartment, shop, tack room, feed room, & a small
bath. Our rule over the 23 years has been: (1) If you can smell it, its not
clean enough, (2) if you can hear them, you had better go check and see what
they are doing.
I even considered getting a periscope at one time & installing so I could
watch the barn... (that was before the little fancy video cams were
available.) I have truly enjoyed the arrangements. Now that our business
is trail rides, I really enjoy being able to run up in the house for snacks
or quick office trips. I can't imagine not having it all in one location
now.
re: HORSE SUNBURN ... I still say Desitin or one of the diaper rash oinments
with at least 40% zinc oxide is the best sunburn protector and burn healer
there is. We buy 6 tubes at a time here for all sorts of various rubs...
people too.
re: VIDEO COVERAGE Producing videos was my livilihood for about a dozen
years. In the course of making over 24 instructional videos (including
Round Pen Reasoning with John Lyons), I did about 7 or 8 major Endurance
race coverages. We prided ourselves on making them very interesting by
making an effort to get history & info on every rider. As the rider came on
cam, throughout the race, we'd add personal information about them on the
script. We tried to get every rider if possible. Naturally we concentrated
on the front runners as the program progressed, but then we got to go into
more detail on them. We would interview them at the stops, and at the
finish.... not to mention pre-race interviews.
Many times we would have the riders themselves explain what a vet check was
& how they handled it strategically. We would describe the trail verbally
as well as visual shots. We would try to do a shot of the map and also some
shots of local interest. i.e. a covered bridge, a gorgeous tabletop
mountain. etc. Interviews with the RMs of course, the vets, and sometimes
parents or spouses. Then we would try to make the race itself as
suspenseful as possible.
All this was done with 1 or 2 cameras usually, a heroic & fast
driver//camera man trying to skip around quickly to all the scenic places...
(oh how I prayed for a helicopter)... and innovative editing. We would end
up spending 100 hours plus on the editing alone to make it flow nicely and
be up to broadcast standards..... Why did we stop? This type of production
would be bid at normal rates, even in the 80's & 90's at about $30 to $50
K.... Believe me..no sponsor wanted to give even a smidgeon of that amount.
We always thought selling them would help. However, the elite races only
had about 60 participants, tops.... Ok.. say 1/2 of them buy a tape at $30
which is all we thought the market could bear.... That's a big $900 for a
possible 1000 mile trip to shoot, 3 days of shooting & 2-3 weeks of editing.
So in analyzing the future productions.... now that there seems to be some
$$$ around... they just need to make sure they have experienced endurance
people/polished narrators/announcers doing the coverage. A good producer
that comes up with the interviews and also the stats on all the riders can
make a huge difference in the interest level created in the audience as
well.
Ok... Ok... I'm for hire... but I'm not cheap... I have to make up for all
the thousands I lost back when. LOL
Darolyn Butler-Dial & Mark Dial
CYPRESS TRAILS EQUESTRIAN CENTER & HORSEMAN VIDEO SHOWCASE
Proven Endurance Horses for Sale or Lease.
Adventure Trail Rides * Boarding * Training*Lessons *Parties
Represents: Sharon Saare Saddles, Professional Choice, Advanced Biological
Concepts, & KM (Human Electrolytes)
ADVOCATE :THE WHOLE HORSE TRIM (Barefootin")
21415 Cypresswood Dr. Humble, Texas 77338
Ph: 281 446 7232 Fax 281 446 0113 Toll Free (800) 228 8768
e mail: darolyn@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:darolyn@xxxxxxxxxx>
http://home.swbell.net/darolyn/
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