Video Production Services by Ramsey Pietro Nasser

Pricing depends on specific requirements. Some projects are small and uncomplicated, whilst others need considerable planning, set up and execution. Some projects come with pages of instructions, others with no instructions. Pricing also depends on how big the crew gets. I will advise you on this. In post, as a rule of thumb, for every day of filming, I'll need two days to edit. The first day is spent doing what's known as the sub-edit, or asset management, and the second day is about editorial and creativity. Sometimes, a third day is needed for changes or revisions, and this is the time I spend transcoding and archiving files if I'm handling long format medium. My clients are usually happy at the end of the second day of editing. Please get in touch if you'd like me to price your project.

 I used to have a day rate but now I offer custom packages as it cuts out the confusion with regards to cost of supplies, rental equipment and transportation. It also means I can take into account important aspects of production, such as pre-production and project management. 

Depending on the assignment, it can be as fast as same-day delivery or as long as two weeks. Projects have different time requirements associated, but what I can say is that I'm a very efficient production professional and video editor. Projects that can be delivered on the same day or same hour are invariably intended for the newsdesk. Pre-production is often neglected by laypeople. In fact, it's important to spend just as much time on the pre-production process as production and post, sometimes put together. Having said this, I've executed a good number of projects with little or no pre-production, but that's thanks to my experience. It's generally a good idea to begin with the pre-production under your belt - in order to ensure efficiency and costing.

Video production is much more than just what camera you use, but the camera or: 'the brain,' is important: especially in a digital workflow. For more information, please see my article: Top Secrets You Should Know Before Hiring A Filmmaker. I shoot with the Canon C300 television camera. It's known for its C Log and HD output. Filmmaking, though, is more about skill & workflow than amazing cameras, although my camera is pretty amazing. By workflow, I mean: every link of the filmmaking chain must be dependable, if the process isn't to be derailed. A reshoot due to a faulty cable, for example, will be very costly if it means rebooking a space, talent, etc.. Books have been written about workflow, so there are many areas to consider if you wish for a trouble-free and happily completed project. I have 100s, by the way!

This cheeky question used to be answered in a straightforward manner with a curt: "No!" Given recent advances, however, the latest high-end smartphones output footage with amazing-appearing footage. Having said this, there are important issues to consider. First, my camera outputs amazing quality footage 100% of the time, whereas smartphones output amazing quality footage maybe 10% or 20% of the time. For example, only when there's bright sunlight and amazing looking, well-dressed and well-groomed models. Second: since the smartphone sensor is miniaturised, the signal-to-noise output will be nowhere near as good as a full-frame sensor. This means low sensor sensitivity and grainier footage in real-world application. The lack of sensor size means footage won't have the film look we're all used to. Third: because of the highly compressed format, with information stored in high dimensional mathematics, footage can't be manipulated very well in post - this is important to filmmaking: especially if all other areas of the project are properly funded. It would be a pity not to be able to bring out the clouds in a shot because of the lack of dynamic range, or to change the white balance to remove an unnatural tint from a talent's natural skin tone. Fourth: if you look at smartphone footage on a screen other than your phone, you can see pixels go into each other in a way that's not found in nature. This is especially visible on high-end screens like my own. This smartphone fingerprint comes from highly compressed codecs designed so smartphone processors would keep cool and running. Fifth: the smartphone format makes footage of this kind difficult to edit in post, as this type of file is optimised for playback and NOT editing. Incidentally, this also applies to all non-professional prosumer cameras. Transcoding these user end files to a format that's appropriate to NLEs takes a while to do and is a p.a.i.n., even on my powerful workstation with monster CPU and GUPs. Without transcoding, this lack of flexibility makes editing much more laborious and ultimately, less creative. Sixth: the controls available on my camera are designed expressly for image capture and nothing else. So, it's much easier for me to get the footage in the bin than missing moments by fiddling with a touchscreen phone. Seventh: smartphones have preset primes and so it's impossible to capture action ten or twenty meters away without moving closer. With my mount and long lens, I can get stuff happening twenty meters away in HD, and it wouldn't be an issue. Eighth, and actually the most important: the inability to get good sound. Smartphones don't have XLR ins, so sound cannot be much better than what a smartphone sounds like. There are solutions or workarounds, usually pushed by a teen influencer and made by an SME somewhere in central Europe or China, but they're often fiddly and they can't be as good as the pro option. Sorry about the rant. 🐙

Yes, there are times when you can do your own editing, but the answer is usually: no. This is because professional cameras create intermediate files and therefore would need to be handled by someone who knows the post-production process. Files of this kind aren't compatible with semi-professional NLEs. The big three of the editing world are: Avid Media Composer (what I use), Adobe Premiere Pro, and Apple Final Cut Pro X. You can play back the files with your laptop if you use VLC Player which is free to download, but footage shot using a flat profile may appear grey and flat, because it haven't been colour graded yet. Video editing is a highly skilled profession and it takes years to learn. As I've stated before, what you can do in a month, I can do in a couple of days. It's best to leave it to a professional like myself.

The short answer is no. Whilst I keep everything I shoot on a stack of hard drives (my latest count is ten eight terabyte hard drives; I cannot guarantee the safekeeping of rushes. All footage I possess is meant to be held for a reasonable duration, viz., the time it takes to get an edit done. If, for example, you don't settle the account and abandon a project, I will keep the footage, but I cannot guarantee its safekeeping. Accidents happen and drives fail.

If I say rehearsal is necessary, then you must rehearse. In some cases, I will be with you during rehearsal, in other cases, not. Rehearsal is essential when it comes to A roll filming - especially in a piece to camera even if you have the benefit of my teleprompter. There are two reasons for this. A roll is all about fluency of delivery. A hesitation in real life is fine, but in video if viewer immersion is disturbed, so is the hypnotic spell that keeps you watching. So, the foundation of any video is fluency. This cannot be overemphasised. Even if an actor appears to be hesitating during a performance, they are still being fluent and everyone on set knows it and is ready to capture every movement. If you're not fluent on the shoot, then this will increase shooting and/or studio time and it'll also mean extra work in post. It won't be good for the bottom line. Here, it's important to bear in mind there are different levels of both fluency and rehearsals. There's a degree of fluency which involves knowing all of the words, but doesn't include saying all of the words. Then there's another degree of fluency when you can say all of the words and phonemes correctly, but not to camera. You can get around this by recording yourself on cameraphone. Once you can do this, this is often when I come in, to give you directions and pointers. This is when rehearsal really begins if you wish to end up with a well-directed and executed video. My job is to strike a balance between the spontaneous and the rehearsed - it's a craft that I've developed over many years. Each director has a unique style, but we're all after the same thing.

I think the best format is native - the "gold" you get straight out of the camera. The big NLEs think so, too, as they're optimised to play these files smoothly. However, these files aren't for the end viewer. After a lot of reading and testing on various professional-grade monitors, as well as discussing it with other video editors, I think H.265 is the best deal around at the moment.

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I'm an Avid Media Composer (△▽❚▷) editor. Avid is the world's most prestigious and capable video editing software. It's the go-to software for television and film studios, as it was the pioneer in NLE. It has a number of advantages. The most noticeable advantage is its stability and its efficiency, in terms of processor and GPU resources. In the many years I've used Avid, it's only crashed a handful of times - less than a tally of five. Each time, all my data was recoverable, thanks to Avid Attic - Avid's backup system. Compared to other NLEs, which are known to crash regularly, Avid is a saint 😇 in this regard. Another distinct advantage of Avid are the senior technical teams that work around the clock to troubleshoot and solve any technical issue that might crop up. Problems, which are rare, could be solved within the same day or even faster if it's urgent. Avid, also, has the advantage in accepting almost any format. Avid, however, isn't enough for running a video production house as production sometimes presents challenges that are best dealt with by other software. Adobe Creative Cloud offers a whole host of specialist software to enhance creativity and deal with problems associated with source media. Problems could be an unwanted cough in sound, or an unsightly plastic bottle that could be rotoscoped out in post. Both Adobe Audition for sound, and Adobe After Effects are highly versatile and indispensable software solutions. I also use Sorenson Squeeze and Pav Tube MXF converter to transcode files for the web and television.

Yes! I have a screen dedicated for clients just like you. You'd be most welcome to watch me work. Lunch is included.

Apple Macs and PCs go through phases in terms of processing capability. At the moment, PCs are far more powerful machines than Apple Macs. Video editors, 3D animators and other high-end users have switched to PCs. In recent months, there was the announcement of the much anticipated 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ Core Processor, and Apple Mac released its so-called: "cheese grater," model. The new 32 core chip by AMD is wowing people all over the planet right now with its unprecedented desktop capabilities. To give a simile, any render thrown at this monster is dealt with swift ferocity: - like a mythical gigantic octopus attacking a ship and killing all its sailors, within minutes. In other words, it really is a huge breakthrough in back-end desktop computing. Whilst I've not upgraded from my workstation to that level yet, I will do in the future as my trade moves toward 4K RAW video. Historically, PCs delivered a lot more: "bang for your buck," as our friends in the USA like to say. They're also properly cooled if built correctly, unlike Apple Macs. Apple Macs are notorious for thermal throttling incidents, allowing their CPUs to reach 100°C. That's why I'm firmly in the PC camp.