Seemingly unending supply of video footage over the internet has made choosing the right footage a daunting task. You have to make sure that the actors in the footage are released and content is copyright cleared. Hence, most people prefer to source footage from reliable companies rather than taking any chance. For producers and users of footage, the internet has provided a new way of searching for and obtaining stock footage. But so many providers now have their libraries on line that it sometimes seems there is an endless supply of footage to weed through. What began as a convenient alternative has become somewhat of a daunting overload of available downloadable content on the internet. This can be a real problem for commercial producers doing a commercial because of time constraints, i.e., the deadline created by a looming airdate. In the distant past before search engines, you would need to call on a Researcher to help you find the appropriate footage because they had the knowledge, expertise and relationships with the companies that specialized in the particular footage that might be needed for the job - information that was not privy to the average producer. When the internet took hold, clients and their assistants were able do the searching themselves. Until, of course, the field became so cluttered with stock footage that the necessary shot could get lost in the sauce so to speak. For instance, how do you know which keyword to put into the search field when you need someone doing something very specific? If you want a snowboarder wiping out do you put in "Wipe-Out", "Accident", "Falls." It quickly becomes apparent that not every library has logged the footage in the way that a producer or art director might search for it and the searching process now becomes something of a challenge. Another factor that enters the equation when doing a commercial, is that you need to be one hundred percent certain that the people/actors in the footage are released. This is why the advertising community prefers to glean footage from the bigger, more well-known companies where model released guarantees are assured and not take a chance with the royalty free libraries who allow their filmmakers to constantly upload their own footage on which many times no due diligence has been performed. So it seems the plethora of available footage has created not just a huge pool from which to chose, but also the problem of how not to drown in that pool. Where do you start, how do you get through it all and can you really trust royalty-free footage if so many different and maybe amateur filmmakers are constantly uploading footage? The short answer is: It depends. It's pretty obvious that if you are working on something for a major advertiser, movie or TV show, you need to be absolutely certain that the stock footage you are getting is copyright cleared and if people appear in it, that it is model-released. Royalty-free can be a great bargain but not if you wind up getting sued in the process. It is also quite cumbersome to extract the necessary footage in Royalty-free which sometimes has a distinctive non-professional look. That is not to say that royalty-free can't work wonders in quick-cut music videos, or provide that beautiful sunset. It just seems to get tricky if you are interested in high-quality, copy-right cleared and model-released footage because of the number of filmmakers uploading to royalty-free libraries, you just can't be sure exactly how they came by the footage. This is where it often pays to go back to the old system of hiring a researcher if your budget warrants it. Film Researchers who also deal in Rights and Clearances have the expertise to deliver problem free and appropriate footage, some of which is better than what you would have shot yourself. So it seems the plethora of available footage has created not just a huge pool from which to chose, but also the problem of how to get through it all. Another factor to be considered is the high-end client who needs a 2K or 4K scan. You know you can rely on the big companies to provide this service but what if they don't have what you are looking for? Again, Researchers with experience can be a great help due to their familiarity with sources' collections. Most Researchers also turn out to be crack negotiators when it comes to getting the best prices for footage. This brings us to the bulk discount question. You can usually negotiate a package deal yourself if you are buying several shots from the same library OR even better, from the same cameraman. This seems to add even more confusion to the process but in the end you will find it's worth it to pay attention to the number or codes on the footage to be sure it's coming from the same filmmaker/cameraman. Most libraries will be able to help steer you in the right direction on this. And if you are able to confine your selections to a particular cameraman, you may wind up with a better deal than you ever imagined.
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