Emulate, Don't Duplicate

For more information on shooting/selling stock footage check out my other posts:
GETTING STARTED
KEYWORDING
WHAT SELLS?

It is immoral and destructive to the stock footage business to duplicate/recreate another producer's top-selling shots and post as your own original stock footage.  However, looking at the top selling shots and emulating those topics respectfully and with your own creative angle can be the single most effective way to shoot stock footage that sells.

In a recent post I talked about ideas on what to shoot as stock footage.  This is a related topic but deserves its own section because there really is a fine line between plagiarism and emulation.  Below are my thoughts on what you should do and NOT do to stay on the right side of the line.

Things TO DO:

• Review top selling video files from iStockphoto.com and other stock footage sites so you know what videos are in demand.
• When you are writing keywords, search for the clips that look like yours and already have a lot of sales.  Use some of their keywords.
• Review top selling photos and get some ideas for shooting video of a similar topic.

Business is always a popular selling theme, this top selling photo would make a good video clip because 

there is an action that the actors can perform. (putting the puzzle pieces together)

• Look through the top selling videos when you have a mental block on what to shoot.  Sometimes you can get inspiration, and new ideas.
• Look at top selling clips to see trends in style. If a lot of the top selling clips are using a tilt-shift lens, maybe you should go rent/borrow a tilt-shift lens and play around with it on your next shoot.
  
  
                                

• Look at the producers that have top selling clips and try to figure out what they are doing with their overall portfolio that helps them achieve such high sales. (one thing you will notice time and time again is that the top producers are ALWAYS posting something new.)

Things NOT to do:

• NEVER try to use footage that you didn't shoot and incorporate it into your video.  You would be surprised how fast these people get caught.  And it's just bad Karma.
• Don't try to copy someone's top selling clip and re-shoot it exactly. Up the ante a little, put your own spin on it.
• If you are going to emulate top selling clips, don't do it often.  Buyers really are looking for unique shots, and they don't want 100 of the same clip to come up when they do a search.

You can create a few great clips by emulating some of the top sellers... still, the vast majority of your stock footage portfolio should be your original ideas and experiences.  Which is far more rewarding.  One of the great things about shooting stock footage is the complete freedom you have to go out and shoot whatever you find interesting, or beautiful, or unique.  It is a creative outlet, that somehow manages to pay pretty well too. (relative to other creative hobbies).

That's all for now, thanks for reading...

Happy shooting!
HDCineman