The Platypus Producer by F.R. "Fritz" Nordengren

Dirck Halstead concluded the Platypus Papers with this statement:

"As time and practice continues, you will become more expert at integrating these practices. But the key is a thought process."

     It is "I alone am responsible for my story".

Most of the time, working in a collaborative environment always makes better results.  In news video, in documentaries, in traditional photo journalism, having a second set of eyes, ears and creative vision can bring life and depth to an otherwise myopic project.

But the Platypus, and the possibilities it holds, can make working alone not only possible, but also better.

When you cross the lines into Platypism your role shifts.  You are no longer "just a shooter" or "just a photographer".  You become a producer.  The newer cameras, software and hardware tools we talk about here make it possible to do this affordably and with minimal overhead.

Two examples and a daydream÷

To share some personal experiences, I must first warn you that I do some unique and odd-ball projects.  My documentary work focuses on non-profits in health care, and their work in developing and emerging counties.  My other work -- the work that has paid the bills over the last decade -- has been consulting in the litigation area, helping trial lawyers present information to juries using media.

While much of this is charts, graphs, and document enlargements, there have been a number of videos that fall into the documentary style.  These project are referred to in the legal industry as "Day in the Life" films and they document for a jury the day-to-day care needs of injured people.

For example, someone who has been injured as the result of a drunk driver may have daily therapy.  In severe cases, they may not be able to feed, bathe or dress themselves.  Lawyers will have a "Day in the Life" video produced to show the jury, in 20 minutes - 60 minutes, all the daily care and treatment the client/patient receives.  These have to be fair, accurate, and while not necessarily balanced (the opposing side provides the "balance") they can not be inflammatory or over exaggerate a patient's condition.  (As an example, zooming in, while a patient is in pain, would probably be excluded by a judge as inflammatory.)

This isn't a difficult technical production to shoot, but a few years ago, this required:  A camera person, a sound person, a director or  production assistant, depending on my role, and the producer (me).

And then afterwards: An off line editor and maybe an online editor.

And, because legal projects are subject to revisions based on objections from the opposing attorney, the edit might have been done two or three times, from beginning to end, because we were editing in a linear edit suite.

The reality of these projects is they are made under fairly tight budgets. As a result, no one made a lot of money and the changes would drive people nuts.

Today, as a producer I know this job can be done as a platypus project.  One person can shoot and grab the audio for this project. Because we're now one or two people instead of 3 or 4, the process is less stressful to the patient/client and we're able to get a more personal and real look at the environment.

That same platypus can then do the edit in a nonlinear editing suite, making last minute changes simple.  The budget for this project is the same.  So now, instead of 6 people trying to squeeze into one very tight budget, two people can earn a very reasonable wage for the few days of work.  In a pinch, I can act as my own platypus and deliver the project as well.

In this case, rather than drive the price of the project down because one person does the job of many, the value of the project remains constant. The actual wage returned to the platypus and producer increases.

Example two÷

We're seeing the same kind of progress in our CD-ROM magazine and training projects.  For one of my clients, I oversaw the production of two "issues" of an interactive CD-ROM - magazine during 1997.  Both issues used still photographs and full motion video.

During the first issue, the client wanted to use a traditional approach. The video segments were contracted from an "out source" perspective.  Professional 3 person crews were hired in several cities; some really poor quality amature video was provided by article subjects, and then, the entire project was edited at one of three edit houses. Finally, it was turned into QuickTime movies in the client's facility.

The development / production time began in March and we struggled to meet a release date of June 30.

In comparison, issue two was approached as a platypus project.  One of my producers traveled to our story locations and instead of hiring a crew, hired a platypus.  With his vision, he was able to acquire the video, audio and stills (since we were outputting to the web and CD-ROM video still frames worked very well).  He did this in a little under a week.  When he returned, we used the client's new Media 100 editing system to create VHS windows burns, developed the story, and did the edit and conversion to QuickTime movies all in house.  The total production time on this project was 3 weeks.

A daydream÷

In 1993, the great Midwestern floods rolled through Iowa before slurping farther south.  Des Moines' water plant lay in the flood plain and as a result, the city was without running water for 3 weeks.  If the same flood happened this year, it would be very simple and affordable, using platypus gear, a web server, and a video streaming server like Real Video, to become the "official" information source for the flood.  As a solo platypus, you could shoot, capture audio, create short movie clips, and create a web site of value and importance that could rival that of any major news organization.

Sure, the networks have helicopters, satellite trucks, and dozens of assistants.  But one platypus, on the ground, (or water, I guess) can talk to people and let them tell their stories.  And with no set deadline parameters, the event can unfold naturally as it happens and be published to the web in real time.

And remember,since you are now the publisher, too, Dirck's observation:  "You, alone, are responsible for your story."

And while this is a great idea, sooner or later the question becomes, how am I going to make money with all this gear?  While some sources see the value in platypus coverage, the outlets are more limited than traditional photography.

In part two, we'll talk about the role of platypus / producer.  Finding money from sponsors, and how to price/package/ and sell your work.  One thought remains clear to me.  Even as all this changes around us, this is a great time to be a storyteller.