Getting your work on Amazon Prime Video and Why it'll take way longer than you think.
Getting your work on Amazon Prime Video and Why it'll take way longer than you think.
Back in March, we shot ATB's second comedy special starring our friend Michael Furr. Michael is a Baltimore comedian and one of the most distinct and original voices in the current scene. Check out his debut special “Straight Acting” on Amazon Prime or directly from MichaelFurr.com
Now let’s get into why you’re really here.
You made something you want people to watch. Congrats! Now is the hard part, making it easy for them to watch. Self Distribution on your personal website is a great option and is kind of a gimme now. But, more likely than not your audience is going to want something easier. Luckily most TVs, Consoles, etc have streaming apps you can access right on the couch.
Amazon Video has a feature now called Amazon Direct. Amazon Direct allows you to self publish, setup a store page, link banking information, and even choose pricing (add free for Prime etc.).
Sounds great! But whats the catch. Well it’s just gonna take some time, especially if they reject your first few Mezzanine uploads. The Mezzanine file is essentially the Master copy you’ll submit for review. Amazon then transcodes the file to optimize for streaming on tv, phone, and lower quality options. This is a great idea in theory, but at this time it’s probably the biggest hurdle in the whole process.
Amazon gives you the export settings on how to achieve a "proper" Mezzanine file, but if you’re like us they’ll reject your first 3 attempts even after following the steps to a T. This wouldn’t be so bad if the upload tool could tell you that information, but it takes 2-4 business days for each rejection and the feedback you’ll get back just tells you you’re doing it wrong with no hint at how to correct it.
My biggest gripe with this process is that Amazon converts the Mezzanine files once they get uploaded anyways, so why even had upload restrictions?
For whatever reason following the export settings for ProRes 422 didn’t work for us. After multiple uploads and Amazon coming back with Mezzanine file errors I transcoded the file into .h264 and after a month we were finally accepted.
Director/Editor
Eric Glaeser
Camera
Joey Malinski
George Tarrant
Sound
Jimmy Solesky
Recorded live at The Windup Space in Baltimore, MD.
- Eric
Shooting with the Black Magic Ursa Mini 4.6K
We recently purchased the Black Magic Ursa Mini 4.6K as our full time cinema camera. Previously, ATB was either shooting DSLRs (5DM3, A7SII) or Renting the RED. This camera has had a lot of hype and tons of fall out. Once again, Black Magic Design over promising and under delivering. (A year late and not global shutter!). However, I was already hooked. This camera has been on my mind for too long. So, we got it.
We recently purchased the Black Magic Ursa Mini 4.6K as our full time cinema camera. Previously, ATB was either shooting DSLRs (5DM3, A7SII) or Renting the RED. This camera has had a lot of hype and tons of fall out. Once again, Black Magic Design over promising and under delivering. (A year late and not global shutter!). However, I was already hooked. This camera has been on my mind for too long. So, we got it.
Buyer remorse?
Not quite,. Is this camera flawed??
LCD, doesn't rotate 180 Degrees. Umm,, excuse me?
CFAST 2.0 cards are expensive and this thing eats Data.
Personally, we have static in our line 1s and 2s of the XLR inputs.
Oh yeah, it's flawed, but I still love it.
We are currently shooting a recruitment video for a national engineering firm. The camera has held up well in most situations. Handheld, Slow Motion, Long Hours in Heat. We've even put the heavy Ursa Mini on a Ronin-M (Stripping Batteries and using a pancake lenses) and using the remote to help tilt to make enough clearance it's worked well. We even got a little shine from the Ursa Mini Instagram page, check it.
But pretty much with any camera if you shoot in ideal situations and lighting you get ideal results. So, I was interested in seeing the camera in not so ideal situations, so we linked up with Aesthetic Distance, a fashion and pop culture-focused creative agency based in Baltimore, Maryland and their creative director Eliza Romero-Kovalsky to shoot some BTS of two of their shoots.
The first was in a dark Skating Rink shooting on the highest ISO 1600 (I needed it) using only available light. I shot on a 40mm 2.8 Canon Pancake lenses and Canon 70-200mm 2.8. 4:1 Compressed Raw. Overall, it's noisy, but I still like it.
I think there is a softness that for me I like. But man, other times the noise gets a "pattern" and it's unusable. Definitely not a low light camera, but still gave a great feeling for the light that was available. I think with a simple Kino Diva lite or 2x2 or 4 Bank, I would have been set.
Next, we tagged along for a mostly outdoor shoot with "The Virgin Suicides" theme. During golden hour the footage is gorgeous, but there was also a chance to shoot indoors during the afternoon. The room has plenty of available light and when it was right, it was right. We shot at 800 ISO for the entire shoot.
I purposely left in a noisy shot of Jesus in which the "noise pattern" is visible.
Is it a perfect camera? I just spit some of coffee out. No, No, it's not. Are we perfect humans? No, no we are not. So, I consider the Black Magic Ursa Mini 4.6K that friend that's in your circle that you love, but you have to tell other people when they meet them, that they will just have to get to know them before they get it.
Let me know what you think about my weird friend.
- Joey Malinski - Owner / Operator - ATB Productions
@joeymalinski on twitter and instagram