Multimedia
Blogs
Forum
Affordable HD
Whitepapers
Newsletters
Events
Advertisers
DCP Directory
MillimeterNew Stock
Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Darroch Greer
Getty Images did three inhouse productions for its footage library, including one shoot of a fashion show in London with Mont Blanc Films.
Getty Images
Getty Images has steadily built up one of the all-time great still- and moving-imagery libraries with 60 million images and 15,000 hours of film. If you have licensed archival material in the past, there's a good chance it was owned by Getty. The company's still-image branch represents the Hulton Archive of England, Time & Life Pictures, the George Eastman House, and The New York Times archive. Moving images cover the AP Archive, Archive Films, the Prelinger Archive, Discovery Footage Source, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros. Getty has now added audio to its expansive portfolio.
“Getty Images acquired Pump Audio, which really allowed our company to take the next step in our digital-media strategy,” says Kristl Date-Dopps, Getty director of product marketing for film. “There is the explosion of online and mobile multimedia, which is creating this need for music, and Getty Images' purchase of Pump Audio allows us to make music licensing simple and accessible.”
Pump Audio is a catalog of pre-cleared music by independent artists in any genre, and it is accessible from an easy-to-use platform. “They also have a really snappy and innovative tool that allows you to marry up footage clips and test it out with certain audio tracts to see how those play together,” Date-Dopps says. “It's really simple. Our editors have told us that it's one of the most simple interfaces that they've used for music. So I think it's definitely going to revolutionize that industry.”
Last year, Getty also purchased iStockphoto, the sharing platform that markets user-generated content. “iStock is the leading stock-photography community that helped introduce the whole micropayment phenomenon to the industry,” Date-Dopps says. “People can upload their photos to the site and get royalties back on licenses that are conducted. This is really a value-priced imagery solution. Images start at about $1. We've now created a video component to that whole model.”
iStockvideo was launched in early 2007, and it is the fastest-growing segment of Getty's online business. Clips start at $10, depending on the type and size of the file — which range from standard-definition NTSC and PAL to high-def 720 and 1080.
Not to be outdone for inhouse production, Getty did three shoots earlier last year. On the first shoot, Getty partnered with Mont Blanc Films for a fashion show at Wimbledon Studios in London — showing both high fashion and what the facility called the “local heroes catwalk,” which depicted everyday workers such as teachers and firemen. They shot with two HD cameras to capture different looks — a handheld Sony HDW-750 for an editorial feel and a Varicam to create master shots with an advertising feel.
The second shoot was called “Queen Bee,” which Getty partnered with HKM (Hate Kills Man) to produce. Using the new Arriflex D-20, they filmed women in leadership roles in a highly art-directed business shoot. The third shoot — with filmmaker Frank Suffert — was at the Munich Airport, where they covered two extensive shot lists over two days using a Sony HDW-750.
