Tornado videos

[Jeremy Lemanski]

I have a question for all of you pros on here, If you were to video lets say a F2 tornado in kansas, and then sell the video to whomever, what would it cost the person buying it? Now, take the same tornado and same conditions and put the F2 tornado in New york state and sell the video, Would it costs someone more to buy since Videos from New york are much more unusual then ones from kansas.

What i'm getting at is Does location make a difference in how much you would charge for your video? Is a video of a tornado in Idaho more valuable then that same tornado if it was in Texas?

Thanks, I don't have any plans to go to maine or idaho to film tornados, but just wondering about the above.

 

[Blake Naftel]

The sale of a tornado video in a rural portion of the country vs. video which is taken in/and or near a large metropolitan region will have an impact on how much the video is worth. This is based on broadcast (television and internet) demand of the particular event; coupled with the "if it bleeds it leeds" factor of news... meaning if people were injured/killed and hundreds of livelihoods effected - video of (in this example) a tornado will have a higher sale value than one that is taken in a rural western Kansas field.

Take the 12-May-2004 Attica, Kansas tornado as a prime example. High contrast tripoded videotape was shot of a frame home completely lifting off its foundation and disintigrating into scattered matter. There were other high contrast tornadoes (in rural S. CEN. KS) photographed this day; however the McPartland (Scott M. being the videographer whom shot this) video took center stage (in terms of media sales) because (1): it was visually stunning, and (2): it featured video of a home being destroyed. Producers look for images which grab human awe and emotion typically; and this video certainly accomplished that.

We live in an era of super saturation in terms of severe weather video; competition is high; and networks are more likely to air home video provided to the local affiliates for free than dish out a grand for some storm chasers perfectly backlit 3CCD white balanced footage of the same event. Value will always be derived by demand; imagery; and significance of an event.

One may shoot a high contrast tornado somewhere in Montana that hits nothing; and sure it may sell; yet if a damaging/or killer tornado occurs somewhere else that same day... one can kiss any potential video sales of your picturesque convection bye bye (there's always stock footage sales; but that's another thread).

..Blake..

 

[George Flickinger]

This is from my web site of Attica


My chase partner and I almost made enough money off of this tornado to pay for a half of a speeding ticket on the Mulvane day!

 

[David Drummond]

Depends somewhat also on which producer is working where on the day in question. I have had very good tornado footage passed over for dogs playing in the water in the park.

On the other hand, I sometimes have had crappy (by my own personal standards) nightime lightning video bought up from non-severe storms in the TX Panhandle when severe stuff was going on in the east.

I used to think I had a handle on what would be bought. I gave up that thought sometime this season though. :lol:

 

[Jim Bishop]

Almost every time I sell a tornado video, the person asks if anything was destroyed, and if there are any injuries or deaths. So, unfortunately, the more distruction and injuries the tornado causes, the more the networks are willing to pay.

State to state doesn't matter, but if a tornado hits a major metropilitan area, the network(s) will be more likely to pay more money for it than if it does the same damage in a rural town.

Timing is important too, as old news isn't as "hot" as breaking news. The sooner the networks get it, the better.

Jim

 

[David Drummond]

Originally posted by Jim Bishop

State to state doesn't matter, but if a tornado hits a major metropilitan area, the network(s) will be more likely to pay more money for it than if it does the same damage in a rural town.
Jim

Timing is EVERYTHING in this situation, because shortly the local affiliates in the major metro area will be sending out all sorts of free stuff to the networks, in which case, unless you have something really out of the ordinary, you can forget selling your stuff altogether in the immediate future. Save it for stock.

I rarely bother to send anything out near a major metro area like DFW or OKC just because I am not going to kill myself or ruin the rest of my day just trying to beat someone else out.

 

[Scott Freeman]

Does anyone know the price that the May 3 1999 was sold for. Mainly for the part that went thru Moore, I have heard that they was paying something like 1000.00 per second that they had it on film (during that part). Is that true or is it mythos that was passed on?

 

[Shane Adams]

Does anyone know the price that the May 3 1999 was sold for. Mainly for the part that went thru Moore, I have heard that they was paying something like 1000.00 per second that they had it on film (during that part). Is that true or is it mythos that was passed on?

That's a broad question, as tons of people sold video from that event. However, I'm the only person I know of who made a sale that week off a Storm B tornado.