Stock is the answer to a cash-strapped spot producer’s dream – but commercials are by no means a big part of the business pie for Canadian suppliers.

The experience of Michel Poitras, a consultation and reference officer at the National Archives of Canada seems to be typical: ‘Most of the people we are dealing with are doing historical projects or films,’ he says.

Roy Harris, a media library coordinator at the cbc has the same experience. ‘Compared to what I do in broadcast and even corporate videos, commercials are a very small part. Perhaps eight to 10 a year.’

However, with few records kept on what individual pieces of stock are used for, it is difficult to know for sure.

But for those producers aware enough to use this resource, potential savings are great: ‘We’re good, we’re relatively cheap and the footage is by-and-large of good quality,’ says Harris. ‘What they’d pay big dollars for maybe in the u.s. they would probably get at reasonable rates in Canada. There’s not a lot of money in Canada so you have to act accordingly. Everyone is looking for footage for a good price and they want it fast. And they get all that here.’

Sources say top-notch commercials could be made relatively cheaply using stock footage. Producers can pick up shots in the range of $40 per second – meaning a 15-second spot could be created for $600.

Pete Thomas, chief researcher at TTE Visual History Research Services in Ottawa sees a clear trend in the use of stock footage as budgets shrink. ‘In the last 10 years, with the high cost of production, advertisers have thought of interesting ways to produce advertising with lower costs using stock footage.’

Thomas offers his perspective as a researcher: ‘I think that [using stock footage in commercials] is a good idea because there is a real interest in history, part of it through the specialized channels like History Television. People, like boomers, start to look at their roots, so this is one reason why there would be an interest for advertisers to use stock footage. Also, there is more sophistication around with stock footage. There are the conventional ways of delivery and now there is also the high technology way of delivery.’

Stock-ing up on the Net

The Internet has brought changes to the way many stock footage transactions take place. Thomas believes that it has had a dramatic impact because time is of the essence for producers and the Internet offers a means of cutting down on the time involved in sourcing stock. ‘That’s why the cost of obtaining stock footage from private companies is pretty high. On the other hand they have become very savvy as to how to deliver it quickly,’ suggests Thomas. ‘In the public sector you maybe don’t have the resources or the motivation to provide that quick delivery.’

Reviews of the efficacy of the Internet in this industry are mixed. ‘We have a research tool on [our website] called Archivianet,’ says Poitras, ‘and since May of 1999 [when it was installed], our requests have multiplied by 10. It is just crazy the amount of requests. Before nobody could do their own research; they had to come into the archives. Now they are able to do it themselves at home.’

In contrast, Paul McIntyre, senior broadcast materials librarian in the news and current affairs stock shot library at the cbc says that although the library has a website, the Corp. has purposely opted not to offer online search capabilities. ‘I don’t consider the Internet to be a viable market yet. We are concerned with the reuse of our material that we have no control over; people lifting it and reusing it, manipulating it and taking it out of context. So at this point we don’t recognize the Internet as a market to get involved with. I think that a lot of it has to do with our status as a public broadcaster. We have to make sure we do things with an even hand and be respectful.’

Fellow cbc librarian Roy Harris agrees: ‘cbc visual resources does not release any material on the Internet. For me in particular, my material involves rights issues, whether they are union contract agreements or copyrights agreements. Until we can protect those copyrights or the rights of the artists, we don’t want material being downloaded and pirated in some other way – to protect the integrity of the writers, the artists and our own copyright.’

On the other hand, Sylvie Menard, stock shot coordinator at the nfb, says the board has an Internet site with its database online that allows people to do their own research. Although nfb currently doesn’t have the technology in place to screen the footage online, Menard says it is in the plans: ‘Eventually people are going to be able to do everything online, research, screening and probably downloading. We are hoping to have that system in place in the very near future.’

Technical issues may stand in the way of a greater utilization of stock: Harris believes it is to their detriment that so much of the cbc’s footage is in Betacam or 16mm film rather than the preferred 35mm used in many major commercials. Changeovers from one format to another are pricey and complicated and even then there is no guarantee the finished product will match other footage used in the spot. For example, Harris says much of the cbc’s footage is natural and if a producer is going to shoot in 35mm, the production will be lit and contain what he refers to as ‘the whole works.’

One thing is for sure: when spot producers go looking for stock footage to use in commercials, they will be searching for something very narrowly and specifically focused. Menard says such clients tend to be ‘looking for a very specific era or something very, very specific, [such as] an old car.’

That aside, providers can count on only one thing: that producers’ needs will be diverse. ‘When I do commercials, it can be all over the place,’ says Harris. ‘I’ve done a Clearnet spot that had a bird in a nest. I’ve done a Bell ad that also used birds. I’ve also done a Toyota commercial that had some nostalgic footage of summer time things from the ’70s. It is a broad range of material.’ *

-www.nfb.ca/stockshots

CBC -www.1/159.33.1.62/archives/

National Archives -www.archives.ca/exec/ nawes.d11?fs&0201.&e&top&0