To get a sense of what is moving in the current stock market, Playback asked five major suppliers what kinds of footage they are getting the most requests for, both in terms of format and content.

First Light

Toronto’s First Light, which has supplied material for a recent spate of documentaries, TV spots and websites, reports that is has received the most requests for travel and destination footage, along with aerials, establishing shots and sports content. And a growing number of those orders are for material in the HD format.

‘While 35mm is still heavily requested among our clients, HD is becoming more mainstream, which we are thrilled about in light of First Light’s representation of FootageBank HD, the largest and most diverse HD footage collection in the world.’ says Lisa Dempsey, First Light’s CEO.

www.firstlight.com

FootageBank HD

FootageBank HD, based in Venice, CA and repped in Canada by First Light, does offer standard-def footage, but, as its name would suggest, its focus is on HD, and it has benefited from popular TV dramas embracing the widescreen digital format. It has recently licensed material to the likes of 24, Criminal Minds, The Sopranos and the Vancouver-shot The L Word.

The company notes particular client interest in location and establishing shots, including aerials and settings such as military bases, prisons and restaurants. It has cinematographers out shooting this summer in Boston, Atlanta, Savannah and Seattle.

Also popular is previously broadcast footage that FootageBank prepares in HD for on-set playback for various productions. Best-selling themes along this line include newscasters, telenovelas, commercials, home shopping footage, soap operas and cooking shows.

www.footagebankhd.com

Corbis

Corbis, an international company with an office in Longueuil, QC, reps various major stock suppliers. It says that among its bestsellers is the Paramount Pictures’ stock film library, which features a variety of stunts and explosions, along with establishing shots, and airplane- and military-themed material. Also garnering high interest are its Oxford Scientific Films, with their wildlife subjects and super slow-mo, time-lapse and macro cinematography imagery.

Corbis is also seeing strong demand for its news event and personality collections – both past and present (from suppliers including Hearst and broadcaster KCAL) – and its sports, lifestyle and nature collections. Most of the material Corbis carries originated in 35mm and has been transferred to HD. Its digitized material can be searched by and e-mailed to clients, who can also download low-res clips for editing.

www.corbis.com

Canamedia

Canamedia, out of Toronto, serves many Canadian producers telling global stories. Footage requests are often international in scope and for use in documentaries, encompassing subjects of terrorism, history, nature, science and technology. And Canamedia can meet these requests as the Canadian rep for the extensive international ITN Source libraries.

Canamedia remarks that, in the digital age, client expectation for fast and efficient delivery is on the rise. To that end, ITN Source is currently digitizing more than 700,000 hours of footage so that, by September, its clips can be viewed online for immediate producer access.

Much of Canamedia’s footage is still delivered in BetaSP, but it is looking forward to a more digital future, as ITN has recently invested in HD cameras for its news teams.

www.canamedia.com

Artbeats

Oregon’s Artbeats says clients come with wide-ranging want lists, but for several years now it has seen particularly high demand for lifestyle footage, involving everyday people doing everyday things in various parts of the world. Also among the top requests are special effects footage, featuring, for example, fire, lightning and explosions.

For Artbeats, as with other providers, clients are mostly seeking generic footage, such as clouds, water and other nature material, as opposed to very specific subjects. Instead of fielding requests for a whole collection of images on one subject, it is getting orders for a couple of key clips of a variety of subjects. As a result, the company has expanded its library of royalty-free single clips.

About one-third of Artbeats’ 411 royalty-free titles are in HD.

www.artbeats.com