FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
Each job/project is priced according to several things: the time it takes,the amount of equipment/personnel involved, and any post-production (i.e. editing) costs. Most in video production to charge hourly; we go by the day or half day. A half day for me is 0-5 hours from the time of arrival on the shoot location until my departure. A full day is 5-10 hours under those same terms. After 10 hours, I go into over time at 1.5x(full day rate/10) --- (in other words 1.5x what my hourly rate would be) per hour. This pricing applies to my labor only. Equipment is always a flat rate for the day (does not change based on the full/half day described above, does not go into overtime). Each piece of gear is priced separately, and I do this because I feel it's the fairest way. For instance, say a client has his own camera, but does not have microphones or lights. I provide those things, each at a certain additional cost. Another client may have the lights and microphones, but needs the camera provided by me. So that would be a different cost. If additional personnel need to be hired (other videographers for a multi-camera shoot, sound guys if the audio needs are beyond what I can handle alone, etc.), as freelancers, they all come with their own pricing structures, and these are simply added to the costs mentioned above. Lastly, if the client needs me to handle the editing aspect of a project, I simply bill that hourly since I can do it on my own schedule, around other work.
- What types of customers have you worked with?
I do camerawork on small to midsize projects including corporate video, documentaries, live events (concerts, etc.) interviews/news-style pieces and other types of projects. I also do editing, grip and teleprompter work on the same types of projects.
- What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
I would say that the more detailed information you can give me about about a project in terms of equipment needs, shooting requirements (e.g. HD, widescreen, framerate, etc.) time frame of the project, any potential problems (generally due to the location, with sound/lighting/technical issues) that might arise, how the project will be handled after I shoot it (will someone else be editing, will I be editing), and the ultimate destination of the project (trade show floor, web, DVD, etc.), the better equipped I will be to provide you a quote and be able to help you out with everything.