How much should I charge? at DVinfo.net

K.C. Kennedy · September 8th, 2009, 09:28 PM

I'll be using one FX1 without second camera so not much to edit after.
A lady I know asked me if I could shoot her performing for about 1.5 hrs and asked me how much I'd charge her. I'll put final footage for her on dvd (not HD).
200? 300? more?

Thank you in advance.

Zach Love · September 9th, 2009, 03:49 AM

How much time are you really going to be spending on this?

Don't forget to add in travel, set up, take down, capture, edit, encode, etc.

I would say base it off your hourly rate + a flat fee for the equipment you're using.

K.C. Kennedy · September 9th, 2009, 12:43 PM

45 min to the location and around the same back. She said 1.5 hours at the location which will most likely turn into 2 hrs or more. I think about 3 hours to digitize to dvd for her.

Craig Seeman · September 11th, 2009, 09:57 AM

Being someone NYC I'd charge either 3hrs or 4hrs minimum for the shoot. At the very least you should include 1 hour for setup. I'm reluctant to add significant travel charges in NYC unless the shoot requires a car because it's very easy to find someone within a few minutes of any site (if it's just camera and tripod). I still charge for a base number of hours with at least 1 as setup.

All post is charged as used. Input, editing, rendering, burning. I use Sony EX1 so input is very very fast.

Cost of living makes a difference in what you charge (as well as skills, a BIG factor, and gear). It's not clear what part of the state you're from but if you're in NYC it would be $600-$800 on the LOW end.

BTW I hope you're not depending on camera shotgun mike unless it's a very quiet, acoustically treated location and your next to the stage with no people/tables near you (very rare).

I always recommend at least a board feed for a musical performance and require the artist to get club permission, get 2nd sound (I won't drag a cable to the camera in a club) and bill appropriately for that. That also adds to the post time (import and sync).

If people are doing this as demo material to get jobs they have to be reminded they need to show they care about their presentation. Bad camera shotgun audio is NOT going to sell them just as a great resume handed in on a used napkin ain't going to work either. If the artist cares about they're career they'll pull the money together.

K.C. Kennedy · September 11th, 2009, 06:56 PM

Thank you for replies. I'm in queens. Location is right next to the Rosevelt field mall in a restaurant called Akbar's. It's about 45 min driving from my home. I have a beachtek XLR adapter but I'm not sure if I should use it since they are going to have a loud speaker system in the place. Should I use onboard mic alone?

Don Bloom · September 11th, 2009, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K.C. Kennedy

Should I use onboard mic alone?

Only if you don't want good audio.

Onboard mics are fine for certain thing but by and large in a situation like this IF you can't pull a feed from the board then at the least, set up a mic (shotgun, hypercaroid) on a stand in front of the speaker (loudspeaker not the person) and feed that back to the camera. I do it all the time with a Sennheiser drum mic and a wireless xmitter to my receiver and use my hypercaroid on the camera for room ambience/noise. There are times I don't use the hyper if there's no music and only people speaking then I use an AT897 instead of the drum mic and send the audio to both channels on my camera.

Lots of different ways to skin a cat but first you have to catch the cat.

Roger Van Duyn · September 17th, 2009, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Bloom

Only if you don't want good audio.

Onboard mics are fine for certain thing but by and large in a situation like this IF you can't pull a feed from the board then at the least, set up a mic (shotgun, hypercaroid) on a stand in front of the speaker (loudspeaker not the person) and feed that back to the camera. I do it all the time with a Sennheiser drum mic and a wireless xmitter to my receiver and use my hypercaroid on the camera for room ambience/noise. There are times I don't use the hyper if there's no music and only people speaking then I use an AT897 instead of the drum mic and send the audio to both channels on my camera.

Lots of different ways to skin a cat but first you have to catch the cat.

Don,

Thanks for the tip. I do, in fact have a hypercardioid drum mike and just got a wireless system today. I'm eager to try it.

September 8th, 2009, 09:28 PM	#1
K.C. Kennedy Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New York Posts: 80	How much should I charge? I'll be using one FX1 without second camera so not much to edit after. A lady I know asked me if I could shoot her performing for about 1.5 hrs and asked me how much I'd charge her. I'll put final footage for her on dvd (not HD). 200? 300? more? Thank you in advance.

September 9th, 2009, 03:49 AM	#2
Zach Love Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 944	How much time are you really going to be spending on this? Don't forget to add in travel, set up, take down, capture, edit, encode, etc. I would say base it off your hourly rate + a flat fee for the equipment you're using. __________________ Nothing says you're a serious video maker like S-VHS

September 9th, 2009, 12:43 PM	#3
K.C. Kennedy Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New York Posts: 80	45 min to the location and around the same back. She said 1.5 hours at the location which will most likely turn into 2 hrs or more. I think about 3 hours to digitize to dvd for her.

September 11th, 2009, 09:57 AM	#4
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Being someone NYC I'd charge either 3hrs or 4hrs minimum for the shoot. At the very least you should include 1 hour for setup. I'm reluctant to add significant travel charges in NYC unless the shoot requires a car because it's very easy to find someone within a few minutes of any site (if it's just camera and tripod). I still charge for a base number of hours with at least 1 as setup. All post is charged as used. Input, editing, rendering, burning. I use Sony EX1 so input is very very fast. Cost of living makes a difference in what you charge (as well as skills, a BIG factor, and gear). It's not clear what part of the state you're from but if you're in NYC it would be $600-$800 on the LOW end. BTW I hope you're not depending on camera shotgun mike unless it's a very quiet, acoustically treated location and your next to the stage with no people/tables near you (very rare). I always recommend at least a board feed for a musical performance and require the artist to get club permission, get 2nd sound (I won't drag a cable to the camera in a club) and bill appropriately for that. That also adds to the post time (import and sync). If people are doing this as demo material to get jobs they have to be reminded they need to show they care about their presentation. Bad camera shotgun audio is NOT going to sell them just as a great resume handed in on a used napkin ain't going to work either. If the artist cares about they're career they'll pull the money together.

September 11th, 2009, 06:56 PM	#5
K.C. Kennedy Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New York Posts: 80	Thank you for replies. I'm in queens. Location is right next to the Rosevelt field mall in a restaurant called Akbar's. It's about 45 min driving from my home. I have a beachtek XLR adapter but I'm not sure if I should use it since they are going to have a loud speaker system in the place. Should I use onboard mic alone?