Any quinceanera advice?
 

I may have the chance to shoot a quinceanera in a couple months. I know a few of you have gotten the opportunity to work at a quinceanera before. I've done a search on the forums and a bunch of nice threads came up, but many of them had samples with dead links. So, that said, does anybody have any samples/advice for me? I've never been to a quince before, and so I don't know what to expect. Thanks in advance.

Hey Chris,
Well a lot of those threads were started by me, sorry for the dead links, but I leave them up enough for comments and feedback and take them down as the clients ask that I don't leave them up that long. Quinceanera's are really fun. I enjoy filming these the best, much more than a wedding cause the teenagers aren't camera shy in any job I had and they really respond well most of the time. With weddings you can easily have the same fabulous clients but it's not always the case. I'm yet to hit a hard wall with a Quinceanera. Pretty much they usually have a Ceremony and Reception.
Treat it like a wedding, how you would film a wedding Ceremony and Reception and do the same there. They do lots of dancing at the reception so be ready to film that. Key things at the reception. They do these things usually. 1, The ring, 2. The crown 3. The Last Doll and 4. The shoes. They're usually not aware of the video and they will do each thing quick. I usually film 2 camcorders, 1 main reason is they always have their back to the main camcorder and the 2nd cam gets the open angle. At the Church they have a Processional which consists between 7-14 girls 7-14 guys. Then The Quinceanera herself and her Chambelan (Escort). Just have fun and enjoy the day, it's really a breeze most of the time. Be ready to eat as Hispanic people love to eat and will stuff you till you can't move. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Monday

www.quincevideo.com/JennD.wmv

www.quincevideo.com/cindyfast.wmv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoRAZo3eLWQ
(sorry for the terrible compression on this one)

www.quincevideo.com/sotocredits.wmv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBtefW_EQvU

Hope this helps

I have never done one myself. How do you price out this sort of event...?

The best thing I can tell ya is to find out what most are charging in your area with this type of event and decide where you'd end up with those figures. Here in DC area most Hispanic videographers lowball and charge between $500 and $750. So I have a package at $700 and then I have a package at $1000 and the one I sell the most at $1500 for this type of event. I also have add ons to increase sells on these type of jobs. Some people have a gift at being able to charge even more than that for this type of event. I know 1 company that charged $2500 to film one and edit. I'm yet to come in contact with a potential client at that price. I average around $1500 and went up as high as $1850. Best thing to do is figure out what the average prices are in your area and work from there. My Wedding prices are different from these prices. I make a lot more doing weddings but these are just to much fun as I say over and over again.


Monday

Are they as labor intensive as a wedding? IOW, do they take as long to edit?

For me they're not anywhere near labor intensive as Weddings. The only hard part I face is setting up a projector to play their 5 min slideshow. That takes 15 mins to properly setup. I do believe a lot of that for me has to do with how mentally ready I am. I can get intimidated by Adults very easily, but with teenagers I feel very comfortable. So it's easier for me to do these types of events. The editing is easier than a wedding most of the time. You don't have a Love Story to create in this type of event. Same Day edits don't go over as good as Rehersal edits for the next day at the reception. Over all I get them done in about 25hrs. They all expect a Long form clean edit version. Take Care

Monday

Thanks for the info. I teach television and video classes at the hiogh school level and I was talking to a hispanic girl in my class about doing this. She thinks it's a great idea but wonders if it's just upper middle class hispanics that are choosing this service. She said she knows no one that has had their quinceanera videotaped, but she is interested in working with me. It would be a natural for my side video business because I spend most of my life with teens anyway!

Jeff you'd enjoy it greatly. You'll have plenty of fun and getting to know the teenagers for the day is priceless. If it goes through I'd like to see some footage. Take Care

Monday

Know Spanish?
 

I did one and Monday is right it is fun. But I sure wish I knew spanish they told jokes and everyone laughed (but me, I have no clue what they said). I was a little uncomfortable being the only one there who did not speak spanish. I was also the only white person and that was a little weird. I have not done one since, I have had several inquires. But the hispanic population in my area is not a high income group by in large. Many have not wanted to pay enough to make it worth my while. You should really give it a try atleast once. Good luck with it.

I have the advantage of having a bilingual hispanic student who is eager to work with me. And, she is very talented!

I have been wondering about this. I know a little Spanish, but not enough to communicate (speech-wise w/o looking like a ding-bat). Does anyone here do these and not speak Spanish?

Hey Matt,
I don't speak spanish at all. Infact you probably know more words and how to communicate better than I do. That hasn't stopped the jobs from coming in. I do however have friends that are spanish and a spanish roomate that help me with translation.