I had a meeting with a client who told me to submit a formal proposal for a project we discussed. Basically it would be filming a series of lectures at a university, editing them, and delivering the files to later be uploaded to the web. I've never drafted a proposal, and looking online I see some that are one page with just a list of costs/rates and some that are multi-page with profiles of the people working on the project, and all kinds of other information. Could I get some guidance here on how to do this? Thanks!

With stills I do pretty much what you are saying. I have a nice headed invoice I made with Photoshop and publisher, and start with

To:
Photograph...
Process...

supply (prints number and size, digital copy___________at______total

(I always supply A4 prints as I never trust the client to have a have decent monitor)

For video I guess you would also list equipment and daily rate for each item used (mics lights hire cost if any)
Edit

As per brief from client

Produce titles, special effects...

Patrick, every proposal is unique depending on the needs of the project. It should however include your understanding of the work that is needed, What services and equipment you would be providing and what if any, will be provided by others, what the timeframe for delivery will be, and any other assumptions you made in the development of your bid. And, of course your proposed bid or cost to do the work. In the situation you described, I would make an assumption and include it in your bid for the complexity of the edit and the length of each finished video. Generally, the more intricate the FX and graphics in the videos the longer it takes to produce them.

The general flow of the proposal usually goes:

Introduction
Project Understanding
Proposed Scope Of Services To Be Provided
Proposed Budget
Time Duration Of Project (if applicable)

That's generally how I formulate my proposals.

To all;

I would also include "Special Conditions", if applicable. This could include special safety requirements due to the location. Special equipment required, e.g., underwater video housing, special lenses, additional personnel, etc. If this is a large production, you may require special permits the client needs to obtain in-order for you to do your job.

Just a thought.

Best regards,

J.

To emphasize one thing that Garrett wrote:
Think long and hard about what the client will supply for the project, and include that in your proposal. Extras? Locations? Fixed room lighting suitable for video? Availability of interview subjects on a specific day? All safety gear? Transportation? Power?

These kinds of specifications help the client to understand what they need, and when they need it, for a successful production. Also, and I'll say incidentally, to give you a basis for a discussion about outside-of-specifications costs if/when one of these elements isn't available on the days you're shooting, etc.

Lots of people want "a contract that will protect me." Get a lawyer. Short of that, an agreement that specifies what you're doing and what your client is doing will help identify any issues, early!

Do review these specifications line-by-line with your client...

Also worth thinking of specifying copyright issues. If I was your client I would insist on it being specified that I held the copyright. In other words, you are being paid to supply the service, once paid, that's it. (Though you may hope they would think of you first if any extra work needed to be done.)

I know of one photographer who worked for a client for a long time doing such as publicity shots etc. It was OK until such as online usage etc started to become significant - when the photographer started to request extra payment for all such usages. Nett result was that they took the work in house.

On the technical side, I'd also suggest to them that they specify both a (higher quality) archival format for the finished edits, and a more compressed "web ready" version. Assuming the result is likely to have any future value at all. Worth also thinking how the results will be physically stored - hard drives are not a good idea for long term storage.....

Thank you for your responses. I was mainly looking for formatting help. I'm not sure how a proposal should even look. I got a free trial with Quote Roller, which has templates, but none for general videography, so I'm sort of piecing it together from other templates and whatnot. I'm still not exactly sure what I'm doing. I've tried to find examples on the web, but as I said before, they all differ so wildly that there appears to be no standard in formatting.