I doubt that many of you will be surprised by this

graywolf

graywolf

Well-known member
I did my first for a client (freebee) shoot on Monday.

Nothing was as I expected it to be. Event was not as described. There was no organization that I could see. I missed some stuff because I was told people would be going this way, while they actually went that way. A Chinese Fire Drill as we used to call it in the Service. I think I will be able to edit something usable out of it, but not what I thought I was going to do.

I am guessing that this is probably more the way things usually work than I want to believe. Looks like I will have to have things pinned down and someone responsible for making things go the way they are supposed to in the future. While there was no money involved and it was for a good cause, I did miss out on something else I wanted to do to be there.

When I was a photographer my contract had a clause about what happened in cases like this. Basically, I got paid in full, and walked off the job. Who would think you need a contract for a free job?

A learning experience, for sure.
 
that's the way it goes some times.. particularly on free shoots where no one has any money invested in it. Or more often where no one has any experience organising this sort of thing. I did one the other day. Not "free" but for a trade. However the client didn't organise anything partly because they did not realise that they had to.... Next time I do one with them I will send them a tick sheet with things they need to do for me a week or two in advance.
 
There's this weird thing where you would think people getting work done for free would be down-on-their-knees grateful and do everything in their power to aid you in getting you all the info you need and making your job easier. Instead, it's apparently quite the opposite where if they're not paying for it, they don't respect it or give it much thought at all. When you charge $2000 (or whatever), they are somehow magically much more likely to give a crap that everything goes well.
 
That's just the world of production...even with lots of money involved, things don't always go as planned (or not planned) because perfectly filming human beings doing things can be difficult.
 
After thinking about this, I will in the future use a very simple contract that says they have to assign a spokesperson to coordinate things with me and the event. Failure to do so will allow me to leave without filming.

A pro probably should write it so that his normal rates apply if they do not do their part. I mean if they understand that if they do not make it fairly easy for you, it is going to cost them $3000, or something like that. It will also help make them realize that they are getting something valuable from you.

Even for free jobs have obligations on both sides that need to be understood by everyone. That needs to be in writing.
 
NorBro said:
That's just the world of production...even with lots of money involved, things don't always go as planned (or not planned) because perfectly filming human beings doing things can be difficult.
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I am beginning to realize that. And trying to be a one man band makes it even harder. It is becoming pretty obvious to me that trying to do film (video) alone is really frustrating. Unfortunately, my skill level is not at the point where anyone is likely going to want to work with me, especially without pay. OTOH, you guys do not have to worry about me taking paying jobs away from you (smiling).
 
Josh Bass said:
There's this weird thing where you would think people getting work done for free would be down-on-their-knees grateful and do everything in their power to aid you in getting you all the info you need and making your job easier. Instead, it's apparently quite the opposite where if they're not paying for it, they don't respect it or give it much thought at all. When you charge $2000 (or whatever), they are somehow magically much more likely to give a crap that everything goes well.
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In fact when I was a starting out as stills photographer back in the day, I was charging $35/hr, about $10/take home. No one seemed to appreciate my work or me. Then on one job I miscalulated and wound up charging $104/hr. All of a sudden I was a valued professional. Rather than pay me that kind of money to do junk stuff they assigned someone to do all that. I started getting corporate work, they described my rates as "reasonable, not cheap, but reasonable". There actually is a price range that is right. Too cheap and you get no worthwhile business, too high and you get little business. But, in that magic range you get hired easily.
 
Well, the results are in. Not great, by a long shot. It needs a lot of polishing, but at least they get something.


For those who think you should pre-plan something like this, you are not living in the real world. You go in knowing nothing. You find out they know nothing. And the only one who cares at all is you. From this I learned a lot about how little I know both as a videographer and about dealing with video clients and talent (Can you call them talent or are they just victums in cases like this?).
 
Plans or no plans it's part of the job to make sure there's enough good material to get a good video in the end. There are really no excuses as they only reflects back on you. Sure, often it doesn't go as planned but you got to keep a professional level and produce stuff of decent quality.

This Friday for example I got a late email, to late from the producer, with a change of most of the shots we needed. On top of that the subject we had at our disposal had to leave after two hours instead of the planned four hours and I had to capture audio with no audio gear brought as this wasn't the original plan. Despite this we managed to squeeze in everything and I solved how to capture audio. To fail is seldom an option despite poor conditions when working as a freelancer.
 
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The client(?) was far happier with the results than I was.

OTOH, I told them I was not up to professional level results when they asked me to do the shoot. I did learn a lot from this experience.
 
graywolf said:
The client(?) was far happier with the results than I was.
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I have had that a few times early on. I turned out a video that was "ok but... " The client thought it was wonderful and I got more work. The more work I got the more I learnt and the better I got. The clients looked at the last videos I did and hired me. I did better (caving self critiqued and improved) so they got something better than they were expecting.

At some pout I expect I will deliver videos I am completely happy with when I look at them a week later. (but then I will know everything :-)

The advantage of doing the sort of work you are doing is that it is very a steep learning curve and if you can keep up your preparation and organisation gets very good very quick and you can handle most things because everything is not on a plan (or you crash and burn and take up something simple like lighting or sound :-)
 
Very hard to do a one man shoot. I have done them, and from experience you learn to move fast and anticipate where people will be. When things appear to go wrong, I just keep moving. Often what I think is a disaster, will actually turn out OK. Being a "free" gig, I do not believe you have any legal obligations. Having a contract helps to a degree and gives you some protection. We did a $50k production of an event held at a 5 star hotel. We had a production truck and 5 cameras. The hotel insisted that all sound go through their system and
people and they screwed it up. We had backup sound fortunately. So even when you work with other pros, things can go wrong. Things seldom go as you imagine them in your head. Anticipate things the best you can, try to control what you can, and then keep moving.
 
Design Media Consultants said:
Very hard to do a one man shoot. I have done them, and from experience you learn to move fast and anticipate where people will be. When things appear to go wrong, I just keep moving. Often what I think is a disaster, will actually turn out OK. Being a "free" gig, I do not believe you have any legal obligations. Having a contract helps to a degree and gives you some protection. We did a $50k production of an event held at a 5 star hotel. We had a production truck and 5 cameras. The hotel insisted that all sound go through their system and
people and they screwed it up. We had backup sound fortunately. So even when you work with other pros, things can go wrong. Things seldom go as you imagine them in your head. Anticipate things the best you can, try to control what you can, and then keep moving.
Click to expand...

Well, this was my first shoot for someone other than myself, and I learned a lot.

From that little experience and what you say, it kind of looks like the clients' unrealistic requirements are the most likely to cause difficulties.
 
I have some rules for all the jobs. Proper planning. Then explain exactly what you must have, give options and make sure they understand. What I've been doing on jobs with keen, but inexperienced clients, is not just give them a list - but make the list into questions. For one series of jobs we cannot work in a space less than 6x4m. So we always ask them to ensure that the space is at least 8x6m. A few days later we then ask them to confirm the exact width. This means somebody will actually measure it, and not guess. We specify perhaps minimum power requirement of say 63A single phase. We might then ask them to confirm the type of RCD or MCB type - again it means they need to ask somebody who really knows. We always get in response emails that mean the client has thought through our questions - and occasionally we get odd responses like "I'm not sure that the space is that big - last year we hired two bits of that Steeldeck stuff and it didn't fit - is that a problem?

We also detail toilet, tea and dinner breaks - because if you don't, they forget them. You arrive at say 8am, and their day may well be loads of groups each allocated two hours, but that means we have no stop - and they hadn't thought of us wanting to stop for food! Questions, as long as they're friendly, don't spook them out, but do mean they consider things. Even things like - is there a parking space for a transit sized van and no stairs? One recently had yellow lines and a rope from an upstairs access door as the only way to get equipment in. I don't think charging or free changes these questions at all.

If you are doing one man jobs - you must ask for these essentials. Stupid things like getting the gear in on your own. Somebody to watch it and keep it safe while you are going in and out. Or maybe help with heavy items - you just need to plan and then ask.
 
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