I think I got Lucky!

Lobotany Pictures

Lobotany Pictures

Member
I have worked for a small video production house for 2 years now but always under someone, now I am making a break for myself!

I just got my first contract that will take me out of town for 2 weeks to make a corporate video and as payment I will get all my expenses paid for, a per diem at the job site, a pre negotiated daily wage and to top it off, I get to take home all the gear that was purchased for the project (I made up the list).

This gear includes:
A Panasonic HVX170, 32GB P2 card, 2 extra batteries, a Rode NTG-2 shotgun mic, and a camera bag to top it all off.

I know it's not a lot, but I had NO camera gear of my own before this! I am quite beside myself!

GD
 
interesting arrangement!

though without knowing what the wage, per diem, and complexity/length of the video is. its hard to tell if maybe your client got off really CHEAP.
 
wgzn said:
interesting arrangement!

though without knowing what the wage, per diem, and complexity/length of the video is. its hard to tell if maybe your client got off really CHEAP.
Click to expand...

I deffinately think they got a good deal, but I am more than happy to give it! I'm very excited to be able to start working for myself from now on!
 
I bet they're thinking the same thing... We made a sweet deal with this... Well like zaza said cheers to the both of you.
 
Anyways,

I have a bit of gear, but I want to improve my equipment list to the point where I am totally independent for corporate and short films. What do you guys think would be the most prioritized equipment list? I have a tripod but I need to upgrade. What about mattebox, filters, mics etc?

Thanks
 
In regards to your list of equipment that you will need for this corporate shoot,...
What do you have for lights, gels, stands, audio?...
 
NC17z said:
In regards to your list of equipment that you will need for this corporate shoot,...
What do you have for lights, gels, stands, audio?...
Click to expand...

I am currently using my old tripod (which I want to replace asap), a camera mounted Rode NTG-2. It is for a Pipeline Rehabilitation company, so there isn't much else for gear. No lights or gels, it's all on location, outdoors, in the mud...

But for future projects there is lots of gear I want to get.

As well I want to build a new editing sweet for FCP but I don't know which route to take either an iMac or G5 etc. Does anyone have any input on that topic? Or can point me in a direction of a previous thread?

Thanks!
 
it's all on location, outdoors, in the mud...
Click to expand...
then id say first order of business would be some kinda rain cover. portabrace is a leader in this discussion.

after that (in order) id say:

TRIPOD! nothing will ruin your day faster than a cheap tripod. my general rule of thumb is that any tripod/head kit that retails for less than $1000 is going to be questionable. you can find a lot of good older stuff here or on ebay. i got my manfrotto 510/3193 combo for about $800 (originally retailed for about $2000) on ebay couple years ago. and i have an older vinten vision 11 listed in the marketplace here right now.

then comes lights. there are about a million ways to go about this. and a lot of it depends on your needs. if you are in the field mostly, portability and power are gonna be king. in which case some good battery-powerable LEDs might be a way to go. these i hear are decent:
http://www.coollights.biz/fixture-s....html?osCsid=c5061186f0260fdfb1ba191b1bf80796
you could get you two of the 600s and one 256 and be pretty well covered for not a ton of money

next is audio. you definitely need at least one wireless lav. i also keep one old wired lav and a couple 50' xlr cables in my bag. when im in a conjested signal area or in a place they dont allow wireless devices (happens often in the oil and gas biz)

and if youre going to be outdoors a lot, you definitely are going to need a good windscreen. rycote softies are the most common. not sure if they make one for your ntg or not... but i know rode has a "dead cat" that should fit it. it wont be quite as good as a rycote. but it will be better than nothing.

then headphones. all the good audio input in the world wont matter if you cant hear it. look to spend about $100 on a decent set of "pro-quality" cans. i have several pairs of sony mdr-v600 that have never let me down. they are right at $100

as far as FCP goes. it doesnt really matter THAT much - UNLESS youre in a high-volume, deadline driven environment. dvcproHD (the hvx/hpx format) is very efficient and easy to work with. i tell the story often that to this day i can do cuts and dissolve edits on my 7+year old mac powerbook G4. so, any modern day mac will be fine. i wouldnt CHOOSE a G5 just because that machine is at least two significant chipset evolutions behind the current model. a G5 would work and the right G5 would work WELL. and you could probably get a great deal on one. but a LOT of new software wont run on pre-intel macs.

ok, that should be enough to get the wheels turning...
 
Congrats on the gig! When I wanted to start in the business almost ten years ago I went to the local Photodealer and created a website for him in exchange for an XL1s, Mic, and Manfrotto 501. Maybe he thought he got the deal. I know I did either way. Never looked back. Now I travel the world and get paid to do what I would probably do for free!
 
Good for you Ghost Dog!

I want to give to give you some sound advice: Doing the actual project work is really only a small portion of working for yourself.

Marketing, Landing the Job, and Setting the Terms:
You have to market yourself and find prospective clients, write proposals and negotiate terms with them, and probably write at least a layman's contract after the proposal has been agreed to.

Finances:
Then you have to manage your finances and collect from your client(s), which means having some sort of proper invoicing system to keep track of your accounts payable and receivable. Collecting is often extremely difficult, especially from small to medium size businesses, though a big corporation may try to take advantage of someone they think needs their business by setting extremely long payment terms.

Invoice fast and stay on top of what is owed to you, because when you get busy it is easy to lose track.

After the shoot, and Maintaining Your Operation:
Then you have your own daily upkeep of outfitting yourself with the proper gear, maintaining it, probably dealing with editing (With clients who likely don't know what they "don't want" until they see it.) etc.

Stay in Close Contact with Your Clients or Face the Consequences!:
I hire freelancers for the most part these days, but I find I spend as much or more time dealing with with clients than I ever did actually completing the projects. Make sure you stay in communication with your clients, and document as much as possible, most clients have a lot of trouble sticking to an agreed upon scope of work.

***

Don't take the above statements as a negative! I am not here to rain on your parade, I just want you to go into this with your eyes wide open as to what it takes not only to strike out on your own, but to keep it going; I hope this helps! I learned all of this the hard way. As an independent businessperson, priority #1 is that you must take care of your business. :thumbsup:

Best of Luck,

Ken
 
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