Pricing

Pittsburgh0205

Pittsburgh0205

Active member
I am shooting my first actual video for a construction company in a few weeks. They want a 15 minute safety video.
I was wondering how much I should charge since this is my first actual video?
 
how long do you think it's going to take. How much does it cost you an hour in expenses + how much you want to make an hour.

It is your first video, so go on the lighter side, if you do a lackluster job, they wont lean towards "Pittsburgh isn't a very good" and instead feel like "you get what you pay for"

As your skillset grows, and your experience, you charge more.

Don't ask me though, I have only done narrative work. No safety videos/event stuff
 
Honestly i wouldn't charge anything under 2000, if not more. You have to realize that 15 minutes is quite a bit of video time. You need to capture quite a bit of GOOD footage in order to fulfill those 15 minutes properly. 2000 in my opinion is very low but id take some opinions from some of these other guys first for a lot of them are extremely knowledgeable.
 
More info is needed. How many people on your crew? just you? you'll be much more efficient hiring another. What are you doing for audio? Will lighting be involved? How many locations? Graphics in the edit? what's the final output? web or DVD?

Answer those, and we'll get you an accurate quote.
 
I did a saftey movie that I actually made as a shortfilm (with actors and a real dramascript). It was a success and I charged around $12000 due to both expenses and creative work. For the actual product they got from me, that was a real undercharge. I should have gone to at least $15 000.

It sounds much, but look at what a company would charge for it.
I looked them up and the same movie would have cost 20 000 or more.
 
Haha dang I was thinking of only charging 500
um.. the location is going to be outdoors

there are 3 crew members including myself
there will need to be graphics included
and the final output is going to be on a dvd



on anther note I was approached to do a music video. How much would you charge for

1 day of shooting
1 location - outdoors
3 crew members

Thanks
 
Im a little confused on one point. This is your first video? Do you mean your first paying job and whats your experience level?
 
Starting out i did a lot of free videos and i can honestly look back now and say that if i didn't, i would have never gotten to where i am now simply because people will not pay someone who doesn't have work samples. With that being said, do what you have to to get the job. Id suggest trying to cover your costs whether it is $200 or $2000. That way you can make a little bit of money, the client cant expect too much out of it, and you wont have as much pressure because he will be getting the video for next to nothing.
 
wow, you guys sound like a bunch of ppl who rip ppl off. i do alot of weddings and quinceneros with my friend in the summer when im not filming with snowboarding just for some extra cash. i usually charge about $600 for a b-day where ill go- film the party with one cam, make a 15 min edit for them and burn 2 dvds- more dvds at extra charge.

weddings i charge a bit more only cuz its harder and needs to be alot more serious and you really have to put effort in. but all they stuff i do is for friends, fam and fam friends so i dont overprice


ide asume seeing this is your first job that you got it from someone you know perhaps in the company or a fam friend? therefore dont charge them what someone else would- cut them a good deal and then you can be assured they will rehire you in the future and def put a good word out for you.



figure out your costs- whatever your cost is double that then charge them $15 an hour for your work ide say ( dont forget editing and stuff )

try to think how long it will all take ahead of time though so you can tell them a price up front.

so lets say it cost $200 to make- tapes, props, and anything else that youd need that you dont have that you will use just for the filming.
double that---- $400

then lets say its gonna be filmed all in one day- 6 hours- so $90 more

then account storyboard time- say 3 hours or prep to make a story board, 3 hours you might spend making a script, then the 8 hours youll spend editing it.---$210

add it all up- about $700

so for a small project ide call that you could charge that. just remember, this is your first project. Are you sure you can produce something as good as a pro? if so go ahead and boost your hourly pay rate up some then... its all up to you. but if a job can see a outline of sorts where you layout where all your costs come from they realize how much work it actually takes and they understand why you charge them so much. its alot more professional

once youve got this job under your belt then you can start making some profit off these things and ripping people off becuase you and i both know that its hard to find a relyable camera man. word of mouth is your friend when your starting out small
 
Benji Pond......Rates and fees vary greatly and encompass a multitude of factors. Because some people do not work at rates YOU charge does not give you license to accuse them of being "a bunch of ppl who rip ppl off". Often "you get what you pay for" is true. If you think $15.00 an hour is good.........well it says volumes. Shooting is an art. It's also a opportunity to exhibit one's skills and abilities. They should be compensated commensurate with their talent. They should be paid relative to the value of the finished product. If someone wants a budget piece, they pay for it. If they want something more, they pay for it. Simple economics. If you believe your skills are worth $15.00 an hour then you are correct to charge that amount to your clients. Don't however chastise others who hold themselves to a standard different than yours. Also, check your math. That $700.00 figure you quoted as profit still has the $200.00 expense added in, so it's really $500.00. I shot and cut news and docs for 30 years. A 15 minute piece cut in 8 hours offers a lot of insight and directly addresses the "you get what you pay for" tenet. A birthday party is one thing. Don't base your rationale for fees on birthday party and wedding videos or projects for friends and family. You said you did it for extra money; others do it for a living. It's not "extra" money to them and they can't treat it as such.
 
I usually charge $35- 60 a hr depending on what it is, Companies will usually pay.

My main client i used to be a employee with at around $14 a hr. I told them i want to go freelance at the rates above and they accepted it with out even blinking.

You have to realize that there are other people that charge companies $200+ a hr for legal and other crap. If you are skilled and can show that to them they will pay what you ask.
 
I normally don't factor in age whatsoever of a person's post, but in this case I had to.

Benji Pond: Your profile there says you're 19 and you mentioned you do this for extra cash. Maybe you're a student and that's sufficient. I would hardly say you have the experience to say we're ripping others off. Once you learn more about business, supply/demand, how specialized a field this is and you're providing for a family...come back and say that $1200+ is ripping people off.

Personally I charge a day rate and then a separate editing rate. The cheapest my day rate goes is $250 for a full day.

-Kegan
 
I did two videos for a grocery store and I charged the first video for $750 and the second for around $800. If it's your first job, I really wouldn't charge too much.

Even though it shouldn't matter, your age might make a difference. If you are under 20 years old, they might think you are nuts if you charge a lot of money and they won't take you seriously. It's sad, but true.
 
My only advice is don't forget editing time. Especially with a music video there will be a ton of cuts and you can end up making much less per hour than you expected.
 
this is always a touchy subject and i'm in the middle of this issue right now. i've been learning how to tell people how much i'm worth and i have been getting better at it.

first off...
peanut: your response to benji pond was very well written and its everything i wanted to say. i am definitely trying to freelance as a job/way of life. his post was a smack in the face.

now my 2 cents. when i get a call from someone that has used me before or someone that is calling me for the first time their is always that awkward question, "what do i invoice you for?" or simply, "what's the day rate for this?" ... "how many hours?" etc. etc. at first i was a push over and it was, "well what are you paying? what's in the budget?" now when i'm asked what i charge i realize that they are asking me what i am worth which means how good you are. so you have to sack up and confidently get used to saying your half day rate and your full day rate or the least you will charge. i've had a couple jobs where the guy wanted me to show up for only 15 minutes because he needed someone on a camera and i felt bad saying it but i will not do anything for less than $100 a day. i think the client respects this because in a way it means you are legit and skilled. and you have to factor different things in. these 15 minute jobs were 45 minutes away from me and 6am on a saturday. why would i spend the money in gas to get out there and only make 60 bucks??? i ended up getting these jobs and the client was pleased with my work.
the flip side is the guy could have said "sorry, cant afford it" and i would have been out a 100 bucks. but it ended up working out.

i have also been told that you get more jobs and make more money from saying no than from saying yes. this made a lot of sense to me and motivated me to stick to my guns at times. i dont have a good way of explaining this but when it was told to me it made all the sense in the world.

all in all. i've been freelancing since around august of '07 seriously. it is really tough and i'm in a struggle right now because these are the slow months and i'm learning how to market and sell myself.

if you sell yourself short on this job your going to be pissed when you put 40 to 50 hours worth of editing and you realize your only making 2 or 3 bucks an hour for your skilled time. trust me, i've done this too. you get pissed off and unmotivated and your final product is sub par because you felt like you were getting ripped off. be up front with your client, have it all written out nicely and professionally when you approach them with a respectable figure and be able to back it up. do what you have to do to get the job first but don't sell yourself so short that you have a crappy product.

whew! ok, i'm done. hope this helps.
 
Just one more thing......I live in work in the DC/Baltimore market. A two-man crew with gear can easily charge $1200.00 - $1500.00 for an 8 hour day.
 
And I would say that is normal. I worked at a rental house and even the smallest looking packages were costly. Companies seem to cut corners when they hire owner operators. So 12-1500 for an 8 hour day is a good deal to a lot of companies I would imagine.
 
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