Those of you that shoot Music Videos...

D

DVX100Shooter

Veteran
I am wondering those of you that have been posting videos on here in the Screen Grabs Section, do you charge the bands, singers, rappers to shoot their videos? Do you approach them or do they approach you? Do you just shoot it for the experience?  
 
The issue I am dealing with is I am soon going to be doing video work for a lot of artists that are signed to a low budget label that I am affiliated with. These artists are "In House" meaning we ALL are a part of the same network of people. In our last business meeting I stressed that video production work can be expensive. I don't want to work for free so what would be the best way to handle this situation? Usually its the label or the Manager or even the artists themselves that will come up with the money to pay the person shooting the video. I dont have a problem shooting maybe 1 video for free I just need to figure out my game plan before I committ to doing any video work. I actually already started shooting a EPK (electronic press kit) for one artist though.  
 
I am just trying to hear your thoughts and suggestions on what you guys do in terms of charging to shoot music videos or not charge.  
 
Re: Those of you that shoot Music Videos...

[quote author=DVX100Shooter link=board=MesPhotos;num=1105723162;start=0#0 date=01/14/05 at 09:19:22] In our last business meeting I stressed that video production work can be expensive. I don't want to work for free so what would be the best way to handle this situation?
[/quote]

If you are sure to be getting work from them, why do you have to do anything for free? Free means ZERO. tapes cost money, at least they could pay for that. Your GAS, traveling, food, anything-- that truly adds up.

If you are uncertain about your skills or the level of quality for the final product, then a free job or two may not be a bad idea. There is nothing like practice. If you practice ALOT, someday someone will pay you good money because you are good.

Working too much for free will set a bad precedent that will burn you at and put YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU into debt. debt--from buying the whole production line necessary to get the video material to them in usable forms..dvd or web, etc.

If they are low budget, start pinning down rates that are more "economical." even if they suck, you are not working for free.

my guess is that like many video ventures, the editing time is a good deal of the production time. Figure out how long you think it would be to edit a music video. Figure in an editing hourly charge? $15-$100/hour? and then add on your shooting time, your pre-production time.

as I said, if this is low budget all togeher and you do not want to price yourself out..stay somewhat low. But then you have to ask yourself, If I am making zilcho, then why am I doing this?
 
Re: Those of you that shoot Music Videos...

I am very certain of my skills. I have been shooting and editing for over 10 years now and I currently shoot for ABC in Philly. This venture of working with artists is something I wanted to do on the side. I agree and they have agreed to pitch in for tapes, rental gear, etc.
 
Re: Those of you that shoot Music Videos...

The old adage for music videos is that there is no money in music videos. If you're working with local bands, they won't have any money, nor the tiny local labels. Small labels sometimes have good distributors though, so occassionally, you'll run into one with enough to pay for a small $1k-5K shoot, but that's rare, more so each year because the need for videos isn't as strong anymore.

On top of that, unfortunately, the way the music video business seems to work is that you have to do a lot of free work before you even have a budget, and even then, you'll be working for pennies. $40-75k shoots used to be the norm, but anymore, no one wants to spend that kind of money, even the majors. Most people, or groups, work on videos for 1) to get material for their reel, or 2) because they can be a lot of fun -- pure and simple.

So if you're doing it just a thing on the side, it's a fun area to work in. But you'll probably have to get used to having to either not work with a band or just be reimbursed for the bare minimum of expenses.
 
Re: Those of you that shoot Music Videos...

Since local bands don't have money, I typically set up a deal where they pay for consumables (including beer) for me and my crew, and then we sell them DVDs at a slight profit, and then the band turns around and sells their DVDs to their fans at a marked up rate.

We don't expect to ever make a living from music videos, but we do like to do them because we like the work, and it allows us to hone our skills.
 
Re: Those of you that shoot Music Videos...

Once I got started the word just got around. They then came to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top