Wedding video

omega

omega

Active member
Sorry for posting this without searching first, I don't really have time today to do so.

I just quoted somebody at $800 for a wedding video. I'm doing one for free for a friend this month and his is in July, so it'll be my 2nd one. I am just wondering if the price was too low. The price was based on an assumed 6 hours of work (4 shooting and 2 capturing). He just wants the raw video so he can edit and author it himself. So 6 x $100/hour plus the cost of tapes and other expenses.

Anyway, just wondring what other are charging and if that is a fair price. I am shooting with 1 dvx100a.

Also, if anyone would be willing to share some links, tips, advice, etc on shooting weddings, it would be greatly appriciated. Thanks!
 
This seems more than fair to me, since you're not editing it.

Of course I assume you have a good way of getting audio of the ceremony (laving the groom or officiant). Nothing screams amateur like bad audio. Now that the person is not getting it for free, they are going to expect "professional" results. Doesn't matter whether your price is below the local going rate or not. Once they are paying, expectations go up dramatically.

Also, I would beg or borrow a second cam (ANY cam, even a small one chipper) to set up on a tripod as a wide safety shot). I don't do weddings, but have done other events, and the nature of the beast is that you often need a safety shot (to cut to when you get blocked, have to change position, etc.). Tell the client you are not charging for the footage from the second cam, but are including it for his editing ease.
 
The company I work for usually charges about $2000 per wedding. 2 cameras, usually dvx100a. Now it will probably be a dvx and my hd100. So, around 1500 for single camera sounds about right for the going price. Of course you can find companies that charge 3000 for a single cam shoot. Thats rediculous. 800 should be good for your first paid gig but just remember next time, aim high and work the price down to where you and the customer are comfortable.
 
For shooting only, if you can get your quoted price grab it quick. If I was hiring an inexperienced cameraperson just to shoot, I would expect to pay about $100. For someone with strong wedding experience that I know would do a good job at audio, I would expect to pay about $300 - $400. just to shoot and walk away. Maybe add $100 if they had second camera set up, which is important IMHO. That is decent pay for a half day with no responsibilities beyond that.
 
Thanks for the replies, that gives me some confidence that the price is in a fair range. I have a little shooting expirience (a music video) which he is aware of so that helps.

Still waiting to hear back from the guy, he has to talk to the wife to be, but I think I'll stick to 800 and if he turns it down try to negotiate.
 
I would strongly second Joe Kraus's post about audio. Weddings typically take place in venues that are not at all kind in terms of audio. A camera mic, or even a shotgun mic, will very likely sound pretty awful, especially considering how far you'll probably need to be from the participants.

An ideal set-up would be two wireless lavs. At first I thought Joe's omission of the bride as a participant worthy of wearing a lav was a bit sexist, but I suppose it is generally true that a bride would be less likely to want to find an inconspicuous place on her wedding dress to clip the mic, and find a place to clip or tuck the transmitter. The officiant will probably be doing the majority of the talking, so that person should wear a lav, and I guess the leaves the groom. Unless the bride is very quiet, she should be picked up just fine between the two lavs.

As for a second camera, I would say that if you were doing the editing yourself, you would really want a second camera to give you shot options. But if the groom is going to edit this himself, he may just want a good, basic record of the event, with fluid pans and zooms.

On the other hand, a second camera with a decent shotgun attached could be very helpful in terms of picking up any other audio there might be - piano, singers, room tone, etc. - and then you would also have your B-roll. A reasonably experienced friend with a decent second camera might be more than happy to pitch in for 1/8 of the fee you're getting.

Bottom line though, if you don't have decent audio, the video you get won't much matter.

Robert
 
Hi,
There I did wedding videography full time for 5 years before I quit, we were charging close to 4K for our top package but that was two shooters with DVXs for around 10hrs, and then full post production with color grading, editing and DVD authoring. Ran multiple sound systems...ie UHF wireless, Minidisc, and solid state MP3 recorders for sound.
 
800 Is a very good price its what i used to charge for shooting and editing in the dallas ftw area now i moved to south tx there is no way in hell the cheap ppl here would pay that much. now im lucky if i get a wedding for 300.
 
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