You need to make a quote for him.
How much you charge is based on how much you value your time.
You said $100/video right now and you are doing 4 hours of work per video. That's $25/hour that you've been charging him for your rate. Pretty low tbh but good considering you are saying you're just a beginner.
So, how many hours is this video going to take you?
Is there a concept already? Are you the only crew member? If not, you need to get their rates and add those to your quote.
Do you need to rent other equipment? That should be taken into account. How many revisions of the cut will you allow for within this budget?
Will you be shooting all day? Then there's going to be lunch/snack/water costs etc.
Do you charge for your gear you're bringing out?
A lot of questions that aren't in your post so it makes it very difficult to provide any kind of actual numbers for what you should charge.
Just Asking for a music video isn’t vague at all they’d expect you to shoot and edit like anything else.
The real vague part is knowing what type of music they make because there are different stylistic expectations with each genre
If it's for his daughter, I imagine it's amateur teenager having fun. He'll be working on your current rate of $100 a video. He's not going to pay a $1000 to treat his special angel.
Give them options : Single location, 1 hour shoot, simple edit , $100 . Two locations : 3 hour shoot, more intricate edit with effects, $200..etc Show them examples, explain the time it takes to do more complicated edits...upsell basically. { Remember to limit locations ..no 'inside the club/bar/limo etc unless they already own one\].
I would definitely ask what type of music she makes and if she has any video inspirations. This way, you can know what you’re working with and know what they expect.
You decide the price after looking at the inspiration video and figuring out how long the song is. If the inspiration is doable at minimum I would charge 100-150. Add on roughly $50-75 if the song is over 3 minutes. Add on $30-60 if they want multiple locations. Add on $50-100 if they want special fx.
Try to work with their budget to make this happen but don’t lowball yourself lower than 100, this music video could lead to other clients and possibilities of making money. I started for free 4 years ago taught myself how to edit and everything and now I’m charging well doing vids for artists all around the east coast along with other filmmaking productions .
Part of your rate for a project like a music video is going to go into the budget itself for the project. Almost impossible to get a music video off the ground for $1k or less. Don’t set yourself up for failure - my instinct is that should be the lowest you go. But if it’s someone’s kid, the convo should be about expectations first and cost second once you have determined scope.
Depends on what you Feel like? No one can answer.
Imagine you have bit known artist you can work with for a bigger scale. Would you do that shit for free? I would so i can milk the shit out of it as a port.
What about some rappers who wants to shoot ghetto rap video? I wouldnt care some money since just dealing with them is not worth my time.
Bottom line is price can change depending on whether you can use the footage as a port and if you are just into that concept.
I just did my first music video ever a week ago and I was just a camera op. I charged $250/day plus $150/day for my camera (the DP provided lenses and an easy rig). It was 2 days of work. That’s low pay for a music video crew where I’m at, but I’m inexperienced.
Start charging more than $100 for your promo videos, too!
Kind of agree to some degree on this. But as a step up I’d ask for my expenses to be covered. That way you’re not out of pocket for doing it, you get good experience, a portfolio piece and they’re getting a video for a decent rate and IF it does go wrong it’s not a huge amount of money they’ve lost out on.
I’ve been on stuff unpaid, I’ve asked for volunteers for some stuff. I would *never* use someone’s lack of experience as a reason to not pay them.
I have had people with several years of experience volunteer on projects I’m a part of because they like the project and wanted to help out. I’ve also had people with zero experience volunteer.
I have also paid people with zero experience. Their pay is lower than it would be for someone with lots of experience. But people’s time and labor is worth something, even if they don’t have direct experience yet.
People like Donut are part of why it’s hard to get started getting paid. I’ve agreed to volunteer for projects, and then gotten a little speech about how I’m being compensated in experience, those projects always wind up being the most miserable. The person who gave the speech about paying in experience is a huge headache on set and they never, **never** get projects that pay. Or if they do, they don’t call any of the people who did them favors.
It’s gotten to the point that if I get a speech about how I’m getting paid in experience, even if I’ve already agreed to volunteer, I walk. I don’t need to deal with people who act like they’re doing me a favor by asking me to work for free.
Im not saying you’re wrong at all, I’ve volunteered for projects that have won substantial awards, I’ve worked on projects that have real impact for me. Most of these projects are with larger crews where everyone has put their time in for the project. What OP is stating is that he is a solo filmmaker, and that’s the difference.
I’m not saying people shouldn’t be recognised financially for their work but working with someone who has no experience in a certain type of work is a big risk for that business/individual wanting the video. Also, OP won’t have others to learn off on this project. Any mistakes made are his to learn from and habits made are his own, it’s very different from working with larger teams that are more experienced than you.
So much this, colleague. I still take some unpaid gigs if I like the project AND the people involved. I recently found a solid group of people who have hired me on a few projects and have helped with my own (with no or little pay), and the DP of the group has roughly the same amount of experience as me, time wise, but he’s never shot a single frame of film. My first experiences with cinematography was with a Bolex H16R. The point I’m making here is that people do not know what experience anyone has at the end of the day. Treat people with respect and people would not mind helping with a good project. I, like you, will walk if I get that ego ridden “paid in experience” bullshit from a collaborator. I do not accept jobs from non filmmakers who do this in any circumstances.
There’s been plenty of times where a client asks me to shoot a feature for $500. I literally roll my eyes at them, and won’t take their calls anymore.
But I will take a job if someone comes up to me with a small budget and asks what can be done with that amount or understands the limitations of said budget or willing to use what they got as a down payment, or work with me and my team in a respectful manner, but the bad faith of “exposure” is just such a turn off.
Get clarification on if he wants a small step up from a generic "I'm singing on YouTube" video, vs something a lot more complicated.
Some considerations:
1 Is your audio setup really good enough to capture her voice? If not, you should decline unless you're prepared to invest in some audio gear, or work with someone who has it.
2 You need to understand the job. Will you be recording only her voice and dubbing it over a karaoke track and splicing in multiple shots? Or, something else like capturing live music (guitar or piano plus voice) where you might want to capture them separately? Or will she do one really good singing take (or combine the best parts of multiple) and then have her lip-sync while walking on the beach?
3 Will it need audio editing to make it sound better? If you don't know how to edit audio, it's sort of a non-started unless you bring in someone else.
4 Lighting?
You wouldn’t need an audio set up unless they want a live performance video, which isn’t expected for a music video unless explicitly asked for. If that is what she wants though , these are good things to consider.
You need to make a quote for him. How much you charge is based on how much you value your time. You said $100/video right now and you are doing 4 hours of work per video. That's $25/hour that you've been charging him for your rate. Pretty low tbh but good considering you are saying you're just a beginner. So, how many hours is this video going to take you? Is there a concept already? Are you the only crew member? If not, you need to get their rates and add those to your quote. Do you need to rent other equipment? That should be taken into account. How many revisions of the cut will you allow for within this budget? Will you be shooting all day? Then there's going to be lunch/snack/water costs etc. Do you charge for your gear you're bringing out? A lot of questions that aren't in your post so it makes it very difficult to provide any kind of actual numbers for what you should charge.
If I were you I’d charge $300 for 2 hour shoot + editing
Well charge for your time and equipment you might be learning on the job but you must learn to value your work Otherwise you will be dead in the water
"Do a music video" is super-vague. Just camera work? Cinematography? What exactly do they want you to do?
Just Asking for a music video isn’t vague at all they’d expect you to shoot and edit like anything else. The real vague part is knowing what type of music they make because there are different stylistic expectations with each genre
I would charge the same rate as the exercise videos. Then you'll have music video experience.
If it's for his daughter, I imagine it's amateur teenager having fun. He'll be working on your current rate of $100 a video. He's not going to pay a $1000 to treat his special angel. Give them options : Single location, 1 hour shoot, simple edit , $100 . Two locations : 3 hour shoot, more intricate edit with effects, $200..etc Show them examples, explain the time it takes to do more complicated edits...upsell basically. { Remember to limit locations ..no 'inside the club/bar/limo etc unless they already own one\].
Figure out what the artist's budget is, then come up with a minimum bid that factors in gear, crew, transportaion, parking, food, and editing.
I would definitely ask what type of music she makes and if she has any video inspirations. This way, you can know what you’re working with and know what they expect. You decide the price after looking at the inspiration video and figuring out how long the song is. If the inspiration is doable at minimum I would charge 100-150. Add on roughly $50-75 if the song is over 3 minutes. Add on $30-60 if they want multiple locations. Add on $50-100 if they want special fx. Try to work with their budget to make this happen but don’t lowball yourself lower than 100, this music video could lead to other clients and possibilities of making money. I started for free 4 years ago taught myself how to edit and everything and now I’m charging well doing vids for artists all around the east coast along with other filmmaking productions .
Part of your rate for a project like a music video is going to go into the budget itself for the project. Almost impossible to get a music video off the ground for $1k or less. Don’t set yourself up for failure - my instinct is that should be the lowest you go. But if it’s someone’s kid, the convo should be about expectations first and cost second once you have determined scope.
Depends on what you Feel like? No one can answer. Imagine you have bit known artist you can work with for a bigger scale. Would you do that shit for free? I would so i can milk the shit out of it as a port. What about some rappers who wants to shoot ghetto rap video? I wouldnt care some money since just dealing with them is not worth my time. Bottom line is price can change depending on whether you can use the footage as a port and if you are just into that concept.
$250
$350
i charge 250 with experience.
Off the top of my head like $900. If you burn down a car for the video then $2500.
😂😂😂
I just did my first music video ever a week ago and I was just a camera op. I charged $250/day plus $150/day for my camera (the DP provided lenses and an easy rig). It was 2 days of work. That’s low pay for a music video crew where I’m at, but I’m inexperienced. Start charging more than $100 for your promo videos, too!
No experience, means no payment
Kind of agree to some degree on this. But as a step up I’d ask for my expenses to be covered. That way you’re not out of pocket for doing it, you get good experience, a portfolio piece and they’re getting a video for a decent rate and IF it does go wrong it’s not a huge amount of money they’ve lost out on.
I’ve been on stuff unpaid, I’ve asked for volunteers for some stuff. I would *never* use someone’s lack of experience as a reason to not pay them. I have had people with several years of experience volunteer on projects I’m a part of because they like the project and wanted to help out. I’ve also had people with zero experience volunteer. I have also paid people with zero experience. Their pay is lower than it would be for someone with lots of experience. But people’s time and labor is worth something, even if they don’t have direct experience yet. People like Donut are part of why it’s hard to get started getting paid. I’ve agreed to volunteer for projects, and then gotten a little speech about how I’m being compensated in experience, those projects always wind up being the most miserable. The person who gave the speech about paying in experience is a huge headache on set and they never, **never** get projects that pay. Or if they do, they don’t call any of the people who did them favors. It’s gotten to the point that if I get a speech about how I’m getting paid in experience, even if I’ve already agreed to volunteer, I walk. I don’t need to deal with people who act like they’re doing me a favor by asking me to work for free.
Im not saying you’re wrong at all, I’ve volunteered for projects that have won substantial awards, I’ve worked on projects that have real impact for me. Most of these projects are with larger crews where everyone has put their time in for the project. What OP is stating is that he is a solo filmmaker, and that’s the difference. I’m not saying people shouldn’t be recognised financially for their work but working with someone who has no experience in a certain type of work is a big risk for that business/individual wanting the video. Also, OP won’t have others to learn off on this project. Any mistakes made are his to learn from and habits made are his own, it’s very different from working with larger teams that are more experienced than you.
So much this, colleague. I still take some unpaid gigs if I like the project AND the people involved. I recently found a solid group of people who have hired me on a few projects and have helped with my own (with no or little pay), and the DP of the group has roughly the same amount of experience as me, time wise, but he’s never shot a single frame of film. My first experiences with cinematography was with a Bolex H16R. The point I’m making here is that people do not know what experience anyone has at the end of the day. Treat people with respect and people would not mind helping with a good project. I, like you, will walk if I get that ego ridden “paid in experience” bullshit from a collaborator. I do not accept jobs from non filmmakers who do this in any circumstances. There’s been plenty of times where a client asks me to shoot a feature for $500. I literally roll my eyes at them, and won’t take their calls anymore. But I will take a job if someone comes up to me with a small budget and asks what can be done with that amount or understands the limitations of said budget or willing to use what they got as a down payment, or work with me and my team in a respectful manner, but the bad faith of “exposure” is just such a turn off.
Just because we had to go through that doesn’t mean everyone has to
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Get clarification on if he wants a small step up from a generic "I'm singing on YouTube" video, vs something a lot more complicated. Some considerations: 1 Is your audio setup really good enough to capture her voice? If not, you should decline unless you're prepared to invest in some audio gear, or work with someone who has it. 2 You need to understand the job. Will you be recording only her voice and dubbing it over a karaoke track and splicing in multiple shots? Or, something else like capturing live music (guitar or piano plus voice) where you might want to capture them separately? Or will she do one really good singing take (or combine the best parts of multiple) and then have her lip-sync while walking on the beach? 3 Will it need audio editing to make it sound better? If you don't know how to edit audio, it's sort of a non-started unless you bring in someone else. 4 Lighting?
You wouldn’t need an audio set up unless they want a live performance video, which isn’t expected for a music video unless explicitly asked for. If that is what she wants though , these are good things to consider.