differnt videograhy

[Iceburner 0]

so, having done video work for skydiving for about a year, one of my good friends asked me to video his wedding....nothing spetacular, but video work none the less. I have 2 cameras, one high def, the other normal video, so i can get 2 diff angles of everything and will proly spend hours editing...he said to name a price and he'd be good with it. I was wondering (DSE...i figure you might have some experience) how much i should charge for a semi-amature wedding video. They will have professional photographers, this is just something he thought would be cool. Being his friend i figured i'd give him a deal, but i literally have no idea what even an amature would get paid. any advice or msgs would be appreciated

[jtval 0]

I did the same thing for my borthers wedding I should have charged them $2000 for the headaches they put me through.

not that they were fussy but They wanted the get a slide show from the pictures on their wedding vid.


No problem,right? well they were too dumb to kno whow to scan 200 pictures in so I flew my happy ass from las vegas to NY and spend the better part of the week scanning them in.

Then, of course, my computer crashed.
By the time I got it up and running I heard that my mothers step grand-daughter had already done the slide show.

I was pretty fucking happy at the same time wanted to tell them to kiss my ass.
The whole fucking time she had the ability to scan the picture but didn't...or they didnt ask.

and I DO consider my trip to NY a waste of tiem because I was fucking with their computer the whole time trying to debug it just so I could scan the photos and go home only to find out that someone else did all the fun stuff.

So EVEN if all goes smooth for you I would charge no less then $200. and that if a phenominfuckinal price.

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[DSE 3]

I've never done a wedding video, I don't think you could pay me enough. Brides, mothers of brides, etc.
videouniversity.com is a site I frequent though, and it seems the average wedding is between 2 and 3.5K, but that's also work done by low-end professionals using lights, shooting pre-wedding stuff, and sometimes SDE's (same-day edits). skydivers are experts at SDE's though.
I'd figure on paying myself around 20.00 an hour if this isn' your normal gig, or if you love the guy and want to give him a deal.
JT, next time you need a slide show...my company makes software that can build a 10,000 slide show timed to music in about 30 seconds...complete with motion, panning, etc. Next time, call me. I'll help ya out.

[peckerhead 0]

You know I really don't consider myself to know all that much about photography or videography. I love to read DSE's posts but I almost never know what he is talking about.

The only reason I feel justified in charging for skydiving videos and stills is purely because of the unique angle that I am able to get shots from. Let's face it, most, (if not all) whuffos are in awe that such a thing is even possible.
As a former DZO put it " you are just a falling tripod" The fact that you are willing to strap a couple thousand dollars worth of electronics to your head and jump out of a plane is what makes you valuble.

It is only a product worth buying because I can exit and fall within a close distance of someone making a tandem jump and point my cameras in that direction. Add some music, a few transitions and sub titles and they get a fantastic soveneir well worth the money.

That said I don't think my years of skydiving video experience would ever qualify me to do a wedding or similar type function. I would be more than happy to set up a tripod, stick a blank tape in and let it rip. I don't think I could charge for that. If you need assistance I will be over at the punchbowl.....

More later,

[johnboy 0]

I've done some special events for people over the last few years in an effort to better learn my editing skills and to help some friends out. I did the first half dozen or so for free on the understanding there were no promises on results or when they would be finished. Having some experience under my belt, I now do not go for anything less than $25 an hour as that's the absolute minimum I would accept on any of my carpentry or remodeling skills (and even at that I would really have to like the person I was building for). I'm hardly anything amazing on video, but the only reason people pay for anything is someone else's knowledge/skills. As jtval said, the pain-in-the-ass factor can be off the charts if you're trying something new.

My point? Heck if I know. If I didn't enjoy the creative process as much as I do, I don't think I would have tried any projects other than skydiving videos. On the other hand, if someone is expecting something from me for skills I've developed and it will keep me from spending time with my wife and kids, I expect to be compensated accordingly.

Consider, too, wear and tear on your equipment, set up time, finding angles you like, microphones (because the one built into your camera is not going to cut it), etc.

Hell, tell him 200k and negotiate from there.

[jtval 0]

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JT, next time you need a slide show...my company makes software that can build a 10,000 slide show timed to music in about 30 seconds...complete with motion, panning, etc. Next time, call me. I'll help ya out.

I'll definitely keepo that in mind but at that point the slideshow wasn't the problem it was having to scan all the pictures in to the computer that sucked.
Alot of people gave them the prints and no disc.
when they bought the pro photo's obviously they didnt get digital copies etc.

so getting them digital took forever.

Tell me more about the slideshow builder though.
I've been thinking of throwing oe together for my 3 year old niece.

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[DSE 3]

Ultimate S makes slideshows (among other things).

[HSPScott 0]

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next time you need a slide show...my company makes software that can build a 10,000 slide show timed to music in about 30 seconds...complete with motion, panning, etc.

Do you have this for Mac

[DSE 3]

Nope. When Apple more or less abandoned development of Applescript, it killed our ability to do this. We wish we did/could easily do it, but the API just isn't developed.

[Iceburner 0]

sorry it's taken me awhile to reply. This wouldn't be my first wedding, but it is my first wedding that isn't someone related to me that i've taped. I have 2 different cams which would work good for getting angles, and i have 3 mics....i've practiced a lil bit in editing, was just wondering a ball park figure for an amature wedding videographer....and thanks to those that gave me their input I didn't even think of the mom's and the relatives and all that crap...haha

DSE, that slideshow program sounds interesting, maybe a lil something i can throw into thier video....can you pm me some more information on it? Thanks

[jtval 0]

Quote

Ultimate S makes slideshows (among other things).

OUch. It's a plug in for Sony Vegas? Is there a stand alone type?
I am a premi user.

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[BellyFlailer 0]

Don't do it man! If I were you I wouldn't touch that wedding video gig with a 10 foot pole. Friends that ask for video work aren't your friends. Fk-ers. Obviously I've had some bad personal experiences. Try asking for 2K and watch your friend get mad at you. The pro's charge alot cuz it takes alot of time.

But think about this.
3 hours filming
3 hours to get that video to your pc
6 hours of watching it/editing minimum.
Depending on DVD burning speed on your pc.
10min per DVD, * number of DVD's.

If you get away with < 20 hours you'll be lucky. No F'ing a-hole friend of mine is ever getting me to do another video, slide show, video of their loser kids birthday parties, or anything!

http://www.SkydiveVids.com

[jtval 0]

Quote

Don't do it man! If I were you I wouldn't touch that wedding video gig with a 10 foot pole. Friends that ask for video work aren't your friends. Fk-ers. Obviously I've had some bad personal experiences. Try asking for 2K and watch your friend get mad at you. The pro's charge alot cuz it takes alot of time.

But think about this.
3 hours filming
3 hours to get that video to your pc
6 hours of watching it/editing minimum.
Depending on DVD burning speed on your pc.
10min per DVD, * number of DVD's.

If you get away with

THAT WAS REFRESHING!

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