How much... at DVinfo.net

Troy Davis · September 30th, 2009, 01:17 PM

...should I charge to shoot a 3 min youtube video? My guess is that I will shoot it and provide the client with the file to upload to Youtube. I'm thinking around $50 - $150.
Is this fair?

Don Bloom · September 30th, 2009, 02:34 PM

well, first, your area is diferent than mine, 2nd, that 3 minute video could turn out to be an hour to shoot. Don't forget edit time, render time, upload time-none might be much but it adds up. Oh yeah, set up time, strike time, travel time...
How much is your time worth? $10, $20, $30 an hour or more?
Personally, I have a 2 hour minimum for stuff like this cause I know it ain't gonna happen in 3 minutes.
I know that doesn't answer your question but it's really hard to answer with a definitive answer.

Chris Davis · September 30th, 2009, 02:50 PM

The final destination of the video doesn't matter. What matters is my time and work going into that video.

Are you just shooting three minutes of raw video and giving the client the footage? Or are you expected to edit the footage and produce a compelling story? There's a huge difference between the two.

The least expensive video I ever produced (which was about three minutes and the final destination was YouTube) cost the client $850.

Troy Davis · September 30th, 2009, 04:03 PM

This will be a marketing video for a Realtor and my guess is that I will be editing the footage.

Chris Harding · September 30th, 2009, 05:03 PM

Hi Troy

I did a marketing video for an oven cleaning company ..ran for 3 minutes and took us pretty much a full day to shoot!! I personally either work on either a half day or full day rather than hourly. By the time you have gathered your gear got to the realtor (and probably been to one of their properties) your moring at least is gone!!! I would go for at least $500 as a bare minimum!!! But then again over here Realtors always seem to be crying poverty and seem to hate spending money...still stick to at least $500!!!

Chris

Ethan Cooper · September 30th, 2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troy Davis

...should I charge to shoot a 3 min youtube video? My guess is that I will shoot it and provide the client with the file to upload to Youtube. I'm thinking around $50 - $150.
Is this fair?

Troy,

You're shooting way too low with that price. I'm mailing you off list with some suggestions.

Lukas Siewior · September 30th, 2009, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ethan Cooper

Troy,

You're shooting way too low with that price. I'm mailing you off list with some suggestions.

Agree... I'd charge $100 per hour of shooting and that includes editing. But I would not start the job without script you and your client agree on. You don't have time to "be creative" on the set.

SiuChung Leung · September 30th, 2009, 09:30 PM

We have customer contact us to shoot a youtube video from time to time. They use the word 'youtube' because they want it cheap. We always explain what we did is a lot better the just a youtube video and quote them a normal production rate. If they still want a 'youtube' video, we will suggest they get a home-use handycam and an employee to do it.

Martin Wiosna · September 30th, 2009, 10:37 PM

I was going to say the exact same thing. There are plenty of people that can just go and get a home camera and hack it themselves, but if you want a professional product you will pay a pro price.

The way I look at it, unless the business has a connection somewhere that will offer then a hookup price for a pro video, they are at the mercy of who ever they can find (google, yellowpages, ect). And if they had that hookup, you wouldn't be in the picture.

$500 seems like a sweet spot.

John Moon · October 1st, 2009, 10:46 AM

Remember...they are using something that is advertising their product or service and they are going to be able to use this advertising material (your production) over and over. I think you are way under bidding this.

Troy Davis · October 30th, 2009, 11:14 AM

Thanks for all the great responses.

Troy

Chris Harding · October 31st, 2009, 05:03 AM

Hi Troy

Just for interest I'm doing a job next week for a Property Investment company which is basically filming a guy talking to the camera. It's fully scripted so should be easy. He has then given me hi-res jpegs of his PowerPoint slides that he uses with the "patter" which I'll insert as overlays at appropriate points in the footage.

I have essentially set aside Tuesday morning to film this and editing will be very basic. He asked me if I can possibly squeeze it into a $1000 budget!! We have a company here that shoots you an "internet video ad" running about 2 minutes and they charge $4000++ for that so that might give you an idea what to charge???

Chris

Ethan Cooper · October 31st, 2009, 10:24 AM

Stick to your guns and charge professional rates. You can do this when not shooting weddings :)

If there is a company quoting $4000 for the job and you know this, don't do it for $1000, there is probably a reason they're quoting him $4,000.

David Barnett · October 31st, 2009, 02:22 PM

Funny, I saw a craigslist ad for a car dealer asking for 3 min video shot & lightly edited (basically of the used cars, showing them). His pay was $10/video. Yes, he was trying to get away with $10 bucks a video, with 3-5 cars/week.

Renton Maclachlan · October 31st, 2009, 10:07 PM

Slightly sideways...but I've done a couple of 10min political satire interviews which are up on youtube. The scripts alone took me around a month to write, then filming, once I had the script was a couple of hours (I played both parts), then all the editing was a number of hours also. So... it certainly adds up. These were straight forward once the filming started as it was all done in one place with a tight script, and the 'good' takes were just selected and run together...

A 3 min video could involve more time because you may have several shooting locations and you have to construct the story, and view and choose the clips you will use etc...

September 30th, 2009, 01:17 PM	#1
Troy Davis Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Raleigh,NC Posts: 263	How much... ...should I charge to shoot a 3 min youtube video? My guess is that I will shoot it and provide the client with the file to upload to Youtube. I'm thinking around $50 - $150. Is this fair?

September 30th, 2009, 02:34 PM	#2
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	well, first, your area is diferent than mine, 2nd, that 3 minute video could turn out to be an hour to shoot. Don't forget edit time, render time, upload time-none might be much but it adds up. Oh yeah, set up time, strike time, travel time... How much is your time worth? $10, $20, $30 an hour or more? Personally, I have a 2 hour minimum for stuff like this cause I know it ain't gonna happen in 3 minutes. I know that doesn't answer your question but it's really hard to answer with a definitive answer. __________________ What do I know? I'm just a video-O-grafer. Don

September 30th, 2009, 09:30 PM	#8
SiuChung Leung Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 231	We have customer contact us to shoot a youtube video from time to time. They use the word 'youtube' because they want it cheap. We always explain what we did is a lot better the just a youtube video and quote them a normal production rate. If they still want a 'youtube' video, we will suggest they get a home-use handycam and an employee to do it. __________________ S.O.D.E Wedding Video(NZ): www.sode.co.nz

October 1st, 2009, 10:46 AM	#10
John Moon Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 446	Remember...they are using something that is advertising their product or service and they are going to be able to use this advertising material (your production) over and over. I think you are way under bidding this. __________________ John J. Moon www.northernlightfilmworks.com - Event DV Top 25 Recipient

October 31st, 2009, 10:24 AM	#13
Ethan Cooper Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Houma, La. Posts: 1,400 Images: 5	Stick to your guns and charge professional rates. You can do this when not shooting weddings :) If there is a company quoting $4000 for the job and you know this, don't do it for $1000, there is probably a reason they're quoting him $4,000. __________________ ∅ -Ethan Cooper

September 30th, 2009, 02:50 PM	#3
Chris Davis Trustee Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Willmar, MN Posts: 1,400	The final destination of the video doesn't matter. What matters is my time and work going into that video. Are you just shooting three minutes of raw video and giving the client the footage? Or are you expected to edit the footage and produce a compelling story? There's a huge difference between the two. The least expensive video I ever produced (which was about three minutes and the final destination was YouTube) cost the client $850.

September 30th, 2009, 04:03 PM	#4
Troy Davis Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Raleigh,NC Posts: 263	This will be a marketing video for a Realtor and my guess is that I will be editing the footage.

September 30th, 2009, 05:03 PM	#5
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Hi Troy I did a marketing video for an oven cleaning company ..ran for 3 minutes and took us pretty much a full day to shoot!! I personally either work on either a half day or full day rather than hourly. By the time you have gathered your gear got to the realtor (and probably been to one of their properties) your moring at least is gone!!! I would go for at least $500 as a bare minimum!!! But then again over here Realtors always seem to be crying poverty and seem to hate spending money...still stick to at least $500!!! Chris

September 30th, 2009, 10:37 PM	#9
Martin Wiosna Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: thomaston, ct Posts: 141	I was going to say the exact same thing. There are plenty of people that can just go and get a home camera and hack it themselves, but if you want a professional product you will pay a pro price. The way I look at it, unless the business has a connection somewhere that will offer then a hookup price for a pro video, they are at the mercy of who ever they can find (google, yellowpages, ect). And if they had that hookup, you wouldn't be in the picture. $500 seems like a sweet spot.

October 30th, 2009, 11:14 AM	#11
Troy Davis Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Raleigh,NC Posts: 263	Thanks for all the great responses. Troy

October 31st, 2009, 05:03 AM	#12
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Hi Troy Just for interest I'm doing a job next week for a Property Investment company which is basically filming a guy talking to the camera. It's fully scripted so should be easy. He has then given me hi-res jpegs of his PowerPoint slides that he uses with the "patter" which I'll insert as overlays at appropriate points in the footage. I have essentially set aside Tuesday morning to film this and editing will be very basic. He asked me if I can possibly squeeze it into a $1000 budget!! We have a company here that shoots you an "internet video ad" running about 2 minutes and they charge $4000++ for that so that might give you an idea what to charge??? Chris

October 31st, 2009, 02:22 PM	#14
David Barnett Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Philly, PA Posts: 951	Funny, I saw a craigslist ad for a car dealer asking for 3 min video shot & lightly edited (basically of the used cars, showing them). His pay was $10/video. Yes, he was trying to get away with $10 bucks a video, with 3-5 cars/week.

October 31st, 2009, 10:07 PM	#15
Renton Maclachlan Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,180	Slightly sideways...but I've done a couple of 10min political satire interviews which are up on youtube. The scripts alone took me around a month to write, then filming, once I had the script was a couple of hours (I played both parts), then all the editing was a number of hours also. So... it certainly adds up. These were straight forward once the filming started as it was all done in one place with a tight script, and the 'good' takes were just selected and run together... A 3 min video could involve more time because you may have several shooting locations and you have to construct the story, and view and choose the clips you will use etc...