As you’re honing your skills with video, you may, at some point, be asked to do freelance video work for someone else. You know as well as anyone that video production is a skill that has value, so when you’re asked what your rates are, you’ll want to be ready with a number. All too often, new videographers are, for some reason, eager to work for free in order to build their demo reel. DON’T DO IT! Unless it’s for friends or family, your potential client is surely expecting your services to cost something.
FreelanceSwitch.com has put together an hourly rate calculator to help you determine what to charge. Now, this calculator is designed for individuals who are planning on doing freelance work as their main source of income, but even if you only plan on doing video here and there on the side, there are a few take-aways here. The main one is that you should charge for your equipment. Even if you’re okay with not charging for your time and labor, your camera and editing system in order to work, and being able to pay your credit card bills or business loans ensures that you’ll still have your gear the next time you want to shoot. One thing that FreelanceSwitch.com’s calculator doesn’t account for is rented equipment. If you’re renting your camera and lights, I’d recommend using the calculator to figure out your rate without the rented gear, then putting together a work order and tacking the price of the gear on there.
So let’s assume you’re not still paying off your camera, you really love doing video, and you have all the time in the world. You really should charge something reasonable anyway. The reason why charging for you work is important is because every time someone does video work for free they are devaluing the market. Think of the producer that was passed over because the client was sure they could get someone new to videography to do it for free. You might be in their position some day. This kind of thing happens all the time with video, graphic design, and art. It’s a side effect of these fields to be really fun to work in!
Tags: employment, freelance, hourly rates, Producers, Video Production
Posted in Employment, Producers, Video Production | 1 Comment »
Anyone can point a video camera at something and press record. However, creating quality videos requires an understanding of basic video production concepts. This time, Videomaker takes video production back to the basics with the newest addition to our webinar training series: Basic Video Production.
Whether you’re interested in video production for your business or interested in improving your home movies and personal projects, our comprehensive Basic Video Production webinar will teach you the techniques needed to get a jump start on making better video. You will learn basic techniques such as shot composition, camera moves and controls, microphone and audio techniques, as well as lighting setups and techniques.
Following the webinar, all registrants will receive a copy of our special report “Handheld Shooting”. In addition to valuable information and a free special report, the Basic Video Production Webinar will also include a live Q&A segment; our team answering your questions. The Basic Video Production Webinar starts at 11:00 AM (PST) on Wednesday, Jan. 11, so be sure to sign up soon!
Not interested in Basic Video Production? Videomaker’s Webinar Training Series provides a wide variety of webinars that cover topics including Advanced Editing, Documentary Production, Lighting for Video, Advanced Shooting, Audio for Video, and much more.
Tags: Audio for Video, basic video production, beginning video, post production, pre-production, Shooting, video editing, Video Production, video training, webinar
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Looking for Props for your next movie? Check out After Halloween Sales!
So I was at my local department store shopping for a storage bin and I stumbled upon my biggest pet peeve this time of year, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” a long row of Halloween items on sale while Christmas music blared happily overhead.
I always wish we could have a rest from exposure to both of these over-saturated events between Halloween and Thanksgiving, but I’m also a savvy shopper. Anyone who makes videos that might need movie props or makeup should consider the Halloween sale aisle. If you have a fake fight, you’ll need scars or makeup. If you have an ethereal fairy or wizard making magic, you’ll need tiaras and wands. This time of year you’re going to find wigs, fake swords, zombie makeup and more – all at 50% to 75% off. What a deal. Facial scars, skin putty and glue, fake teeth even fake blood props are all on sale – and you probably won’t find them again until next year.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: bargains, Halloween, movie props, props, sale, Video Production, Zombie
Posted in Accessories, Do-It-Yourself, Lighting, Movies, Shooting, Special Effects | No Comments »
Videomaker workshops offer a great ways to get good video info fast. While Videomaker has lots of ways to learn about video — webinars, training DVDs, a monthly magazine, or can getting tips sent daily to your email — nothing quite compares to getting some face-time with a real live person. Luckily, there’s an easy way to get the personal attention that you crave – Videomaker‘s in-house workshops are the perfect opportunity to get all your toughest video and videography questions answered by a live Videomaker expert. Our experts love to help you make better video, so these popular and informative workshops thrive on student questions. Bring your biggest questions and trickiest problems and get some answers.
The Basics of Video
Production is a great way to get a hands-on introduction to making videos. Various lectures by video experts will cover the fundamental techniques of shooting, miking, editing and lighting. Our best video experts are always on hand during these educational sessions. Each workshop contains lectures, demonstrations and Q&A sessions with experts. But by far the most popular section of the day is when attendees get to take their cameras out into the field to put all the new techniques they’ve just learned into practice. Previous workshop groups have used their skills to craft professional-looking video movies in just three days. End your weekend with a complete video project to how the class. It’s no wonder that previous attendees rave about Videomaker workshops; 100% of attendees rated this workshop as good or excellent and that’s a record we’re proud of.
Sign up for The Basics of Video Production today and you’re sure to agree.
Intensive Ed
iting is a three-day, hands on course is for students who understand the basics of video editing and want to advance their skills. Each student will work on a supplied HP laptop, using Adobe professional editing software that will take you from the basic skills to some advanced techniques including time remapping, advanced trimming features, multi-camera editing and more. Seating is limited so register for Intensive Editing today!
Sign up for our Intensive Editing Workshop and get ready to learn.
Tags: Video, video editing, Video Production, Videomaker, Videomaker Training Workshops, Videomaker Workshops
Posted in Editing, Events, Producers, Training, Videomaker | No Comments »
What if you could make professional grade video the first time you picked up a camera? Videomaker’s new free report “8 Tips for a Stellar First Video” will show you how to become a better videographer on your first shoot.
Maybe you’ve wanted to make video for a while; maybe you just caught the video bug recently. Either way, something’s holding you back – maybe you’re worried that any video you make will look amateurish next to those made by long-time video enthusiasts. We know that initial step can be daunting when you feel like you don’t know the first thing about making video. You feel the passion to create and share video stories but it seems like there’s so much to learn first.
No more excuses! Videomaker’s “8 Tips for a Stellar First Video” is exactly the resource created for you. It’s written with the eager young newbie in mind, so you don’t need to have any familiarity with video equipment to get the most out of these tips.
Learn:
- How to make sure that, before you even start, you have everything to finish
- The Two Easy Steps to Handling your Video Camera like a pro… and getting the same great footage.
- How to organize your thoughts into a video story
- The Secret to shooting footage that looks good on any screen.
- How video is different than real life… and how you can use that to your advantage.
- The single most important tip for keeping an audience interested. This remarkably simple tip will free you from the old style of thinking that holds you back and let you see the world the way the video pros do.
- The biggest mistake that can sink a first video and how you can avoid it.
“8 Tips for a Stellar First Video” is a quick and easy read for even the greenest video lover, but we didn’t want to leave you with obvious, philosophical tips that wouldn’t actually help you. That’s why we’ve picked the eight tips that you can start applying the moment you pick up a camera.
You can pick these tips out after hours of studying film theory or you figure them out after days of trial and error – or you can get them all here, collected in one place, in just minutes.
Download your FREE report 8 Tips for a Stellar First Video and start learning today!
Tags: directing, Editing, free report, Shooting, Video, video editing, Video Production, video training, videography, Videomaker
Posted in Directing, Do-It-Yourself, Editing, Free, Press Release, Shooting, Training, Uncategorized, Video Production, Videomaker | No Comments »
Recording good audio during the production of your video is extremely important. Muffled sounds, annoying plosives, and barely audible voices are all elements that could ruin your audio and inevitably ruin your final project. When using lavalier microphones, placement plays an important role in how the mic picks up your talent’s voice. Proper placement will help you capture good, clean audio.
For the best results, have your subject wear a button-down shirt. The mic should come up from underneath the subject’s shirt, so the wire is hidden, and placed between the top two buttons, or about eight inches below the talent’s mouth. By placing the mic below the mouth, rather than off to the side, you’re maximizing the lavalier’s ability to pick up sound, which will result in a better recording. You can also adjust the mic placement, up or down, to find a location that best avoids the bass of the chest cavity and the pops of plosives.
Remember to always listen to the incoming audio with headphones. Pay close attention to any additional noises caused by the material of your subject’s shirt, or a dangling necklace that scratches against the microphone. Practicing proper mic placement and monitoring will help you capture great audio every time.
For more information on how to record great sound every time you shoot, what mics you should use, and how to avoid common audio recording mistakes check out our audio articles under the How To tab on the Videomaker website.
Tags: lavalier mics, mic placement, recording good audio, Video Production
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Have you ever had an idea for a documentary, but didn’t know where to start? Learn how to make a documentary with Videomaker’s upcoming Documentary Production Webinar. We will help you obtain the knowledge you will need to organize your documentary, tell your story effectively, and improve your chances for distribution success. With the proper techniques applied to your documentary, you can affect how the viewer perceives the issue while increasing the overall impact of your documentary.
Following the presentation, all registrants will receive a copy of our special report Mastering the Documentary Interview. In addition to valuable information and a free special report this event will also include a live Q&A segment; our team answering your questions. Videomaker’s Documentary Production Webinar starts at 11:00 AM (PST) on Wednesday, October 19th, so be sure to sign up soon!
Not interested in Documentary Production? Videomaker’s weekly Webinar Training Series is taught by our experts and features a wide variety of video production and post production topics including Advanced Shooting, Green Screen and Special Effects, Advanced Editing, Lighting for Video, and much more.
Tags: documentary, How to make a documentary, Video Production, Videomaker, webinar
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In video production, lighting is primarily used for obtaining proper exposure. However, it can also be used to help enhance story elements. Often lighting is used as a visual clue to inform the viewer that they should feel a particular way about a scene or character. Soft, even light works great for a natural and more flattering look, but if your character is a rugged individual, or the villain of your movie, soft lighting won’t help their tough-guy persona. In fact, it will lessen the appearance of any shadows and facial lines that can accentuate a menacing scowl or mischievous smirk. For lights that add to your character’s unpolished demeanor consider lighting placement and intensity.
In order to step away from the more glamorous effect of soft and even lighting, try using smaller light sources to light your subject. The harsher light will create more shadows and highlights, emphasizing facial creases and pits. This style can hint to the audience that the individual is a force to be reckoned with.
Placement of your lights can also add depth to your character. By placing your key and fill lights further from the center of your subject’s face (away from the camera), and by raising the position of the key, you’ll be able to create more shadows. Try experimenting with the position of the key and fill light until you find the desired look.
Whether your subject is the glamorous or rugged type, putting them in the the right light will tell your audience more about the their character. Learning how to emphasize your subject’s facial features with the proper light will help you create a great story with convincing characters.
Check out Videomaker’s article on lighting women and men for more tips on how to set up your lights for both beautiful and rugged subjects.
Tags: Lighting, storytelling, Video Production
Posted in Lighting | No Comments »
Learning how to record good audio is invaluable to the process of making a video. Unfortunately, it is often an afterthought or considered something that can be easily fixed in post production. Video producers have had to learn the hard way that there is no substitution for properly recorded audio.
Videomaker’s Audio for Video Webinar aims at helping you capture the best sound possible, the first time around. Our 60 minute presentation will cover types of mics and their pick-up patterns, which mics are the best fit for each situation, tips on how to capture quality audio every time you shoot, and more.
In addition to valuable information, this event will also include live Q&A; our team answering your questions. This event starts at 11:00 AM (PST) on September 28th, so be sure to sign up soon!
Videomaker’s Webinar Training Series provides a variety of presentations that cover topics including Advanced Editing, Documentary Production, Lighting for Video, Advanced Shooting, Green Screens and Special Effects, and much more. Check out our full list of webinars, our events schedule, or register for upcoming events by visiting the Videomaker Training page.
Tags: Audio for Video, good audio, how to get good audio, record audio, Video Production, videomaker webinar
Posted in Audio Recording, Videomaker Webinar | 1 Comment »
On-line sources fo
r video content of all sorts, from artistic to instructional to experimental, are multiplying at a dizzying pace. Video collaboration, particularly collaboration “in the cloud,” is a quickly maturing concept. And behind these sites for online video collaboration is the basic motivation for film makers and graphic artists to find new muses and wider audiences. Clearly there is no shortage of inspiration for those of us who are as passionate about video as we are about music, art, science, technology, and more. One of my favorite sources for such inspiration is the exceptional TED.com.
TED talks have been around for a long time now and many of us are in the habit of regularly visiting TED.com to check out the latest on-line releases. On a recent web surfing excursion to TED, I came across an extraordinary piece featuring an exhilarating example of collaborative on-line video editing. (Videomaker has blogged on this topic recently: see Daniel Bruns’ excellent blog posted August 8th on the phenomenon of leveraging HTML5 for music video production by bands like OK Go, Arcade Fire, and Danger Mouse.) Some of you are likely very familiar with Aaron Koblin’s work. Koblin’s TED talk, “Artfully Envisioning Our Humanity” posted this past May is a marvel. If you haven’t already, you really need to check out Koblin’s TED talk.
Koblin has built an onli
ne environment wherein artists and videographers can contribute to a collaborative video featuring the late Johnny Cash’s final recording Aint No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down). It’s an astute choice, not only because this is a wonderful version of this song about living on through one’s legacy. Cash has been missed by many of us since his death in 2003. Koblin’s choice of Aint No Grave is also astute because there is no “holding down” the creativity of the still image contributors building a video and embracing Koblin’s site and his vision. As more and more images are added to the montage, it is clear that this site is tapping into both profound reverence for the artist (Johnny Cash) and into an enthusiasm for collaboration in video. The very nature of this project means that there is really never an “end-product” or a finished video, but rather iterative experiences that change with nearly every viewing, as long as the contributions keep coming and the video keeps evolving. Collaborative endeavors such as these inspire us to return again and again, to both add to and to admire the outcome. If you haven’t already, you really should check it out. (Visit The Johnny Cash Project.)
Many video producers toil to perfect their craft in simple DIY studios at home, or in temporary rented space, or simply out in the world with their camcorder in their hand. Unless you’re working closely with a cadre of fellow practitioners of the video craft (which luckily, many of you are), the work of video is usually less an act of collaboration and more often a solitary enterprise. You often shoot alone, edit alone, and release your video alone, hoping to capture a wider audience as your videos catch on via YouTube or Vimeo or elsewhere. But projects such as Aaron Koblin’s remind us that we can do amazingly creative things when we work together.
Tags: Camcorder, Camcorders, collaborative video, internet video, on-line video, Shooting, Video Production, video sharing, Videomaker Blog, Vimeo
Posted in Distribution, Editing, Entertainment, Online Video, Video Production | 1 Comment »
As you’re honing your skills with video, you may, at some point, be asked to do freelance video work for someone else. You know as well as anyone that video production is a skill that has value, so when you’re asked what your rates are, you’ll want to be ready with a number. All too often, new videographers are, for some reason, eager to work for free in order to build their demo reel. DON’T DO IT! Unless it’s for friends or family, your potential client is surely expecting your services to cost something.
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