Which of these mics to use for this shoot?

[Brett Underberg-davis]

p.s. I should have said “a reason” rather than “the reason” as I’m sure there are many other reasons why individuals treat audio as an afterthought when (ideally) they should not.

[Ty Ford]

[Brett Underberg-Davis] ” don’t (generally) get paid for these shoots. I come with a $10K camera, $10 tapes and another $3K in sound equipment, not counting several $1,000s in computer equipment and editing software I use in post much of the time — and my investment (which seems foolhardy, especially in the face of a major recession) has been largely predicated on my doing the best job I can under the circumstances in hopes that those associated with my “charity” jobs may think of me sometime when they are shooting something where there are people actually willing to pay for production values. Frankly it’s (emotionally) depressing and it probably should be, considering out collective attitudes have done a lot to make the looming (economic) depression a near certainty.
“

I would be depressed as well were I in your situation. Not getting paid is a problem. Why on earth would you do that unless you are financially independent and doing it as an expensive hobby? I would counsel you that once they get you for free, getting any more than that is extremely difficult. In undercutting the rates of professional videographers, you are part of the problem instead of being part of the solution. You have maybe $25K in gear and you’re working for free. STOP IT. Get a hold of yourself, or rather your selfworth.

You HAVE to re-evaluate yourself. I suggest that folks in your situation get up every morning, look themselves in the bathroom mirror and ask what your hourly rate should be. Make it a good one you can make a living with. Look yourself in the eye and tell yourself what your rate is. Do this every day until you believe it. Unless you do, you will never get the rate you want. If you can’t sell yourself to yourself, you’ll never be able to sell yourself to anyone else.

If someone asks you to do a job for low pay for the first job with promises of better pay on future jobs, don’t go for it. Tell them you consider giving them a break on the 2nd or 3rd job if you get your regular rate for the first one. If they won’t do that, you know they are just trying to hammer you for rate. Hope this helps. I mean it with all good intent.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar

[Brett Underberg-davis]

I do this job because my daughter is in the marching band, and I want to have a record of that that is better than what they had before. I have the equipment because I’m a business writer who saved a lot of money over the years, who won some awards long ago for dramatic writing, and the more I know about video from the inside, the better I can do the kind of work I want to do, namely screenwriting and related efforts. (Though some of the footage I’ve shot also has me flirting with the idea of putting together a documentary, assuming I could scale that project up and find some funding to do it right).

No one is offering money for this job, nor have they ever done so. Nor are they likely to in this environment.

I do it because I am at best a talented amateur as a camera operator, DP, sound person, and editor, and I don’t have enough years left in my life to want to waste it do wedding videos or deal with cranky clients who think they own me because they pay a piddling fee, just so I can say I’m getting paid. I make more in interest, even in this market, than most local clients are likely to pay.

I hold myself to a far higher standard than this particular job is ever likely to justify in purely mercenary terms. But if I do it well enough, who knows, I may also wind up with a reel that I can use to get the sort of related work I might actually want to be doing?

I worked for years at max pay in jobs I detested on any number of grounds. It gave me some life experience, though, and I do hope at some point to translate that into a project or projects that may eventually pay off, though I really can’t look at them that way and stay (relatively) sane.

Sorry if that attitude aggravates the pros. But this job was never put out to bid, and if I were not a part of it, it would still happen, the only difference would be that it would be shot on consumer vidcams using just built-in mics and whatever sound accidentally made its way to them.