[Greg Ball]

Thanks Walter…I’m wondering if it’s legal to do that though. A restaurant can’t legally charge you an additional fee if you pay by credit card instead of cash. That’s my confusion.

[Greg Ball]

Again Rennie…it’s a very low volume of clients that request credit card payment. Large corporations don’t typically use credit cards for video services. They use P.O.’s and checks paid by invoice. Raising my prices penalizes just other clients who pay by check. What do you do?

[Greg Ball]

I’ve been in your shoes before. I’ve been a one-man video operation for a large global corporation. What I always preferred to do is hire a freelance crew to use our equipment. Give them direction and let the set-up, light, and shoot the video. You are the Director. You work with the internal clients.

Corporate video is all about perception. If you’re perceived to be the camera person, you’ll never be promoted. If you’re the director, leading your crew, dealing with the client and even editing the video, the respect level of others will go up.

Sure shoot those small quick videos…but bring in good people to work with you on any time consuming projects. Once others start seeing the quality of what you’re delivering, you’ll get busier, and won’t have time to light, shoot, edit, etc. Good luck

[Greg Ball]

How could you possibly be at the scripting stage when you haven’t even landed the job yet? You haven’t even discussed price and you’re hiring a scriptwriter!??! You have really set yourself up to lose money.

Typically you should give the client a creative treatment including a short sampling of a script when necessary in your proposal. Once they accept your proposal, you should work out a payment schedule including a deposit to work on the project. You should also have a contract that the client signs upon accepting your proposal. Then you write the script! Always make sure that at the very least you have enough deposit to cover hiring a scriptwriter, crew, studio, or any other out of pocket costs you will incur.

Chances are if the client does not hire you based on price, they will hire someone else and save money because they now have a script.

Again Finished scripts come after the client has hired you. Good Luck.

[Greg Ball]

Thanks David. Not quite that simple though. Often the client can just write a check and we have time to deposit it and make sure it clears. The quick turn arounds are usually because the client delayed their decisions to move forward for whatever reason. You’re suggesting that I eat an additional $750 PayPal fee because the client is late? I’m not sure I get that.

Good to know about tax deductions for PayPal. Thanks for that info.

[Greg Ball]

Here’s a lens

https://newprovideo.com/catalog_19663.html

[Greg Ball]

I would think a large Jib or crane would work

[Greg Ball]

The tape seems fine, but since I unchecked that abort on timecode beraks or dropped frames, it seems to be working. Thanks for your help!

[Greg Ball]

Hi Mark,

One of the reason’s I’m asking is that I’m working on a video that will involve shooting in cities across the country. My freelance shooter just bought an EX-1, and we’re discussing him using that instead of lugging a betacam with him. I edit on FCP. He’s suggesting that he’ll output all the files for me so I can input them on an SD timeline, and output the video either to Beta SP or DVD wide screen. If this works, I’m planning on buying a SS card reader and some cards so he can shoot and just give me the cards. I’m hoping this will be a good option for me.

Thanks for your input. You always have great advice!

[Greg Ball]

No knowing all of the particulars, it’s tough to say how much I would charge. I have over 25 years of experience in comparison to you, and I know what my expenses are and what I need to make on an hourly basis and as a daily rate. Some also depends on where you work, and what the going rate is in your area. $15 per hour is even too low for some highschool kid to charge, let alone someone doing “professional” work.