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I Got F*****!!!!

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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
so a couple weeks ago, while driving back home from an intense day of shredding the slopes, i got a call from a guy i know asking me to do a promo video for this concert that his frat is putting on. it was a bunch of local bands and in a cool spot so i was stoked he asked and that i would get to shoot some bands with backstage access and get all kinds of cool angles and this and that. and of course i was thinkin good paycheck at the end of this if its their fundraiser..

so we end up getting there around 4:30 cuz thats when he said it started (this is less than 1 hour since ive been back from skiing) and we find out that we have to wait an hour like everybody else for the doors to open, so that was whatever, then we finally get inside and i start thinking of where i wanna shoot from, then i found out i didn't get any backstage access, which was ok but i was told thats what they wanted in the video. anyway i made do with what i could like anyone would and got a variety of shots. and by variety of shots i mean 7 hours later and a full 32Gb and empty battery...on my feet the whole time of course and never had dinner. so im completely drained.

so then we get to a couple days ago when im startin to get this edit goin and crank it out, i get a message from the same guy who called saying they can't pay me because i was a late edition to the plan and they already had a set budget for this event.........WTF! so now i not only wasted hours going through footage, i wasted 32gb on my hard drive all for nothing.

then to add to the nobody ever paying or wanting to pay for this art form, another girl i know asked for a video for her school project via facebook and said she would "give me a dollar or somethin". and not to mention the last friend i did a "finals week" video for last semester still hasn't held her deal of "taking us all to dinner" when i gave up valuable study time for that stupid video.

anyway does anyone else have problems with "customers" or "clients"?? why do some people just not get it?! videography is not free!!

/end rant.
Feb 8 2012 1:37AM
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DG.3
Posts: 794 - Karma: 288
i think alot of people just dont understand how long post production takes. your friends probably saw you filming, thinking "oh hes been filming for half a day or whatever" then assume you put the footage and your computer and it edits itself.
Feb 8 2012 1:45AM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
yeah i think your right but i did a video for this guy before with his friends for their school project and i did mean post production on that and they all knew it.
Feb 8 2012 1:59AM
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erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,328
you should just make a demotional video instead with the footage you got to piss them off.
Feb 8 2012 2:15AM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
hahaha well im thinking about just making it more for myself and not really use their frat name in it as the sponsor for it and all this other stuff that was gonna go in it. ill make it however i want it to go now
Feb 8 2012 2:21AM
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WillStart
Posts: 3955 - Karma: 3,192
damn that's a bummer man.




not that it will make you feel any better, but last year some upperclassmen paid me $100 to put like 5 interviews in a timeline. didn't even have to cut them together. just laid them out in a timeline and exported.
Feb 8 2012 2:23AM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
ha thats the kind of people i need to find to make videos for. do you negotiate your price or charge rate before shooting or doing a project for someone?
Feb 8 2012 2:26AM
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WillStart
Posts: 3955 - Karma: 3,192
well i've actually only done a handful of paid jobs, and usually the price was offered to me and it seemed reasonable so i accepted. in this case, these kids just approached me and told me they would give me $100 to put the clips together, and obviously i was pretty happy with that.

the rest of the time, it's either been a paid editing job where the pay wasn't too negotiable, or it was making promos for friends, and i charge next to nothing for those.
Feb 8 2012 2:57AM
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Static
Posts: 8553 - Karma: 4,089
small claims court that frat boy if you have messages of him reneging payment afterwards
Feb 8 2012 3:02AM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
yeah i never charge my friends either but figured since this was so time consuming all the way around that even a little compensation would be nice.

@static - i don't think its that big of a deal at least i did get to see a free concert. but thats not a bad idea for the next person to stand me up lol
Feb 8 2012 3:07AM
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WillStart
Posts: 3955 - Karma: 3,192
yeah of course, by next to nothing i meant around $50
Feb 8 2012 3:17AM
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pmo1210
Posts: 765 - Karma: 25
Just take this as a learning experience, and how to set yourself up for paid gigs in the future. If you show them you're serious, and talk about payment upfront, then they will take you and your work more serious. I know it's easy to complain, but don't let this hold you back. And you can always negotiate, watch this video with Chase Jarvis and Ramit Sethi. This is a great resource for anyone looking to make their art into a business.
Feb 8 2012 8:06AM
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screamin_seamen
Posts: 619 - Karma: 551
I usually just assume theres going to be no pay unless theres some sort of contract. Thats shitty though!!!
Feb 8 2012 11:01AM
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GSPhotography
Posts: 838 - Karma: 1,373

A lot of the traffic I get comes from the internet, if not all of it. Many of those are people that have ''Projects'' and never really look at what they are spending or not.

Better way to protect yourself against that is to caree model releases and blank contracts you can fill in on the spot, that way you can protect yourself from those situations, If you need models for that I can send you what I have for releases.

This also includes you, if you are late on your deadline , of course you can be in trouble.

I did a wedding this summer and sent the clients a cd with all the photos in low res, usually people send me an email and ask for a certain ammount to edit and I send them a cd with high res. The clients told me they were a little busy but would get back to me with the final photos. They just called me yesterday , that is 7 months later , but I still have to do what I promised, a contract really protects you from everything.

Feb 8 2012 11:29AM
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Bmo.
Posts: 4907 - Karma: 2,667
thats a bummer man
right now im trying to figure some stuff out with a client I had a month ago. Me and my partner hadn't really done anything for a professional company yet, so we just asked her what she thought about pricing. She said to charge $50 an hour for filming and post. anyways, we cranked out an edit, 2 hours film, 2 hours. should be 200$. she gave us 60 on the spot for gas (we drove 2 hours). We then sent her the invoice, and never heard back. now she says she just doesnt wants to pay us.

why do people scam poor college kids that are giving so much of their time? i dont get it
Feb 8 2012 12:06PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
damn! that is way shittier than my situation because you knew the rate you were expecting and everything. and yeah some people act like we have more time to just waste on their videos like it will be no problem but my major isn't even related to videos.

and i guess i just thought this guy would be good about paying because ive worked with him in the past and he was the one offering me so didn't think it would be a problem this time. i think from now on ill just see what the person is wanting and then negotiate a price around the scope of work.
Feb 8 2012 12:18PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
that would be awesome if you could actually. at least just to get an idea
Feb 8 2012 12:22PM
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GSPhotography
Posts: 838 - Karma: 1,373

Anybody else interested in seeing those? Ill make a thread later with different model releases and contracts.

What are you interested in, video, events, weddings, portraits, senior portraits? I have different ones

Feb 8 2012 12:28PM
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Bmo.
Posts: 4907 - Karma: 2,667
definitely interested in all of the above
Feb 8 2012 12:32PM
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GSPhotography
Posts: 838 - Karma: 1,373

Alright, its def a good idea , so we dont have any more threads of people being fucked because it happens too often. Its ok to ask ur friends too to sign a contract, you never know.

Feb 8 2012 12:33PM
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GSPhotography
Posts: 838 - Karma: 1,373
I will do that, and I just messaged one of the mods to get it stickied later on here
Feb 8 2012 12:45PM
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Totes_Magotes
Posts: 2259 - Karma: 870
I guess I've gotten lucky over the years... I only recently turned 18 and I've gotten paid gigs to shoot water polo and basketball games (kinda shitty but made $500 of each), a local concert series which they bought me a new rode videomic pro and $30 a night just to film three songs, and now am filming a music video for Broken Silence on the 11th and will be getting $500 (almost offered to do it for free but they insisted so that's nice). Filming has actually kinda paid for itself which is good
Feb 8 2012 2:03PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
First rule of freelancing: never accept a job without getting it on paper.

That way, you could hold people accountable for screwing you over. But since your agreement was verbal and nebulous at best (no agreed upon conditions/payment), you shot yourself in the foot from the get go.
Feb 8 2012 5:03PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
yeah it definitely was my fault for not clarifying and what not. guess i should stop putting so much faith in the fact that people realize how much more work goes into it then just on the spot shooting
Feb 8 2012 7:33PM
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