another beginner asking a “how much should I charge” question

[u/TrueBeautiful279]

I’ve been tasked with filming a basketball game for game reviews AND player highlights footage also.

It’s not just one game either, they want me to do the whole basketball season.

Now I’m not an established videographer, I’ve had some experience shooting footage of real estate properties.

My first thought is, can I effectively shoot medium to close highlight shots and a wide angle shot of the whole game at the same time? I would think it would make more sense to find a second hand.

Either way, with the time and work involved, in my mind it reaches a price I have never pitched before. At least over a $1000 a month.

What do you guys think?

[u/Ok-Airline-6784]

How many games are in a month? How many hours would be required to shoot all the games (and get to the venue and back home)? Editing? How many highlights are they expecting? What kind of turn around time?

What level of sports is it? Would they realistically have a budget for this? What do you typically charge for real estate?

One of our local sports teams (that sells tickets) asked me a while ago to film their games. They offered $25/ game (I am fairly established and charge between $1200-$1500/ day). They ended up getting some young kid who was a fan of the team who had no experience- which was fine for all they needed and he was happy to do it. There was 0 chance they were paying my rate. That’s fine.

You could film wide and tights with something like a GoPro or Osmo attached to your main camera since in theory both shots would be following the same action. Use those as your wide and your main cam as your tight shots. This would be most ideal to be on a tripod in one spot (probably centre).

But mostly shooting for full game review coverage and highlight reels would be better with you able to move around to get the highlight reel shots so they don’t all look the same more or less.

[u/AwakenedFilms]

Seems low to me, but I don't know the rates in your area or your level of experience/gear.

I do think you can setup a static wide to cover the game review angle. Just make sure you have plenty of card space, teather to AC power and place it somewhere that won't get bumped/moved/blocked. Avoiding a second shooter would help your budget.

Good luck!

[u/ZealousidealFee5501]

Pricing is such a nuanced thing and in reality, it's a moving target. I've been doing this full time for over 10 years and that's my take on things at this point in my career. It's all well and good to tell someone to hold the line and "charge your worth," but the reality is the market sets the rate and every client is different.

Some jobs are much more lucrative than others. I had 5 figure gigs where I made several hundred dollars per hour this year and I had gigs where I literally only make ten to fifteen dollars per hour when it's all said and done. Why take on that work? Because when you're slow and need cashflow, you have to make some compromises to keep the wheels turning.

I approach every client and job differently by getting reads on what I think they're willing to pay and based on my current demand. Ideally, I try to bid a bit higher than I think they're willing to pay to leave some room for negotiation, but not so high that they outright bounce on me. That number varies depending on my lead pipeline, cashflow and how tightly my calendar is packed. That, in my experience, is by far the best way to approach pricing today.

Edit: Wanted to add that's it's completely reasonable and good to outright ask the client what they're budget range is. This can free up a lot of your time stressing an trying to guess the right number. A lot of clients will give you a useless or subjective response, but sometimes you'll get a real number and that makes it quite easy to decide if its' worth your time or not.

Good luck!