Amateur Film Editor Questions

rmlred said:

First off: Recently i have been ask to come work for a promotion company for 4WD sports and racing. I would be the head camera man and head editor and paid per event for videoing and editing the promo video together. I was thinking of charging 100-200(mainly around $150 at most events) dollars per event and this is using my own computer and editing program and their providing the cameras and the uncopyrighted music. The company is still growing and is not the biggest but it is rapidly growing at every event.

1. Are my prices right for the situation, I'm under the age of 18, If that matters but the founder of the company sees I have skill.

2. Thinking of buying a 21" iMac with i5 Proc. with Final Cut Express for the editing and this would be the sole purpose of this computer.

Any thing you want to mention or suggest changing?

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$100-$200 is on the low end for the amount of hours you'll likely be putting in to make quality vids + using your own equipment. I guess it depends on the quality of your work too, but you'll be busy that's for sure.

Not to be rude or anything, but have you shot/edited anything like this before? There's quite a bit of work involved in all of this, but if you are treating it as being paid to learn and the company is happy for that to happen, then it's all good.

Having said that, the iMac should be fine for short promotional videos. You haven't told us how long the vids will be, any VO required etc but you can achieve good stuff with an iMac.

My personal experience in dealing with a "Hire-for-All" type of thing....
I'm much older than 18 also...

1. Charge a fee to shoot the event. Either hourly or per event.
2. Set up an hourly rate to Digitize and edit and output the event.
(I also charge a nominal hourly/daily rental fee for my Computer/Drives I use)
Believe me, you're able to get a LOT more $$ per hour this way versus. just saying pay me a $150 fee for an "all-you-can-do" situation

3. An iMac with an i5 is fine... shouldn't have a problem... I'm cutting HD material on a MBP with a 2.93GHz C2D and 8GB RAM... not an issue.

Point being, you're gonna be wearing many HATS... each job is specific and deserves your full attention for a particular amount of hours. You should be compensated for those hours, regardless of age...
Your experience is limited, so consider that when setting up rates.

If this is an up and coming company that is growing rapidly, and you're under 18... make sure their and your paperwork is in order with regard to the hours you're able to put in weekly... I assume you're still in HS at this point?

Hope this helps... just my 2 cents...
Good Luck

^^^ditto! An iMac will be fine, but I suggest creating a contract first-even if it's basic. I had a friend who does Design and had a contract w/a small company like this. She got burnt by not charging an hourly rate. They wanted so many things extra and she didn't have a price for it. Google it-there's plenty of Sample contracts online.