This is a business not just an artform

As with any job, you have to think of working in film as a business and not just an artform.

Now, I'm not saying that you can not work for free on a few projects, or that if you find a project you really want to be apart of to offer up your services and possible equipment to the project for discounted/free, but there is a point where you have to analyze not only what your time is worth, but also if you own your own equipment, what your equipment is worth too.

Because if you think about it, you could be busy everyday. It doesn't really matter at what level of skill you have, if you are honestly trying to get better people will always use you and the skills you have. The reality is though that they will use your skills and either pay you nothing or far little to what you are worth.

I mean think about it, do you have classic training in film like from a college or trade school, that cost you money, probably in the 10s of thousands of dollars.

Also do you have your own equipment, like a camera, microphone, audiorecorder, lights. That probably cost you probably at least 2k if it's professional. My equipment cost almost 5k with my computer.

That means that with your craft you need to try to recover at least that amount, and the question becomes how. True, you can work at a local coffee shop or a big box store to pay off your debts, but eventually and hopefully you will be charging money for your craft, and I would recommend at least 200 dollars a day for shooting and 25 dollars for editing to start out with. I know there are people who wont want to pay that, but you have costs too.

And if you are thinking to yourself at this point at least 200 dollars a day, that seems high, it really isn't, it's actually low if you factor everything into your cost and your return. If you own your equipment, good, but what if you didn't. Have you looked into what it costs to rent gear for a day. To give you an example here are the prices to a local Minneapolis company call Cinequipt, for an extremely basic set up.

Canon 7D w/ 28-135                  - $135.00
Manfrotto Tripod w/ Head           - $20.00
Zoom h4n                                 - $30.00
Sennheisser 66 Shotgun Mic      - $20.00
Mic Cable 25'                            - $3.00
Total                                        - $208.00

The above price is to just rent equipment for one day, not a week, or month, just one day. 208 dollars to rent equipment for a day.

So hopefully with this knowledge, I think that telling someone you are willing to work for at least 200 dollars is not a lot to ask for if you own your own equipment. Hopefully, if you break down the cost to rent equipment to the client they will see that you are essentially willing to work for what it would cost someone to just rent equipment, but it doesn't mean that they will.

People are always going to take advantage of whatever they can and because of that it means that as a professional you will need to stand firm on how you price yourselves out. This doesn't just benefit you, but also the rest of us professionals trying to get by on our crafts.

DIY Fig Rig

The fig rig is a pretty handy piece of equipment. It allows you to stabilize your smaller cameras with both of your hands. Now Manfrotto sells a fig rig for about 300 dollars on amazon, but you can make one for far less than that if you have some PVC piping, some couplers and a screw.

Now, many people have made tutorials on how to make fig rigs, but I personally have always liked Indy Mogul, and so I have embeded their video below.

To go along with Indy Mogul's PVC fig rig, I have attached images on how things should look.

I have modified mine from Indy Mogul's version, but I think that it works out better, You don't need the bottom plug and you also don't need the 4-way connector which will drop your price by about a dollar and a half, because that is the most expensive part of the whole rig.

I would also recommend a PVC pipe cutting tool, they rang in price usually between 6-12 dollars and can be got at any hardware store. The one I have linked to is ten dollars at the moment.

Now I have nothing against a hacksaw like the one Zack uses, but it's messy, all of the plastic that flakes off as you are sawing back and forth leaves debris on the floor, the kitchen table, etc. It also makes it hard for a clean cut, because you have to get the hacksaw going and that could cost you a quarter inch or more depending on the way you cut.

The PVC pipe cutter just cuts through PVC pipe in less time, usually it takes me about 10 seconds or less and there wont be the mess of debris since it is a clean cut made through pressure. It's also more accurate to what you are trying to design. It is a tool I would recommend especially if you are looking to do more building with PVC than just this one project.

Now, this is probably one of the easiest projects I've worked on, but the hardest part is connecting everything together after you have wiped down both of the primer and then the cement, because once you have the cement added on you really only really have 30 seconds. It should looks something like this when you are done.

Note, this picture has the 4-way on it, but all of the other ones I've put together for people do not, and please excuse the mess.

On a side note, if you need one of these built and for whatever reason, cannot build one. I would be willing to build the item for you for cost of pieces and an hourly rate.