Could I have some feedback on my work, am I worth Â£250 a day? (New Freelancer)

**Seb Marshall** · 09-13-2021, 01:33 PM

Hello all!

So I am new to this forum. I have been trying to launch my freelancing career since Lockdown ended, things have started taking off with some subcontracted work gradually funnelling its way to me. I'm thrilled as I really do love this craft! However I would like to start making contact with the source and get myself some first hand clients.

I would really appreciate some constructive criticism on my videos as well as some input on how much I should be charging. I thought the Â£250 day rate would be good enough. However, I would appreciate some numbers from the pros (don't worry I'm not sensitive) I have attached a corporate video I have recently completed and plan to turn into a larger promotional portfolio. I have also linked to my Instagram for some of my more independent, creative work. I know some of my audio needs work!

Many thanks in advance!

- S

(Website currently in development) INSTAGRAM PAGE: https://www.instagram.com/seb_marshall_creative/

**Grapes** · 09-20-2021, 09:27 PM

For this level of work I feel £250 sounds fair or even cheap. If you'd work on the camera movement e.g. by always using a tripod or gimbal and added a bit of contrast and pop to the colourgrading, you could easily upgrade it to £400 excluding VAT (I'm assuming 250 is also ex VAT)
I do hope this is just £250 for a day of shooting and that the total edit comes to around £600-£700 otherwise I'd say you're undercutting the market. No matter how new you are, don't under cut the market. Sure you may land that one extra job but in the long run you're not only hurting yourself but the whole industry and this industry has too much of that already in my personal opinion.

For now the sound seems OK and the story and the shots as well. The picture looks washed out and the camera work needs some improvement. Other than that I think it's good.

**Seb Marshall** · 09-20-2021, 09:47 PM

Hi there Grapes,

First of all thanks a lot for the feedback I can’t tell you how valuable it is as most local freelancers seem to be reluctant to give any info.

I got 300 overall but it was only a two hour shoot and I probably spent a day and a bit on editing. It was an subcontract! I’m trying to build some promotional material to approach companies with so it was valuable.

I purposely didn’t bring my gimbal and I haven’t invested in lights yet but the job was very basic. It was sunny outside but I should have turned my variable ND up a bit more.

Ideally I’d want to do a days filming and editing for something like this for a grand total of 700 however it can be difficult approaching clients without a promo reel of some kind. Once I have all of that I would love to up my rate.

Reckon I could use this to take to clients?

Many thanks again friend!

**Wynn Stedders** · 09-22-2021, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by Seb Marshall

Hi there Grapes,

First of all thanks a lot for the feedback I can’t tell you how valuable it is as most local freelancers seem to be reluctant to give any info.

I got 300 overall but it was only a two hour shoot and I probably spent a day and a bit on editing. It was an subcontract! I’m trying to build some promotional material to approach companies with so it was valuable.

I purposely didn’t bring my gimbal and I haven’t invested in lights yet but the job was very basic. It was sunny outside but I should have turned my variable ND up a bit more.

Ideally I’d want to do a days filming and editing for something like this for a grand total of 700 however it can be difficult approaching clients without a promo reel of some kind. Once I have all of that I would love to up my rate.

Reckon I could use this to take to clients?

Many thanks again friend!

Hi Seb,
I haven’t posted replies to postings in this forum for several years but I looked with interest at your promo video for Fortress Doors and pondered on it for a while. You have received an excellent reply from Grapes but I thought a reply from another with further opinions might be of interest.

I will make no comment of your query regarding payment for such a project however I agree with Grapes that a tripod would have improved some shots and also that everything would be greatly improved with more attention to brightness/contrast and colour grading.

The video is on You Tube and one of the essentials here is to have an attention getting ‘thumbnail’. This is like a well designed book cover. It grabs the eye and encourages folk to view. See You Tube for details.

The video is clearly aimed at older folk who are having problems in lifting an up-and-over garage door? It’s also assumed that the video is a general advertisement for Fortress Doors. Don’t forget that many younger folk install an automatic door for the pleasure of arriving home on a wet night then a press of a button within the car and the garage door opens ready for you to drive straight in without having to get out of the car. The same applies when leaving of course. There are many similar points to consider when planning such an advert. So in a nutshell, this promo video is only aimed at that specific segment of the public. I wonder if the company, and yourself, properly discussed all this points before shooting began.

It was nice to use a couple who, I assume, are genuine installers of the automatic roller door but they are not true actors and their static pose could have been improved. It is noted that they are both fitted with either wired lavalier or radio mics. Some shots showed just the tiny mic head and other shots showed the mics covered with very obvious windmuffs. This rather spoils the continuity and spontaneity of the sequence. A quality shotgun mic on the camera or on a stand or held out of shot would have give just as good a result without the hassle of fitting both elderly helpers with those mics.

We know that many folk only use their garage for storage rather than for a car, but in my opinion, seeing a car in a garage would have looked much better. Many older folk (like myself) still regularly drive. Clearly seeing the roller door in operation was an essential for such an advertising video but a clip show the door open from within a car would have been an additional top selling point.

Just a very minor point- It was noted that in the opening shots the garage door on the left was red, but that the featured door was white. I think using the same location for the sequence would have been preferred

It wasn’t your fault, but I wasn’t impressed with the salesman. Many other viewers might also be of the same opinion. Some smart casual clothes with a jacket that concealed the tattoos would have been better. There was a dreadful jump-cut of the salesman approaching the door. To be honest, I don’t see the need for the sequence of the salesman arriving but perhaps that's just me.

You ask. Reckon I could use this to take to clients? Do you mean to show it to Fortress Doors or show to other prospective clients? I really feel the quality of both the tech side and the production values could be improved before you use it as promo video for yourself.

These are just my personal opinions and others may totally disagree with me. Maybe you feel I’m nit-picking. Perhaps others in this forum might like to express their own opinions of the project.

All the best.
Wynn

**Seb Marshall** · 09-22-2021, 09:41 AM

Hi there Wynn,

Definitely some food for thought! I wasn’t a fan of the salesman either. This was the business owner unfortunately!

I very much appreciate the time you have taken to consider and write this up for me. I suppose I should be doing some more free jobs for some better portfolio pieces.

I think from what you’ve told me I need to make target audience and marketing content a focus for future videos with a stronger who what where when and how for the structure of my videos.

Thanks again!