This is the final segment of our series a quick review thus far, we have talked about what features you need in your equipment. How does she professional video, how to light recording professional audio, and some helpful tips. This segment will discuss the best practices for how to conduct yourself as a professional. Two of the most impressionable sayings I heard early on where nobody was ever fired for showing up early. And if you're late and we've already started, we don't need you so you can go home. Always be on time for your crew call.

There is no excuse for ever being late. Check online the day before what the travel time is to your destination and add at least 30 minutes for traffic accidents, trains or whatever. When you're booked. Ask about location and parking. There may be special instructions for parking, and if not, you need to plan for it. And you need to make sure that that's included in your day rake.

Unless the client has specified that breakfast is included in the day. Eat and have your coffee before you leave for the location. Show up ready to work and ask about dress code. You don't want to show up at a formula fair wearing old tennis shoes and shorts. I used to produce them weakly religious broadcasts for a church. I had freelancers show up in flip flops, torn jeans and death metal t shirts.

I assumed they would have common sense but you can't assume anything. Besides being on time, the most important attribute to the videographer is to be someone who other people enjoy working with attitudes infectious. If you're on a crew where someone is complaining, before you know it, everyone is complaining and being unproductive. Don't be that person. producers and directors covered crew people with a can do attitude. If you're positive and upbeat, let that be the attitude that affects the rest of the crew.

Talent is a distant third. True if you have no talent you won't get far but nobody wants to work with a talented jerk who makes everybody miserable. related to attitude is being helpful to your client, producer and director. Be willing to offer advice if they don't know what they're doing or run out of ideas. Believe me, there are plenty of people you will encounter. That will make you wonder how they made it to their high position.

Whatever the reason, there are a lot of people out there who don't know how to direct your produce. And those cases, you will have to step up and offer advice in a friendly way. Let them get the credit. Your reward will be when they hire you again to save their butts. There is a limit though, and you have to fill out the situation everyone's different. You will also work with people who are on top of their game.

They have the entire sheet blocked out and are working for storyboards. In this case, smile and do what they direct you to do. I've been on plenty of shoots as a director where everyone from grips to production assistants to make up artists are incessantly telling me their great ideas and what to shoot into To the point, I have to tell them all to be quiet, because I have a detailed storyboard. In those cases such help is unwanted and only slows down the shoot. They need to pay attention to their specific jobs and not play director. If you're working with someone who has it together, let them do their thing.

And you set up and shoot efficiently that they seem to get into a jam and you have an idea. Politely tell them Excuse me, can I make a suggestion? If they answer yes, then great. If they say no, then you know not to offer any suggestions for for the rest of the shoot unless you're asked. But also stand up for yourself if your client or producer lets you to do something that will put you in personal danger or is illegal. Your safety is more important than the shoot.

So speak up if they asked you to go into harm's way. Similarly, if they want you to do something that Obviously illegal be willing to say no. After all your day rate will hardly cover any legal fees if you get arrested. Common Sense organization. Here's an editing project I'm working on. It's a historical archival project all shot on consumer videotape.

On eight millimeter, high eight and HDV. What do they all have in common? None of it was labeled. It took me weeks to get through it. You need to be as organized as possible. If you're still shooting tape or archiving projects to tape, DVD or Blu Ray, you need to label the media as to what's on it.

Similarly, if you're delivering on a flash drive, attach a card to it with what the contents are storing media on an external drive, name your directories and include the date of shoot, stay organized and your shooting Chances are you will have multiple memory cards, labeled the cards numerically and write down on a notepad when you have time what's on each card. Later. When you're transferring media, you'll know what's on each card. For card gets corrupted, make a note what number it is so you can get it out of your rotation. Also, when on location, keep your setup the organized. Think about how to organize your space while you're setting up.

Run your cables along the wall and away from where people will be walking. If you have to cross a traffic area like a doorway, either run your cables over the doorway or run them on the floor and tape them down with gaffers tape. As I said in the previous segment, I keep a couple of cheap lightweight doormats with me for this purpose. It's faster to just put down a doormat over your cables and tape the doormat to the floor. Not only does all this look neater and more professional, but it will create a safer working environment and keep people from tripping over cables or pulling lights over. Also, make sure you don't set any lighting or stands where people can easily walk into them when entering a room.

Deliverables. When getting booked by a client, make sure you discuss exactly what their technical requirements are, and make sure you can deliver them. If they need a codec or frame rate that your camera can't deliver, you will need there to either borrow or rent that camera if possible, or else pass on the gig. If you're shooting the cards, make sure that your client will have a computer or that you'll have to bring one in an external drive to transfer to if they don't have a drive. You'll have to buy one and build them for it. If they want the actual cards you shot on, make sure they pay for the cards to let your cards go and expect to get them back at least in a timely fashion after this discussion write it all down in an email and send it to your client and ask them to reply confirm the terms.

This way absent a signed contract, you still have something in writing. Getting paid. Okay, this is the 500 pound gorilla in the room how to get paid. This business is rife with scoundrels who will disappear after shoot and never pay you. Even some legitimate clients and production companies will make you jump through hoops and give you excuses. For 30 day invoice will drag on at 60 days, 90 days or more.

You end up spending more time making phone calls and sending emails trying to get paid than you did on the shoot. It sucks. It's inexcusable unless you're working with a familiar client that you already have an ongoing reliable business relationship with. Never give the footage to a client at the end of the day without getting paid first. Don't go for them saying just send me an invoice. This all needs to be discussed before the shoot during that first phone call when they book you.

During that phone call while you're discussing the details of the shoot, tell them you need to be paid before handing over or transferring the footage. If they're offended, or balk at that requirement, politely tell them it's just business. If they refuse, well, that's a red flag and they'll need to hire someone else. you're providing a service after all, and like everyone else, you should be paid when the services rendered. For example, nobody spends hundreds or thousands of dollars at the car dealership to get their car repaired, and then drives off the lot with a promise of mailing a check in the next month. You don't pay you don't get your car back.

Several weeks go by between the discussion and the actual day of the shoot. Remind them the day before not to forget that you need to have payment Before you deliver the footage, how to get paid. The easiest is with a payment service that allows you to get paid. using your smartphone, run their credit card and text them or receipt or have them pay via online payment. Or if you want to take the risk of getting a bad check, you can tell them to have a check ready to give you at the end of the shoot. don't lend out your gear.

I may take some heat for this. But don't let anyone borrow or rent out your gear. You may want to be a decent person and help your fellow media pros. But believe me, it's not worth it. I can't tell you how many times I lent or rented gear to my peers only to have it returned broken or missing parts. Worst of all, no one has ever told me when they broke something.

So I ended up going on a shoot of my own and surprise surprise microphones. or light doesn't work. And to add insult to injury, if I rented it to someone, that piece of gear I made 50 bucks, or 100 bucks ends up costing me 200 bucks to fix and my own shoot gets ruined. Yeah, you may want to seem like a good person and help your friends. But in the end, you only hurt yourself. The choice is up to you whether you let others use your gear, but I recommend against it.

The last thing I want to talk about is valuing yourself. Don't cheapen yourself for the industry. In previous years, there was a high cost of entry into the professional video industry, and people build accordingly. As costs have dropped, so has the cost of production. And as a result, there's a lot of competition now and everyone's scrambling for work. You are your own brand.

If you're willing to work for free or for peanuts. You have cheapens your brand and in turn have established your worth moving forward. Why would anyone want to pay you more money in the future, if you're willing to work for free now, you've invested a lot of money, time and talent into learning your craft. And you need to take all that into consideration when you're pricing yourself. You may think by charging a cheaper rate, you're getting your foot in the door. But guess what?

You just told the world what you're worth. If we all stick to our guns and charge what we're worth, then the industry continues to be an art form and a valuable commodity. Now that you have some insight into my last 30 years of videography, I hope you will put my suggestions and techniques into practice. You know all the basics of being a successful videographer. Video Production is like any other skill or art form. It takes lots of time.

Practice and repetition, to grade it all into your subconscious and muscle memory. So get out there now in practice, don't take on gigs You have no idea how to do and try to fake your way through it. Before you take your first pro gig, shoot as much as you can in as many different environments as you can have a friend come over and practice your lighting technique and practice recording good audio. shoot an interesting story about somebody you know, interview that person and shoot B roll. Not only is it good practice, but you will have something to show prospective employers. media content creation is a rewarding career.

It doesn't pay a lot unless you reach a certain level, but the satisfaction is immediate. While it is an oversaturated market due to the cost of entry coming down, you will meet new people and discover new facets of life on an almost daily basis. And you will see the fruits of your labor right there in your viewfinder, and later on screen. I hope this series has been useful to you and wish you much success in your career.