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Biggest Client Deal-Breakers


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Thought we could assemble a thread of major don'ts when it comes to a job in cinematography/directing/videography.

 

What in your experience has caused one to lose credibility with clients?

 

For instance I've noticed if someone has or walks in with a DSLR there is immediate trust lost.

 

Thanks to anyone who contributes.

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Answer your e mails / phone calls.

don't show-off your home-made kit. If it works, fine, keep it away from the client

put a mattebox on your camera. It makes it look more like a camera.

Now a days make sure you give the client a large monitor with the most accurate picture possible and make sure there's a LUT on it. Don't "explain" it'll be "like x" in post.

Don't look like a slob

 

 

Though to be honest, I think you'd get more answers if you asked this on a producing forum.

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Not credibility related, but...

always charge as large % of the invoice as possible before handing off the material.

nowadays I tend to charge all the shooting costs before the shoot on small jobs (car and equipment rentals if I hire them for the shoot, any hired employee costs, etc. ) so that I only lose my own salary at most if the client does not pay for the shoot at all and does not even want the material for some reason.

they tend to also pay late unless you're lucky so it's best to have them pay any rentals etc beforehand if they are on your responsibility so that you don't have to loan money to pay the rental costs etc.

 

 

The good monitor with correct LUT is a very good advice. Clients don't necessarily understand the concept of grading and think that what they see is what they get... or even if knowing that they forget it after a while and start complaining :ph34r:

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It used to be, in the film days, I'd tend to give a B/W tap to the client to keep them from making creative choices of lighting etc based off of the feed, but anymore, they really latch onto what they see on the day, so It's kinda Vital, says me, to show them the BEST POSSIBLE IMAGE on set; else they'll get the notion that it's more important what happens in post than in production.

I think in the end, everything about working in film is about managing and delivering on expectations.

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Never begin work on a project without a signed and clearly defined contract in place.

 

always charge as large % of the invoice as possible before handing off the material.

 

I've no idea what world you guys work in, but it's not one I've ever seen, and I'm not sure many other people have either.

 

The positive advice I can offer is that if something about the job doesn't seem right - money, circumstances, people - if you have even the tiniest suspicion about anything, get everything in writing. I'm not talking about contractual stuff. That's nice to have. But if you are in the middle of the job saying something like "If we don't X, Y will happen," make sure that the person you're talking to gets it by email and responds that they've seen the email. The phrase "well, I'll follow that instruction since you're the boss, but I'm going to need it in an email" is a surprisingly powerful way of expressing your concerns with things you've been told to do.

 

And finally, if it's all going south, walk away. It's the only way to escape with even a shred of dignity intact.

 

P

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  • 1 year later...
On 1/22/2018 at 8:58 AM, Phil Rhodes said:

 

 

I've no idea what world you guys work in, but it's not one I've ever seen, and I'm not sure many other people have either.

 

The positive advice I can offer is that if something about the job doesn't seem right - money, circumstances, people - if you have even the tiniest suspicion about anything, get everything in writing. I'm not talking about contractual stuff. That's nice to have. But if you are in the middle of the job saying something like "If we don't X, Y will happen," make sure that the person you're talking to gets it by email and responds that they've seen the email. The phrase "well, I'll follow that instruction since you're the boss, but I'm going to need it in an email" is a surprisingly powerful way of expressing your concerns with things you've been told to do.

 

And finally, if it's all going south, walk away. It's the only way to escape with even a shred of dignity intact.

 

P

Very interesting, thanks!

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  • 8 months later...

These days I always want an advance on the budget to cover the cost of anything that we need to rent or pay. So if the client stiffs me on the bill at the end I only lose my payment. 

Unfortunately happens more than I'd like and only on small projects but better that way so that I don't have to pay people from my pocket and it's too expensive to sue someone for smaller sums of money.

As far as contracts go you can't get anyone to sign a contract before on smaller jobs. The best I can do is get an estimate out to them and get them to pay an advance on it.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 1/22/2018 at 12:49 AM, Max Field said:

For instance I've noticed if someone has or walks in with a DSLR there is immediate trust lost.

Pictures/Videos can be made using Cellphones, Action cameras, DSLR, ENG cameras and Cinema cameras. The client/customer expectations are part of the deal. Client ask for Broadcast level production, pays for that service then yes trust is lost. If client ask for social media level production, what's wrong with a DSLR

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