I applied for a job shooting at Arian Cafe every Friday and Saturday night in Mission Viejo. It was supposed to be shooting handheld for $100/night from 10pm - 2am for the next 12 weeks. The goal was to use the video and have it broadcasted back to Iran as part of a nightlife Tv series.
I met the owner he explained that he could find a professional to do it for $200, and that he wanted to do it for $100. He stated that he could easily find a Canon GL2 on ebay for $600. I explained lighting may be an issue but he showed me his little consumer camera and said it could do the job just fine.
I arrived Friday at 8pm sharp. Waited an hour for the “Director”. I got geared up and did a walkthrough with them. I shot test footage to see what my camera could see. The owner stated not use the onboard video light during the dancing. The idea was to see people move in and out of the light catching glimpses of their faces making you think you saw or know someone. He showed me footage from the little consumer camera and was apparently quite impressed by it. It was Digitally Gained on Crack with extremely strong noise. I explained that quality degrades enourmasly when using Gain and I don’t use it to maintain professional quality without video degradation. At 11pm the place was dead and they said I could leave since no one was going to show up. 3 hours, I didn’t get paid.
I emailed footage from my camera of the club. The owner said it looked fine. With the interviews I use the onboard video light on a tripod. Facial exposure was about a Zone 2-Zone 3 in the restaurant without the light. There was time inbetween shooting which I awaited further instructions. Shooting ended at 3am, 6 hours. The owner gave me a $100 bill from his wallet and I handed him the tapes. They served me food and water which I didn’t expect, and went home at 4am.
On Wednesday I spoke with the Owner regarding the weekend. He explained that his “studio” said the club footage was dark. I said there wasn’t enough light and that he said not to use the onboard video light. He said his Gain Cranked consumer camera did a better job. He didn’t mind to continue to work with me. However I would have to pay for food and drinks. I would also have to wait until he reviews the footage, and if he decided it wasn’t good enough, he could not pay me.
So in conclusion, I have a $900 tripod, $400 video light, $100 headphones, $1600 camera, $150 external mic, and experience in shooting weddings,clubs,fashion events, and student films. To rent the equipment costs about $210 per day. $100 for 9 hours equates to $11.11/hour. $11.11/hour to pay a camera person with $3,150 of equipment to shoot a TV series in extreme conditions and mention the quality just isnt good enough.