Graphic Design & Multimedia

What You Need to Know about Freelance Videographer Jobs

If you even have little experience in filming, video shooting, and video editing, freelance videography could be one of the perfect choices of career for you. All you need to do is research a little more about freelance videography jobs and understand the nature of this profession, and the rest will fall easy.

If you are worried about the term ‘freelance,’ let us assure you that as of now, most employers and companies are hiring freelancers over full-time workers. And when it comes to videography, individuals and businesses are preferring freelancers to shoot their projects, be it weddings, ad films, corporate videos, and the like, because of one-to-one collaboration and cost-efficiency. 

If you want to start a career in freelance videography, continue reading for we will covering important topics about this career, such as freelance videographer salary, job description, resume creation, finding videographer jobs, and more.

Skillsets Required for Freelance Videography Jobs

Instagram is all about videography and photography, which proves that this is a thriving profession. But thanks to today’s hi-fi camera phones, everyone considers himself a videographer. And there’s Tik-Tok to blame too.

However, that’s not it; if you want to be a professional, you must put extra effort in terms of creativity, filming, marketing, and playing with the right equipment. Your 48 M.P. camera phone wouldn’t do the work, nor will your college group pics.  

  • You must be capable of identifying beauty and art in the most mundane scenarios, such as a mailman delivering mails or the act of sipping coffee.
  • You must have substantial experience in working with a hi-tech camera and tripod, filming in different lights and places, editing and compiling videos, and capturing beautiful moments, angles, reactions, and gestures.
  • You have to own a basic equipment kit for shooting professional videos. It should consist of advanced video-camera with right lens (the lens quality will depend on what you want to capture), tripod, a good computer with at least 4 GB RAM and 1 T.B. hard disk space, a good editing software (don’t choose free ones), a 2TB external hard drive, and a bag pack for storing the equipment.
  • You must also develop excellent communication and interpersonal skills to engage with clients, negotiate rates with them, and market your services in writing, as well as directly.
  • You must also be willing to travel across the country for video shoots.

P.S.: Your niche, and of course, your budget will decide the kind of camera and videography equipment you should invest in. For instance, if you want to become a wildlife videographer, the camcorder should have a night video capturing feature, and the lens should be of the best quality to film animals even from a great distance. 

The Essential Requirement in Freelance Videographers’ Resume – A Good Work Portfolio

To land more clients and high-quality jobs, you must build a strong freelance videography resume with considerable experience. Most clients require candidates to share their work portfolios. And a freelancer must have one because unlike a full-timer, you will not have the support and credibility of an established firm.

Since you are representing a creative media, your resume should also reflect one. 

Start building your work portfolio by working with experienced videographers for a minimum wage. Many individual videographers look for temporary volunteers and assistants for their more significant projects. You will find such requirements posted on their social media pages.

Try to collaborate with different individuals to gain vast exposure. Make sure you have at least 4 -7 video albums to display in your resume before you start searching for freelance gigs. 

Attending videography workshops or courses is another way to gain experience. You can choose a workshop or course that has certification included. This is because a certified videographer is valued more than an amateur one. 

And, if you have the kind of money, having your studio, green screen, camera support, lightings, and an informative business profile ready will open the door to grand opportunities. 

Don’t forget to print your business card and establish an essential 5-page website (home, services, portfolio gallery, contact, and blog) to support your business marketing activities. 

What Should You Charge

Freelance videographers’ rate and salary vary from niche to niche and increase with experience. Also, the more you invest in your studio, the better the chances of bagging the perfect opening.

However, the factors that affect the price of freelance videographers are experience, equipment, location, niche, reviews/ client reference, and work portfolio.

Freelancers have an additional advantage of setting their rates and billing the same as and when they see fit. 

There are more than one billing methods you can choose from, including:

Day Rate: You will charge for a day (24 hours) regardless of the type and intensity of the project.

Fixed Project Rate: The Billed amount will base on the type of project. For instance, $500 for a pre-wedding shoot, $1000 for a wedding ceremony coverage, and $1500 for an ad film shoot. 

Hourly Rate: The hourly freelance videographer rate is profitable but not preferred by the client. Here you get for what you put in. But, if you put in a lot, you can come home with a fat paycheck. 

What Can You Shoot as a Freelance Videographer

Your options are unfathomable. If you know, you can apply for filming a variety of gigs, from wedding shoots to filming animals at a national park to shooting the manufacturing process of apple cider vinegar.

Popular niches where videographers are significantly in demand are events, weddings, birthday parties, T.V. commercials, music albums, interviews, documentary, customer testimonials, and product manual/review. 

Most clients demand both raw footage and edited media. If you aren’t good at editing videos, you can still film the footage, and hire a freelance editor to convert it into an H.D. quality digital file. 

It is quite easy to get started as a freelance videographer on platforms like freelancer, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, or any other global community meant for freelancers. Let us know how your freelance journey unfolded in the comments below. 

If any of your questions are still unanswered, do write to us. We will get back to you quickly.