Hi,

I will make a timelapse from the setup of a festival ground and the festival itself.
The timelapse will be 2/2.5 days total and I expect that I will end with around 5,000 pictures.
It will be made with a fixed camera setup from a truss, that we will build especially for the camera.
I work for a friend who is in charge for providing the energy of the event anyway, so I will not get into trouble for setting up the truss or anything else.

This is my first test for a longer timelapse and if everything goes well, I want to present the footage to the agency that is organising the festival.
I have no assignment for this from my potential client, but I hope that the video will generate interest to buy the footage or even better can generate interest for a bigger project.

I have no idea what to charge for that. Could you give some general advice for the pricing? I am afraid I will have to lower the price anyway to lure the clients attention for future projects.
I do this mainly for fun and do not want to earn lots of cash, but I am not willing to sell my time, my (still humble) knowledge and my gear for only a few bucks.

Best Regards and thanks in advance
David

Hey David,

Consider me the voice of inexperience.

Here's what I gather from your post. This is a spec job for which you hope there will be interest in the future. You also hope that the footage can be used to generate future interest in other projects.

So, given that you will be making this sequence with no commission beforehand, I'd consider any ultimate sale gravy. While I would think such a project would cost a client at least a couple grand (assuming expert imaging and including gaffer work and post) if commissioned, here you probably want to price this footage in a considerably enticing way to garner publication credits. Don't want to give a firm price, as I really don't know, but if it were me, I'd probably ask for $500 plus a link on the festival's/promoter's website. Since this is spec, do your best work, both with the shoot itself and in post. Show the footage personally (to ensure the client isn't viewing it in a stuttering 480 after a partial buffer).

Just remember, there's time lapse footage from rookies like me, then there are your beautiful creations! Apply yourself as to create the best possible sequence, then insist your creation is valued accordingly.

Perhaps others with actual experience will chime in. The above should be seen as the thoughts of a rookie who understands enough about quality production to suggest you get paid well. What "paid well" actually is, I'm not sure. Others can help more there.

Good luck!

One thing I would very strongly recommend is a second camera for close-up shots to break up the footage.
You are looking at over 3 minutes from what you describe, and unless there is a lot of really interesting stuff going on in the shot, most people will lose interest pretty fast from a static shot.
Charging rates are really difficult, and will depend a lot on the client. I would say have a look at some of the stock sites to get an idea of rates for generic footage as a starting point. For commissioned projects it should be go from there.