The call sheet had one name. They asked for two.
A 2026 ping still reads “bring a second shooter,” “we need B-cam,” “can you hire another body for the day.” The number they already signed paid for you, standing there, alone. It did not pay for a second human from call to wrap. That extra body is not you hunting a motion person you are not. It is not your drive. It is not dumping CFexpress after the cut already left. It is not a vendor PDF they already forwarded. Price the hours that person is actually on set against the rate you type for them. Your own floor — income target, billable weeks, tax slice — stays on the hub. This card does not copy that slice, and it is not a 50-state tax engine. Read $480 as 8 × 60 with a dollar sign. Need euros on the invoice? Switch currency on the hub. Floor for your day still a guess? Build it on how to set a freelance rate.
Second-shooter extra = hours the second person is on set you type × the rate you type for them. Start their clock at call. Stop it at wrap. Eight hours is the worked example. Ten is call-to-wrap with a long lunch that still bills. You own both numbers. $60 is their number because you typed 60 — not because this page halved your $90 floor, not because a forum said “second shooter is 50% of the day,” not because half of a $720 on-site package looks tidy. This card will not mint that 50% rule, will not gift the extra body because “the day already covers crew,” and will not invent a second-shooter union scale.
Worked USD: 8h × $60 = $480
First preset. Hours on set: 8. Rate you type for them: $60. Product: 8 × $60 = $480.
That $480 sits on top of a day that already paid for you, solo. It is not your find / brief / review clock. It is not (your on-site hours + your travel hours) × your floor. It is not dumping the cards. It is not a markup on a PDF. Send the dollars before they park. “Second shooter was included” is not a line this card ever wrote.
Second preset keeps the same $60 and stretches their clock to 10 hours. Extra: 10 × $60 = $600. You typed 10. Call at 7, wrap at 5, a sandwich in the middle — still hours × their rate, still because they asked after a solo-day quote, still not 50% of anything, still not your $90.
Third preset: still 8 × $60 = $480. You were going to eat the extra body. Their 8 hours still happen. If that line never hits the invoice, you covered $480 so the original day looked cheap. Swallowing a B-cam they named does not make you easy. It trains the next “just bring someone.” Name the extra, or cover it on purpose — do not pretend the second body was complimentary.
Four other doors — none of them is the extra body on the day
Hours you spend hunting them, writing the brief, and reviewing what they send live on the specialist card. 3h × your $90 floor = $270. That clock is your outreach. This clock is their hours on set × the rate you type for them. Casting a motion person you are not is not a B-cam standing next to you until wrap. Want both? Find / brief / review hours there, their on-set hours here. Do not launder an 8-hour second shooter into “a couple of producer hours.”
Your own day in their room plus the commute you type lives on the on-site day card. Labor there is (hours on site + travel hours) × your floor. A 6 + 2 day at $90 is $720 — that is you. A second human on that same call sheet is not a longer commute. Your drive stays there. Their 8h × $60 stays here. Stack them. Do not bury a B-cam inside “I already billed travel.”
Dumping, labeling, and handing off unedited cards after a quote that was the edit is the raw-footage card. 2h × $90 = $180. Offloading CFexpress is not a second shooter. A second shooter is not a card dump. Want both? Dump hours there, extra-body hours here. “They can grab the cards while they’re here” is not this extra.
A person in front of the camera after a quote that was you making the work lives on the talent card. 4h × $150 = $600. That person looks at the lens. This person holds a second body. A spokesperson is not a B-cam. A B-cam is not a spokesperson. Want both? On-camera hours there, extra-body hours here. Do not bury a face inside “I already billed a second shooter,” and do not bury a B-cam inside talent. Finding either person still sits on specialist.
A vendor PDF they already named — the second shooter’s own invoice, once it exists — pastes on expense-markup. Billed extras = cost you paste × (1 + a share you type). Share 0 is repay-at-cost. Type 0.15 as a 15% illustration, not a 20% agency markup. This page is hours × their rate before that PDF. That page is the receipt after. Two lines if they want both: plan the $480 here, paste the bill there. Do not launder an 8-hour body into a fake handling percent, and do not hang a 50% day-rate ticket on this card because a blog said so.
You type their hours and their rate. This page will not mint 50% of the day
Crew Twitter still recites “second is half the lead,” “50% of the day package,” “everyone includes a B-cam.” None of that is a statute. None of it is this math. Photo vs film vs event only names which extra body they asked for. Dollars = hours they are on set you type × the rate you type for them. No 50%-of-the-day rule. No half of your $90. No half of your $720 on-site total.
If they ask for “the usual second-shooter percent,” answer that this card has none. Show $480 from eight hours at $60, type 10, or type a different rate they actually quoted. You own both numbers. Skip the lecture. No confirm, no extra body booked. The solo day they already bought still stands.
Paste the line before they park
Name the hours on set. Name the rate you typed for them. Name $480, or whatever the card shows. Name that it sits on a day that already paid for you, solo. Copy from this card so the email dollars match the screen dollars.
- 8h × $60. Second-shooter extra: 8 hours the extra body is on set × $60.00/hr I typed for them = $480.00. The quote was me alone on the day. An extra body is hours × their rate — not 50% of the day, not my floor, and not tucked inside the solo day they already paid. Please confirm $480.00 before they park.
- 10h call-to-wrap. Second-shooter extra: 10 hours the extra body is on set × $60.00/hr I typed for them = $600.00. The quote was me alone on the day. An extra body is hours × their rate — not 50% of the day, not my floor, and not tucked inside the solo day they already paid. Please confirm $600.00 before they park.
- Eat the extra body. If I eat the second shooter, I still cover 8 hours at $60.00/hr = $480.00 and I invoice $0.00 extra. That is not free. Please confirm $480.00 before they park.
Skip guilt and “everyone knows second is 50% of the day.” That speech turns a B-cam into a fight. This page has no official day-rate percent and no half-of-your-floor table. No confirmed fee, no extra body booked. Finding them belongs on specialist. A face in the frame belongs on talent. Your commute belongs on on-site-day. Dumping the cards belongs on raw-footage. A PDF they already sent belongs on expense-markup. If your $90 floor moved, rebuild it on the hub, then name this extra body.
Planning numbers, not a crew contract
Planning toy only — not legal, tax, or collections advice, and not a second-shooter hiring policy. No mandated day-rate percent, no statute that prices a B-cam, no 50% slice of a lead day, no union scale mill, and no 50-state tax engine. Keep the agreement you already signed. Need a clause that survives a dispute? Hire counsel where you work before they park. Filling this card does not write that clause and does not hire the person.
Inputs: hours the second person is on set you type, plus the rate you type for them. Output: the extra, and one sentence to paste. Dollars on this card are labeled USD. Live currency and any tax buffer stay on the hub. Finding them is specialist. Your drive is on-site-day. Their PDF, once it exists, is a receipt on expense-markup, not an hour here.
Rate calculator Finding them, not their hours on set On-camera face, not a second body Your commute, not the extra body Dump the cards, not a second person Set the hourly floor
Billable weeks moved? Recalculate your floor on the hub before you mix it with their number. This page names an extra body after a quote that was you alone on the day — hours they are on set × the rate you type for them, not 50% of the day, not your floor. Hours you type to find, brief, and review a craftsperson you are not: specialist — 3h × $90 = $270. A person in front of the camera after a quote that was you making the work: talent — 4h × $150 = $600, not a SAG rate, not 20% of the shoot. Your hours in the room plus the drive: on-site-day. Unedited cards after the quote was the edit: raw-footage. A vendor PDF they forwarded: expense-markup. Floor still a placeholder? Begin on how to set a freelance rate.
FAQ
How do I charge when a freelance quote was me alone on the day and the client wants a second shooter?
Second-shooter extra is hours that extra body is on set you type × the rate you type for them. The signed number paid for you, solo. A B-cam, a second stills person, another body until wrap is a second clock at their number, not yours. 8 × $60 reads $480 because those are the numbers in the worked example — change them. Finding them is a different card. Planning only. This is not 50% of the day rate.
Is a freelance second shooter extra 50% of the day rate?
No. This hub does not sell a 50%-of-the-day second-shooter rule and does not halve your on-site package for the extra body. Hours they are on set you type × the rate you type for them is the only product. $60 is their number because you typed 60, not because it is half of a $90 floor or half of a $720 day.
Is a second shooter the same as finding a specialist, an on-site day, dumping raw cards, talent in front of the camera, or marking up their invoice?
Five different doors. Specialist is YOUR hours to find, brief, and review a craftsperson you are not — 3h × your $90 floor = $270. On-site-day is YOUR hours in the room plus travel hours you type × YOUR floor. Raw-footage is YOUR hours to dump, label, and hand off the cards after the quote was the edit. Talent extra is hours an on-camera person is on set × a rate you type for them — 4h × $150 = $600, a face in the frame, not a B-cam. Expense-markup multiplies a pasted vendor PDF by one plus a share you type. This card is the extra body’s hours on the day × the rate you type for them.
What if I was going to eat the extra body so the original day still looks cheap?
Eating the second shooter still spends their 8 hours. 8 × $60 is still $480 you covered. Naming it is not a crew lecture. Covering a B-cam for $0 trains the next “just bring someone.”
Is this second-shooter math a crew contract, a 50% day-rate table, or a 50-state tax engine?
No. $480 is 8 times 60 labeled USD so you can read it. Currency and any tax buffer live on the hub calculator. Typing here does not hire the person, does not write a second-shooter clause, and does not run a 50-state tax engine. Once they send a PDF, paste it on expense-markup — this page is their hours on the day before that bill exists.