Half-Day Rate
A half-day rate covers a shortened booking — less time than a full day, but rarely half the money.
What this is about
Half days fit assignments that are genuinely small and close by: one interview, a short product series, a pickup. What does not shrink is the fixed part of the day — the journey there and back, setup, teardown and the fact that the remaining hours can rarely be sold to anyone else. That is why the discount against a full day stays modest and why many freelancers do not offer the format at all. Agree the time window and the point at which a half day converts into a full booking before anyone leaves home.
A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.
What runs differently here
In planning terms, that means:
- The fixed costs of a day — travel, setup, wrap — do not halve when the shooting time does
- Agree the conversion point in advance: at which hour the half day becomes a full booking
- Suppliers who cannot fill the second half will price a half day close to a full one
With TillyGen
TillyGen shows how much shooting realistically fits into a half day, so the format is chosen on scope instead of hope.
Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.
Frequently asked
When is a half-day rate the wrong choice?
When the location is far away, the setup is heavy or the shotlist is optimistic. A half day that overruns costs more than a full day booked calmly.
How long does it take to get started with TillyGen?
A first project takes under an hour to set up. There is no configuration phase in which templates and fields have to be defined before the tool produces anything.
Can the results be exported?
Yes — as PDF for the crew, CSV for downstream systems and through the API for anything automated. The plan stays the source; the exports are views of it.