how to tell a client 'no'??

I am currently working on a video that I have done 0 shooting for. The client gas given me all the photographs and video they and others have shot and I am now editing it into a 4minute college recruiting video. He wants to see 'how it's coming'. And I just don't feel comfortable inviting someone to look at the mess which is a video in production as well as the mess which is my office....... Im just not comfortable with it.
what do I do?!

Just tell him that it is not your policy to allow previews of your work and that he will have ample opportunity to view and comment nearer finalisation. He either trusts you to do a good job or he doesn't.

just put him off or stall for time with "Well I'm super slammed on a couple projects right now, i will email you a preview link in a bit..." while you get it into a "showable" state

Do you think he trusts that you are actually working on it? If he doesnt then all the excuses, valid or otherwise, sound hollow.

here is what I'd say...
"I just don't feel comfortable inviting someone to look at the mess which is a video in production as well as the mess which is my office....... Im just not comfortable with it."

and tell him you havent rendered it so you can't email it

Letting him see it would be the worst thing you can possibly do.

Any job in design, means changes changes changes.

Give him a non negotiable final product or you'll be having looking over your shoulder the whole time with him ask you to change A to B, B to C, and C back to A 100 times over.

Which is fine if you can charge for variations, otherwise tell him he cant see it until it's rendered or something.

/bitterness from construction industry job with clients making a million pointless changes

He is either just excited and enthusiastic or wondering why the hell it's taking so long to produce a four minute video.

I would suggest telling him that you are still pulling together sub edits and until they are all dropped onto the time line it doesn't make much sense. However, give him a time when you are going to provide a draft edit for him to view. With a complex subject you can't hope to know as much about it as they do or the political implications of showing clip A with clip C. You have to expect there will be changes.

romanv wrote in post #15350444
Letting him see it would be the worst thing you can possibly do.

Any job in design, means changes changes changes.

Give him a non negotiable final product or you'll be having looking over your shoulder the whole time with him ask you to change A to B, B to C, and C back to A 100 times over.

Which is fine if you can charge for variations, otherwise tell him he cant see it until it's rendered or something.

/bitterness from construction industry job with clients making a million pointless changes

Agree with not letting him see it til its a finished edit. However there will never be a time where you give a first draft to a client and they love it as is unless they've dictated the whole edit to you. And even then, expect changes. I've been reworking a 4min piece for a loyal client for the past week. He tells me its final and approved and a day later he has a change. Key is I charge by the hour and im not an inexpensive editor so it doesn't upset me. Only bummer is im very fast. This 4 min piece with graphics, photos, videos with after effects goodies takes about 2 hours for the first draft. When its all done, I'll probably have 6-8 hours! yup...there's that many tweaks, all his "creative input". I also made him aware working on several other projects and changes may take a couple of days to get to. It's his project and I'm the facilitator. If your client is insistent on looking at a work in progress render it out and put it on a laptop then meet him at Starbucks. That way you can discuss and make notes without being rushed to actually make changes. An hour, billable of course, is all it should take and it'll make him happy.
No way to get around this...or at least not that I've figured out in the last 25 years of editing! Key is to bill for everything! And if it was a fixed budget, I hope you doubled the time it would really take you to do it on your own.