How Much Does it Cost to Make a Video?
So, how much does it cost to make a video? Its a question I generally relate with “How much does a car cost?” Does it have leather seats? Is it a V8 or a 4 banger? Do you want bluetooth installed at the factory?
Usually once a week or so I get requests for pricing, some of them are straight forward and have little variables involved other than our hourly rates. These could be simple projects like localizing a TV spot for one of our performing arts clients or maybe a quick interview and some footage at an event. I can work up an estimate for a project like this based off of past experiences very quickly. I might even be able to recommend ways we could keep the budget down or methods we can enhance the overall project.
When it comes to full blown projects that include locations, talent, special camera moves and special effects, it can be an entirely different story. Before I go into ideas and conceptual for a project like this, I usually like to ask what is this worth to you? Is this a TV spot with a large media buy attached to it? Is this playing at an event or meeting for investors or potential clients? Is this just going on the web without any promotion? Is there any possibility this could be reused at some point? These are the factors that should definitely play into the production budget. We would love to create a high production value video for you, but if its only going to be used internally for your organization we understand if you skip the make-up and special effects.
I like to think of the final piece and then work backwards to figure out the final components needed to make the video a reality. Lets take a look at this short documentary video we did awhile back for Shoot Smart, an indoor shooting range:
Its a very simple and straight forward video, but here are all of the separate elements that actually make this video up:
- 1 Half Day of Shooting for all the B-roll
- 1 Half Day of Shooting for all the interviews
- 3 Separate Talent/Release fees for all the models
- Editing
- Sound Mixing
- Color Correction
- Music licensing fees for online use
- Graphic Design for the titles
- 2 half days of make-up/hair
This is just an example of some of the types of things we do. As you can see, lots of things had to be planned and thought out before we could even turn the cameras on.
Video is a great and unique way of getting your message out and with the advances in technology, its more accessible than ever! For a quote of your own you can call me at 817-344-1963 or email canderson@immotionstudios.com.
Written by Coleman Anderson, account executive and video producer
