The biggest question I get asked, is “How much does it cost to create a video?”  Spoiler alert!  I am not going to give you prices in this post. However, I am going to let you know what goes into the creation of your video that makes it cost what it does.   There is a lot that goes into video production.  The fact that video cameras are so easy to use and uploading video to the Internet is so easy, makes people think that it should not cost much.  You need to know that you get what you pay for.  While you can do it all yourself, you need to ask yourself if your home made video will represent your brand in a positive way.  We have all watched videos online that,  though watchable, there was something about them that wasn’t quite right.  Maybe the audio sounded hollow.  Maybe the camera was too close, making people’s faces look funny.  Possibly, the lighting was harsh and subjects were either squinty or their eyes were dark.

 

Hollywood films cost alot of money because it takes a lot of work and people to make a picture look good.    A good script is one of the first steps and a good script writer is worth every penny.  Unfortunately, this is the one of the main places that people often try to save money.  They think that, since they can write an email, a script shouldn’t be too hard.

 

Next, you have to look at who will deliver this script.  Having an actor who is experienced and who will represent your brand well is very important.  There are times when it is appropriate to use someone from your company to give your company a face.  These videos are best done in an interview style.  An interview is great way to hide a person’s acting inexperienced on camera.

 

The next step is the camera.  To rent a good camera, the starting cost of this is hundreds of dollars  per day, and that doesn’t include an operator.  After that, there are lights, microphones and all of the other things that go into a video.  Each of these things takes crew to run.  Crew and talent both charge by either the half day or the full day, not by the hour.  Then you have to think about where you are going to record your video, on a location or in the studio.  Once your video is completed, the next step is the editing process.  One minute of video, takes one minute to load into the computer.  Every video is different in how long it will take to edit.  It depends on how many cameras you used for the shoot.  Something questions to ask that will increase the cost of your video: Does the audio need to sync with the video?  How many titles or graphics will I need?

If your text or graphics need to be animated, that will also take extra time.  Once that is all determined and taken care of,  the audio will need to be leveled  and the video color corrected.  Finally, the video has to be exported to the format required to be delivered to the client.