The answer isn’t just a simple figure unfortunately, £1,000 and £25,000 are both reasonable estimates in the video production industry.
The price itself is dependent on a variety of other factors which I will touch on in this blog post and hopefully give you a better idea of what to look for when researching prices from different video production agencies.
During the pre-production stages the time taken to plan and develop a concept for a good video is money spent on the staff that assist you in this process. If you think about one staff member working on an hourly rate, the more people and the more time spent developing the idea the more money it will cost. Bigger more complex ideas with a lot of margin for error will take a bigger team and a lot more hours to ensure no more money is wasted elsewhere by overlooking small details that could eat up the budget later if not addressed.
Venues, actors, props and specialist equipment that is needed will also increase costs. Rental of such equipment and locations can be anywhere from free to thousands of pounds per day. This is why planning is essential, renting or buying assets that wind up not being used are a tremendous waste of budget. However the addition of a steadicam or drone to the production can make your video stand out from the crowd, look professional and seem ahead of the game.
Some other additions to a production you might be unaware of that greatly effect the quality of your video are:
- The number of filming days required (remember time is money and staff need paying)
- The skill of the crew
- Music licensing
- Colour grading
- Motion graphics/animation
- Length of the final video (editing time)
When you’re researching prices it’s worth keeping in mind all these points and envisage what you want your video to look like, what sort of level of professionalism do you want to convey to your audience and then think about what sort of budget you have to work with. Which aspects could you do without; do you really need a drone? Could the video be cut down to 1 minute instead of 2? Could it all be shot in one location in one day? You don’t need to understand every detail but it will help you visualise the costs and see how each decision will effect the outcome of your video.
Having an inception meeting or phone call with a production agency usually costs nothing and talking in depth about your project can get you an accurate quote first time. It’s always beneficial to sit down and discuss options and get the best price. Some companies will only produce high end productions for big brands with all the bells and whistles, but some will work around your budget if you are a just small business looking to step up your marketing game with video.
Our next post will touch on whether or not it's ever a good idea to go for a low-end production value over high-end and what are the risks involved.
Take a look below at our infographic we created which details the production process from start to finish, maybe it will help you understand the process more and give you a better understanding of what to ask for when approaching a video production company. It even has some juicy video marketing statistics in there!