What does video production cost?

It’s difficult to put a precise price on how much a specific project will cost. As a general rule, there are four elements that you pay for when working with a video production company;

-Time it will take to complete the project

-The experience and training of the crew

-The quality of the filming equipment used

-The expense of staging your vision

 

Raising or lowering the requirements for any one of these elements will affect the price that you expect to pay, so you have to strike a balance between quality and budget. For example, you could pay less for someone who has little experience but has good quality equipment. At first this may seem like a good way to save on the budget, however you will find before long that using an inexperienced videographer may lead to a sour investment as the marketing plan for you video fails to take off and no one sees it. Again, the opposite is true, if you have a very experienced producer but they are lacking in equipment quality, they may be able to successfully get the video viewed, but that might do more damage than good if the quality of the video doesn’t live up to your brand standards.

 

So, what does video production actually cost?

The above helps to explain the balancing act with budgeting for a video and is the answer you will find on almost any video production website. But it doesn’t answer the question you’ve come here for.

What will a professional video production cost?

In general terms, it will likely cost you £300 or above for a single video.

 

Budget videos

The entry level video varies from company to company. These will generally be simple videos that will take little to no prep work and have a very short filming and editing time. Think of something like a simple client testimonial shot on a single camera in a single location. Don’t expect a blockbuster in this price range, but a professional quality video that’s suitable for a facebook campaign or as a short piece of content for your website.

Keep in mind that most video production companies will work with you on bulk orders to bring down the individual cost of videos. For example, a production company may offer to film 6 adverts that would normally cost £300 each, for a bulk price of something around £1,500, bringing the individual price down to £250 and saving you £300. This is an arrangement that you will have to discuss with the film makers to find the best deal for you, with some companies being more flexible than others.

The price of video production can quickly start to rise depending on the type of video you need. £300 might get you a simple 30 second advert for social media or a simply filmed seminar, but if you are looking for something more substantial or with greater impact and reach, then you will have to consider a higher budget.

Be wary!

From what we’ve found, any video quotes under £300 should start to raise suspicions. As the price drops you need to figure out what is being reduced to justify the lowering cost. It might be a reduction in experience, skill, equipment or all of the above. You may even be paying for someone to learn the basics while on your job. If keeping a low budget is all that is important, then finding a student or enthusiast might be the way to go. Bear in mind that this is unlikely to give you the professional look and control you want over the final product and you will likely receive no experienced advice on how to best use your video to reach its true marketing potential.

Wedding and event videos

We at Stoat Media don’t produce wedding videos (but if we did they’d be the best in the world). However, from our research we have found that around Chester and Cheshire the average price of a wedding video ranges from £1,000 to £3,000. Wedding videos can range in length from approximately 20 minutes to a full hour. The variation in the amount of effort and time it takes to complete a project is reflected in the price. This price range is also a good estimate when looking at professional filming for events in a documentary style. Depending on the length of the event, the detail that you want captured and the amount of footage for the editor to process, the time scale is likely to be similar to that of a wedding video and will possibly cost a similar amount.

 

Professional adverts and corporate video production 

Professional advert production and corporate filming can range anywhere upwards of £300. This can be based on the needs of the client, whether the advert will appear on TV, the use of actors, CGI, long term filming, heavy editing needs and long-term preproduction.

On the extreme end, the 2004 Chanel ad campaign is famous for costing $66m. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfoMbir_Qd4). Starring Nicole Kidman and comprising a 3-minute cinematic version and shorter variations, the campaign took over the advertising world for most of 2004, with TV and cinema airings as well as well-placed print advertisement tie ins. The campaign was so successful that it set the industry standard for perfume advertising and is now virtually a blue print for marketing.

Though we’d love a multi-million pound budget, probably as much as you’d love having a spare few million to spend on marketing, this isn’t the average spend around Chester.

What to expect around Chester 

On a more local scale, we’d say that an advert campaign or a professional corporate video in Cheshire will cost you on average between £400 – £3,000. As we’ve mentioned before in the article, there are extremes. Depending on what you want and who you use, the cost for specific video styles and types will rise or lower. As a video production company in Chester, we’ve had budgets on one extreme reaching around the £10,000 mark that required specialist equipment and a large acting cast. We also see many budgets on the other end of the scale with just a few hundred.

The cost of video production for business advertising is a wide and varied topic. We hope that this article helps show what you should expect from a video production company in Chester, although the best way to find out what your specific production will cost is to ask for a quote.

So why not ask Stoat Media for a quote here!

Or

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