The short answer? How long is a piece of string? Now here’s the long answer.
The digital age explosion has added a new and exciting dimension to almost everything, the multi media industry is no exception. In the thirty odd years that I have been involved in the Media industry I have seen amazing developments. When I was cutting my teeth in late 1970s, everything was film, Photography and Film and Television production was created using the amazing invention of sprocketted celluloid (film). The editing and post production process was slow and meticulous. The working edit was made by sticking together pieces of film initially by using glue then as technology progressed, glue was replaced with a special sticky tape. This process could take days for a television commercial and up to a year (sometimes longer) for a Feature Film. Once the production had passed the final edit stage that working copy, complete with sticky tape and chinograph pencil marks, was sent to the laboratory where someone in a dust free room would match the negative to the working copy (cutting copy) and then that negative roll was sent to the Laboratory for final printing. Sound was mixed together in another area where there would be up to a dozen sound projectors running each track simultaneously while an engineer at the audio mixing desk equalised and mixed all the different sounds together. 35mm Film cameras, lights, stands, filters, camera mounts, nagra audio recorders, flatbed editing machines and the rest of the equipment required for the production didn’t come cheap. So with the combination of this expensive equipment and the serious amount of time required to create a project, Film production was a very expensive process and restricted to those who had serious money to spend.
Fast forward to today and everything is far more accessible to the budding film maker. High quality images can now be recorded on affordable digital video camera’s, and even on digital still camera’s. Editing can be done on a well built PC or laptop. Your production can be uploaded to Youtube or Social Media in minutes for the whole world to see. With this evolution there is an explosion of content to be viewed on the internet, more people seeking your attention. Despite the ease of making your own video time is still a major requirement if you want to make something that will appeal to the masses, that and ability. Not everyone has the ability to create engaging, eye catching productions that will encourage people to buy your product. That is why video production professionals are still in demand. With the ease of getting your video production on-line comes more competition to get peoples attention.
Ok now comes the burning question, how much does this service cost? Well it depends on what you want. A video production could cost as little as $150 and could go into the ten of thousands. What I try to do as a Video Producer is create an end product of high quality at affordable prices. To achieve this I take a sensible approach when purchasing the necessary camera’s that will produce the goods to the quality required. My camera equipment is capable of creating high quality images that are suitable for the internet or DVD audience. I could spend a small fortune on higher end equipment, but the reality is that the majority of my footage ends up being compressed into a smaller format for the internet or DVD market. Why spend large amounts of money (which in turn is passed onto my production costs) to buy this type of equipment, when it is far more economical to hire this equipment when needed?
When it comes to the post production process however, I prefer to spend the extra money on the professional programs that gives me creative flexibility. My program of choice is Adobe After Effects, it’s not easiest to use but it is a very powerful editing program for creating special effects. This program is also very popular in the high end Feature Film industry. The main advantage of this program is there are literally thousands of templates that can be purchased and downloaded that can be modified to suit your business needs. Here is an example of something that I created using an existing template.
If the video footage or photos are supplies then the production costs are very affordable. At the other end of the scale I can do a complete production including script writing, Voice Over recording, Photography, Videography even arrange for your own music track to be composed by a professional musician. Her is an example of a full production completed from scratch with it’s own unique look.
If you’re on a middle of the road budget then here is an example of something I can create using photographs but with a unique look. This is my own template. The beauty of this template is that once the original composition is complete all photos can be replaced quickly without costing you the customer a large fee. And that’s where the more expensive professional editing programs come into their own. You can store the “shell” if you like, of that production and update it frequently and quickly, with minimum costs.
One important and final point to make is this, I like to keep my client involved with the production right from the onset until the production is complete. I upload an example of the production after each step, to ensure my client gets exactly what they want, at the same offering my professional opinion to ensure that not only does it look good, but appeals to the public and portrays your product or corporate image to a high standard. The end result is only limited by both yours and my imaginations. No obligation free quotes are available at short notice.
Although all the above examples are aimed toward the horse owner my 30 years experience has included a variety of subjects and products, from Health insurance commercials to Government promotions both here in Australia and overseas.