Video Production – What do you pay for?

I need a corporate video for my business

So you need a corporate video for your business? You have a budget but you’d like to save money if you can. So how come some videos cost hundreds of pounds and others cost thousands?

The answer is production values. Our friends at Groundbreak Productions have written a blog explaining exactly what production values are. But for this blog we’ll keep it simple. Videos can technically be made to suit any budget. But what will differ is the production values; how big is the crew? What equipment is used? How sleek is the editing process? What if we want visual effects or animations?

Beware of agencies and individuals offering corporate videos for a few hundred quid. Chances are they have simply bought a decent camera and fancy themselves as a film maker. Always check previous examples of work to make sure you’re not getting a photo slideshow made with iMovie or similar. A proper corporate video should be professionally made from start to finish. Read below to see what the process looks like.

Pre Production

Pre-production is the planning stage of a video project. Never underestimate the importance of providing a full brief (there’s a new blog on that coming soon!) so that before anybody goes near a camera, both parties know what the projects intended aim is, as well as its creative direction.

A good marketing agency or video production team will have meetings to determine exactly what you want, and take the time in pre-production to plan the day of filming meticulously. Maybe a studio or a specific venue is needed. Will there be actors involved? They’ll need a script. If you don’t get a full briefing document for a project, including call sheets, shoot times and contact information at the very least – run away!

Production

Lights, Camera, Action! This is where the cameras roll and the action happens. Footage and audio is gathered, and might include interviews, establishing shots, b-roll, branding, and whatever else was pre-determined in pre-production)

Any potential interviewees should be briefed and made to feel relaxed throughout the process. At the end of the day, it’s a conversation between two or more people. Not only that, we all have a good idea of what we want to say beforehand!

A good video production team will have a strong directive presence and always have the bigger picture in mind. A shoot day is always fun, regardless of the content.

Post production

This part of a corporate video project is where everything is brought together in the editing suite. All the footage is arranged into a sequence and additional elements are added; audio, music, graphics, colour grading, animations, VFX etc.

This part of making a corporate video is often what separates quality video production from the cheap and nasty.

A good video production company will provide a rough first cut, to make sure the client is happy with the overall flow of the film. At this stage you can offer some feedback or amends to make sure nothing is included that you don’t want! Then further edits will create something much closer to your original idea.

And guess what? Gone are the days of boring 30-minute corporate films. We can create any length of video, including disposable video content for use in social media campaigns.

To request more information, or to see examples of our corporate video work, use the contact form below, or email info@yellowspidermedia.com