Alex -

It was wonderful meeting with you this week and talking about everything you've got going on. As promised, I wanted to take a few minutes and share some examples and more concrete thoughts around video production and the costs associated with it.

Breaking Down Video

Example 1:

The first example I'd like to share is a video I led and produced for Washington Wine. The directive was to showcase Washington's diverse wine scene while also highlighting its key message points. This is a great example of a 100K+ video. Some of the reasons it's this much:

  • We shot 24 locations 
  • We broke up the video into two shoots: July and October.
  • Total shooting days was 15 with 5 travel days.
  • Six setups required hired talent. 
  • Equipment was top notch. The video needed to reflect the same quality of Washington's Wine, and the client expected the video to look cinematic and clean.
  • We scouted all locations before shooting. (8 days in two trips) 
  • Pre-production took 2 months

The reason I wanted to share this with you, is because it's a great example of a brand video that encomapasses a lot of different locations and talent. This is a great idea of what goes into a video like Apple's Anyone Can Code video (following below).

I did some digging on similar style videos that spoke to the power of coding and came across the following video Apple produced for the WWDC this summer. The budget on this film is well into the mid six figures as it highlights subjects from all over the world. 

What I love about it, is that it humanizes the people that code and highlights the diversity of what drives them. I could see something similar for Bitsbox's brand video. 

Example 2

The first video we produced for Mark and Sketchup. This video's budget was around 25k and needed to be shot in two days. Some of the highlights.

  • The shoot was controlled. The main locations, Steve's house and the art store, were 100% controlled by the crew. This meant we didn't have to worry about weather, unforeseen obstacles and could stage equipment once and not have to tear it down each day.  
  • There were only 3 total locations
  • We were able to shoot the video in 1.5 days 
  • Steve was fantastic on camera and we knew beforehand the interview would be solid. Through pre-production we already had the story mapped out.
  • Pre-production took about 1 month, but we did not pre scout the locations. 
  • Post-production graphic costs were minimal and since we were able to shoot in controlled environments, we were able to keep color correction costs down. 

EXAMPLE 3

A recent video I produced for a local startup, this is a great example of a 12K video. It's a different crew than the ones above and I think you'll see a difference. The main difference to me is that it's not as cinematic as the two videos above, and the feel is a bit more rough. 

  • Shoot was 1 day
  • Pre-production took 2 days
  • All talent was provided for by the client 
  • All food and makeup for the talent was provided by the client
  • Post-production took 3 days and the client had 2 revisions. 
  • Stock music was used.