Videos can be an incredibly useful asset for any organisation. The value of videos as tools to display and distribute widely diverse messages quickly and accurately to specific audiences cannot be downplayed. So, what does it cost to create a video?
In order to understand the cost of producing a video we’ll have to cover a few contributing factors that affect the three core pillars of video production, namely pre-production costs, production costs and post-production costs.
Video production across Melbourne varies so widely from project to project that the cost of one video production cannot be easily compared to another. So, this article will breakdown the areas of potential cost that may be required (or not required) to complete your video production.
We will also describe what kind of video you could expect to have created for you based on a variety of different budgets.
Note: In order to reduce your own video production costs start by deducting services you know your won’t need and then aim to reduce costs further based on reducing the scale of your production i.e. the number of people required to make your final video happen.
So, broadly speaking, where do video production costs go?
1. Pre-Production Costs
- Script writing and message development
- Casting
- Storyboarding
- Location scouting
- Prop and Costume Design
- Other project management tasks such as booking talent, booking venues, booking unique personnel, permit applications
There can be many costs associated with pre-production of videos produced in Melbourne. Some of these include location scouting, script development and storyboards, casting, props or set design as well as wardrobe and the time taken to apply for permits. The more pre-production tasks you can simply do without or can complete in-house the more you can reduce these items from your overall production budget.
2. Production Costs
- Set Design
- Venue Hire
- Props and Costumes
- Equipment Costs & Rentals (lighting, sound, camera’s, drones and other equipment)
- Production Crew (directors, DOP, cinematographers, producers, actors, location sound recordist, grips, gaffers, catering staff, hair & makeup etc)
3. Post-Production Costs
- Editing & Re-edits
- Visual Effects (VFX)
- Motion Graphics
- Colour Grading
- Sound Design
- Subtitling and Closes captions
Even before your production begins you should have at clear idea of how long your project will spend in post-production and what this period will cost. Every stage of planning is important for video production and the post-production phase is no different. Visual effects will cost more as will logo animations and more complex animations such as 3D and 2D animations.
Quality & Experience
So, it may be useful to know that at every step mentioned above there are costs involved that also affect the quality of each unique step as well.
Video production costs will of course come down if you use remove all aspects of quality entirely (e.g. you could use one person to complete all of the jobs listed above and ask them to complete them within a single day…though I’m not sure I’ll have to talk too long about what the finished product may look like), or you could get Hollywood’s finest to work day and night over months to complete all of the above tasks (amazing quality at great expense).
Remember, if your video production company has a city office in The Rialto, or you are running your project through an advertising agency, all of their overheads including the all of the extra heads they bring into a room are going to be included as part of the cost of your video production.
How do I get the best quality video for the lowest price?
Simple…follow these steps:
- Get multiple quotes.
- Understand why things cost what they do.
- Ask for a deal.
- Stay within your budget.
- Provide examples of what you’re looking for.
- Manage your expectations.
- Get more videos for less by bundling. The cost of making more videos at once is much more cost effective in comparison to making one video stopping and then making another video down the road. If you need multiple videos planning ahead in this way can greatly reduce your costs.
How much should I spend on my video?
Realistically your video production will be bound by your budget. Stick to it and try to get the best product you can get made within your budget’s parameters.
Below is a breakdown of what kind of video and video packages you can expect from Melbourne based video production companies based on common budgets (in AUD) for video production. For most categories we assume the production of no more than 1 to 3 videos with and estimated length of 1 – 4 minutes (though this differs in respect to events videos).
What kind of video can I get made for $100?
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely to be one made by a professional.
Expect something filmed using a phone with a decent camera and probably by a student or a friend with minimal time (if any) spent on editing.
A budget of $100 will not allow for a professional to complete any of the tasks that fall under pre-production, production and post-production but may afford you 2 – 3 hours of a student’s time or someone looking to learn basic post-production skills.
Having said that…
There is a burgeoning marketing on Fiver that can help you create cheap unboxing videos, review videos, demonstrations and presentation videos.
What kind of video can I get made for $500 – $1000?
A budget of $500 – $1000 could potentially get you a 1 minute video filmed by a professional videographer or something longer filmed by a student. Expect minimal time (if any) spent in the areas of script writing and message development, motion graphics and vfx.
Expect a mixture of consumer to prosumer quality equipment in regards to camera, audio and lighting production equipment. It is unlikely that there will be backup equipment available in the instance of equipment failure so be wary.
This budget is perfect for filming small events, basic social media videos and videos that require either minimal production time or minimal time in post-production (editing time).
What kind of video can I get made for $1000 – $3000?
A budget of $1000 – $3000 is a reasonable price range to afford a professional freelance videographer.
This budget will accommodate the creation of videos across multiple video types and styles from professional wedding videos, to corporate event videos, corporate videos including interviews, and basic branding and online advertising videos.
A professional freelance videographer will likely have a diverse background across event videography, corporate videography and other areas such as fashion, product, brand and music video production or be a specialist in one area.
What is important to know is that you will most likely be engaging a sole professional that is capable of taking care of all your requirements at once including the basics of script and message development, camera operation, lighting, audio, editing and post-production.
Depending on what you arrange with your video production professional you could have made for you:
- 1 full length event video with sub-titles filmed using 2 cameras with an additional highlight video (shorter version of the entire event video)
- Corporate or brand video with to-camera interviews and ½ day of on-site filming to create b-roll (surrounding footage to emphasise key points of the interviewee).
- Testimonial videos
- Wedding videos
Potentially expect:
- 1 – 3 videos
- All filming to be completed on 1 single day
- Basic adjustments to help improve a script or questionnaire you have provided.
- Prosumer & professional production equipment across camera, audio, lighting and post-production software.
Don’t forget to provide examples to your video production professional and ideally you should have an idea of what your ideal finished video should look like in your own mind.
The video below contains examples of some of the styles of videos that can be made in this and the next price bracket.
What kind of video can I get made for $3000 – $5000
This is the average entry level cost for engaging the services of a Melbourne based video production company.
A video production company as compared to a freelancer may have dedicated editors, camera operators and producers to help expedite tasks to help increase the volume of work they can commit to though they may also utilise freelancers to complete tasks on a per project basis. What matters is the end result.
Expect professional equipment across the board and perhaps even access to a studio or cyclorama to film interviews efficiently.
In this price range you may expect a 2 person crew (e.g. a DOP, camera operator, and a producer, or 2 camera operators for events) to help capture your footage on the day.
Expect the quality of your video to lift and the company’s processes to be streamlined as creative concepts are drafted, footage is created, edited and coloured. You should also be receiving a higher level of communication with your video production professionals as you go from stage though stage e.g. from the pitch of concept, principle filming, editing and approval.
Depending on what you arrange with your video production professional you could have made for you:
- 1 full length event video with sub-titles filmed using 2 cameras with an additional highlight video (shorter version of the entire event video)
- Corporate or brand video with to-camera interviews and ½ day of on-site filming to create b-roll (surrounding footage to emphasise key points of the interviewee).
- 1 stunning or multiple standard testimonial videos
- Wedding video production
Expect the potential for:
- 1 – 3 videos as output.
- All filming to be completed on 1 single day using a 1 – 2 person crew.
- Basic adjustments to help improve a script or questionnaire you have provided.
- Professional production equipment across camera, audio, lighting and post-production software.
What you’re really paying for in this category is experience, additional staffing costs and other overheads such as office infrastructure, staff, insurances and company owned production equipment.
What kind of video can I get made for $10,000?
It is a common expectation that a doubling of expenditure will provide a doubling of quality. In the world of video production this is very rarely the case.
Once you enter the mid-tier costings of video production you will often get less bang for your buck than you’d hoped for until your budget starts to increase further.
Why is this? Once you reach this stage of production budget the quality of production equipment does not actually go up (i.e. you won’t get better lights or cameras). So image quality is not in question here.
What causes costs to rise from here is what you want to film, where you want to film and how many additional people are required to get the job done. The difference between the video you can get for $5000 and $10,000 may almost be negligible in regards to the look of the final product. What changes is how many people begin to be involved with your production.
At this point video production costs are going to quickly to get swallowed up by:
- Lesser known actors or presenters
- Additional production staff including hair and make-up, assistant producers
- More time spent on pre-production such as venue bookings, concept and storyboarding, script and message development.
- Catering costs
- Permits
- Drone footage
- Greater attention to colour grading
This budget may be appropriate for creating videos for:
- Larger events requiring bigger crews
- Brand videos
- How-to, product or training videos with multiple video outputs
- Higher end wedding video productions
What kind of video can I get made for $15,000 – $25,000?
Within this price range you can acquire the services of a film production company or a TVC production company to film your video.
Expect great attention to detail and ways to creatively make your videos that will be no doubt be visually impressive.
This budget will allow some room for:
- Creative concept development
- Storyboarding
- Hire of set designers, costumes and props
- Affordable actors
- VFX and animation
- Multiple outputs
- Bigger production teams
This is a good pricing bracket to start creating high quality videos to can be used on television and for larger online marketing campaigns or for brands with larger marketing budgets.
Our friends at Monster & Bear have completed some incredible work in this price range as shown in the video below:
What kind of video can I get made for $30,000 +
Above 30k and you may be likely be a marketing manager going to a marketing agency or dealing directly with a higher end video production company.
A single video made in this budget bracket would start to incorporate:
- A bigger emphasis on creative
- A greater variety of location based shots
- Use of more well-known actors and presenters
- More VFX and animation
- Even bigger production crews
Conclusion
Video production in Melbourne can be quite affordable if you know what you want and have a reasonable expectation of what can be achieved within your budget. I hope this article has provided some assistance to helping you understand how video production costs are constructed and what this means for your own video production goals.
For more articles on video production:
We have a great guide for video production.
Tips for how to look and sound great in a corporate video.
What to ask your video production company prior to hiring them.