Helpful Things to Know

We believe that the more you know about what it takes to create great video, the easier it will be for you to determine reasonable objectives, budget and expectations. Plus, the more informed you are, the better our communication and teamwork will be, so the easier it will be for Imagimedia to deliver exactly what you want and expect. This information will provide you with perspective and understanding that will help you make all the right choices as you develop your online video communications.

What should you have prepared to be able to get started with a production company? We can’t speak for everyone, but at Imagimedia, we need you to be clear on who your audience is, what you want to communicate and what you want your audience to do, i.e. learn, buy, call, etc. We can take it from there. There’s no need to have a preliminary script, but the more you can share about your ideas the better.

Overview

Asking how much a video costs is much like asking, “how much does a car cost?” Pardon the sales cliché, but it’s a fitting comparison. Costs for both are determined by size, quality of workmanship, customer service, eye appeal, and included features. So, in both cases, you can shop for the best option that meets your budget. Just keep in mind that in both cases, you must adjust your expectations to match your budget. Here is a quick list of the factors that affect cost when shopping for a new video:

Length of video

Length doesn’t always affect the time it takes to shoot your content. Depending on what you are shooting, you may take the same amount time to shoot 5 minutes of content as you do for 2 minutes of content. However, each minute of program length requires additional time in editing. If your editing style requires 3 hours of editing for 1 minute of program, then it will likely take 9 hours of editing for 3 minutes of program.

Number of days of shooting required

Video crews are typically paid by the day (10 hrs.) or half day (5 hrs.). So the more days it takes to shoot it, the greater the expense. It’s usually less expensive to go into 2 – 3 hours of overtime than to add on another day or half day if you can get it done with the little bit of extra time.

Size of the crew

Obviously, the more people you have on your crew, the more the cost. The trick is to hire no more people than you absolutely need to get the job done. That determination is based on a few factors:
  • How fast you need to shoot? Typically, a larger crew shoots faster than a smaller crew. Try comparing costs between 6 people for one day or 4 people for 2 days. And keep in mind that those extra hands can often be lower cost personnel.
  • What is your intended production value? (see “Quality of production values”, below) Generally speaking, a larger crew can achieve higher production values.
  • How complex is the camera work or production style? The more complex, the more you’ll need a larger crew.

Number of locations to shoot in

Every time you change locations you’ll spend time to take down the gear from the previous location, load it up, move it, and set it up again. Even just moving down the hall could take 30 to 45 minutes or more out of your productive shooting time. The more you change locations, the less you’ll get shot per day.

Number of, and experience of performers

It takes longer to shoot scenes with performers in them than scenes without them. If the performers are professional, your costs increase with every performer. On the other hand, the more experienced your performers are, the faster things will get shot. Although you may think it is cheaper to get friends or coworkers to perform for free, keep in mind that usually they require many more “takes” to get it right, and so your added crew costs may far outweigh paying for professional talent.

Number of, and experience of interviewees

Obviously, the more people you interview, the more time it will take. Also consider if the interviews need to be shot in different locations around the office, or can you save time by shooting them all in the same place? Also consider that an interviewee who is experienced and comfortable will give you what you need much faster. One way to reduce cost is to have your key people or interviewees share a large portion of the information in a voice over rather than on camera.

Enactments take more time to shoot

If you have a concept that requires role playing or enactments of any kind, you should expect that it will take significantly longer to shoot. It simply takes time to get the magic to happen and get a believable and accurate performance. On the other hand, these types of presentations are much more engaging and give the audience the opportunity to experience the message, rather than being told about it.

Quality of production values

“Production value” refers to the combined technical quality of the skills, materials and methods used in a production. You’ve seen TV commercials where the lighting, audio, editing, performances or graphics looked cheap. That’s low production value. It takes time and experienced crew to professionally light your set and performers, and to make sure your audio is clear without echo or extraneous noises. It takes more time and experience to do anything to professional standards.
 
“Production value” also refers to the complexity or uniqueness of the concepts and elements used in a production. Spectacular vistas or exciting action are more compelling and create a greater sense of quality and value. Again, these great elements take time to capture. So, higher production values generally require higher budgets. You should discuss with stakeholders what level of production quality is necessary to support your brand and audience expectations, and then set your budget accordingly. With over 20 years of experience, Imagimedia has gotten very good at squeezing the most production value out of a budget.
 
We know where compromises can be made and where you’ll get the biggest bang for your production dollars.

Simple to complex presentation style

Sometimes the perfect concept to capture your audience’s attention and make the experience compelling and memorable is a very simple idea with mostly cuts and dissolves. Other times the perfect concept requires special effects, visual montages, fast-paced editing and lots of sizzle. The more complex, the more time it takes to shoot and edit.

Using animation or moving graphics

These elements can be used to explain complicated ideas, add interest, or support a visual concept. Creating these elements takes additional time. The longer and more complicated they are, the more costly.
Great video is seldom the result of shooting something first then figuring out how you want to use it later. Even if you want to do something as simple as capture and share an event, you’ll be much farther ahead by planning out what the final video should look like. Will you be showing the entire event or a shortened version? Does it need segment introductions? What’s the look you want to achieve to engage your audience? Will there be on screen text to support key messages? Will you edit the event with other visuals? Should you shoot with 2 cameras so you can edit between a close up and a wide shot for more interest? There are many other considerations that could easily affect the way you should shoot the video—if you want a professional presentation. There’s a lot to consider before hitting the record button on your camera.
What’s the perfect length for a web video? That depends. The typical wisdom is 2 to 3 minutes for marketing/advertising communications to the public. But audiences who are already interested in your message or those that are required to watch will be willing to view much longer videos. Also, a highly engaging video will hold interest longer.
  • getaquotebutton

    • Ten Important Questions to Ask

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    Here are a few questions to ask a video company that can help you determine if they are likely to deliver an effective, professional video.

    1. Where can you see samples of their work?

    There’s a good chance that how well you like their work will be a big factor in your decision. But make sure you ask what part of each sample they are responsible for. Many people post samples of projects on which they’ve only done the camera work, or lighting, or editing, etc. You want to make sure you’re in the hands of someone who can truly deliver the quality you see in the sample.

    2. How long have they been creating videos?

    Not that a relative novice can’t do a great job, but the more experienced a producer is, the more likely you’ll be happy about every aspect of the experience: accurate budgeting; professional standards; targeted messaging; good collaboration; and knowing resourceful ways to get the most value out of your budget.

    3. Have they won awards for their work?

    The reason for this question is obvious. You can usually count on producers who have been vetted by their peers.

    4. Will they provide you with a detailed, line-item cost proposal?

    The importance of this is two-fold. First, for cost comparison purposes, you’ll want to see exactly what they are promising to do: how much message and creative development; hours/days of shooting; size of crew; hours of editing; and what special effects? Second, a detailed proposal showing exactly how much time and resources they’re putting into your project will likely be an indicator of the quality and effectiveness of your video: the more the better.

    5. What experience do they have as communicators?

    It doesn’t matter how great your video looks if it’s not designed to speak to your specific audience, or it doesn’t deliver your message in a thoughtful, well organized and convincing manner. While shopping, explain your objectives and ask the producers to share their insight as to how they would approach your project from a communication perspective. What do they see as the compelling argument, point of view or logic? Make sure they sound like good communicators.

    6. What is their process for developing a script?

    Not all production companies develop scripts. Do they expect you to come to them with a script? Some producers hire a third-party content/script developer. This is not a bad option as long as they work together frequently and work well as a team. The best option, however, is to hire a company that handles your objectives turnkey, in-house. It’s best if the people responsible for turning your objectives into targeted concepts and words, are also responsible for how those ideas are executed. Such continuity will make it more likely that the intentions you start with will become the video you end up with.

    7. What equipment will they work with on your shoot?

    A real professional will use a professional camera. Hobbyists and inexperienced producers will often use a consumer or prosumer camera. Ask for a camera model number and Google it to see how the manufacturer rates it. Plus, many photographers want to pick up video projects because their still photo DSLR cameras can also shoot video. But these cameras have limited use and do not meet high quality specifications in many ways. Also, ask them about their lighting and audio packages. If they tell you they use flash lighting or just like to use “available lighting” they are not video professionals. They should have a pretty extensive kit with several lights and associated grip equipment. And if they are recording audio from the camera microphone, you should be wary. Professionals use lavalier and directional boom microphones.

    8. What are the typical crew members on their video shoot?

    Size of crew will always be dependent on budget and sometimes all a budget will afford is a single person. But before you acknowledge your budget, ask the producers to describe the typical crew. They should mention people in different positions such as a Director, a Cameraman or Director of Photography (DP), an Audio Engineer, a Gaffer or Lighting person, a Grip, and a Makeup Artist. Even though you may not need all of these crew members due to budget or creative requirements, leading off with this question can help you feel safe if they typically work with these kind of professionals. If someone tells you that they have a couple guys that usually come out and do everything—before even knowing what your budget is—you may not be speaking to an experienced professional.

    9. What experience do they have working with performers?

    Most, but not all videos will utilize a “performance” of some sort: a voice talent, an actor, or even a performance by you or someone in your company. Perhaps, performances– more than anything else in a video– will make the production look professional or not. That’s why it is so important that your production company has plenty of experience and skill to nurture the best possible performance from every performer. Also, do they work with talent agents where the most experienced actors and voice actors are typically found? And get them to show you several video examples of performances and interviews by non-professional “real people.” Are they believable? Do the people look at ease and comfortable? Do they communicate clearly? If the producer doesn’t work with professional talent and have strong skills for getting good performances out of “real people,” then the perceived quality of your video and acceptance of your message may be in question.

    10. What are their editing capabilities?

    Just like cameras, there are many non-professional video editing programs available to everyone. These may have the capability of creating simple edits, but they typically are not capable of offering any sophisticated techniques. More so, these programs may compress your video footage in the editing process, severely reducing the quality of your final product. If you hear them talk about working on an Avid, or they use Final Cut, Premiere, or Vegas then you can feel pretty confident. Again, try Googling the name of their editing system to see if it’s rated as professional equipment.

    We’ve answered all of these questions about Imagimedia throughout this website, but please ask us for further clarification, if needed!

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    • John P. Carr

      CEO
      American Inflatable Exhibitors, LLC

      The best investment we ever made to promote our business was employing Imagimedia. The process was very thoughtful and interactive in the preparation stage in order to make sure the messaging was on target so the videography could capture all the supporting images. When they combined the narrative and video into its final edited version, it was truly outstanding. We get rave reviews from our various stakeholders.

    • Kim Jones

      Director, Marketing & Development
      Living for Zachary

      Living for Zachary really enjoys working with Imagimedia. We appreciate the time, emotion, and care they put into each video that they have produced for us. They are very professional and have created wonderful videos that inspire an emotional connection with our audience.

    • Clare Rabe DeBoever

      Marketing & Public Relations
      Baylor Health Care System

      I know that when we hire Imagimedia for a project it’s in good hands. Imagimedia has the knack for developing creative ideas that are carried on throughout the full video production process…no matter what budget they have to work with. They listen to our needs, evaluate the best way to communicate those into video, and then produce a final product that exceeds expectations. I trust Imagimedia with my projects for Baylor Health Care System. They make me look good!

    • Linda Jangula

      CEO
      Wiki Wags brand Disposable Male Dog Wraps

      Inspiring, educational, witty and down right fun are just a few of the experiences we shared while having Imagimedia produce our video. From the planning to the post presentation, we felt delighted the whole process went so well…thanks Imagimedia for all your professional services.

    • Mike Troje

      Sales Manager
      Continental Electronics

      Continental Electronics contracted Imagimedia to create four original promotional videos. As I interviewed companies for this project my primary criteria was that the videos needed to be out-of-the-box creative and stand out from other traditional corporate videos. Imagimedia was the only company that understood what I needed and the product they provided surpassed my expectations. We continue to use variations of these videos to this day. We were so comfortable with Imagimedia’s product that we later hired them to re-design and create our web site. We remain extremely satisfied with Imagimedia!.

    • Martin Gast

      Chief Marketing Officer
      TripCal

      We can’t begin to tell you what a pleasure it was to work with the Imagimedia team on our TripCal website-launch video. Having reviewed your video reel, we expected great production value … but you far exceeded our expectations by showing us ways to better target our message, methods of using various production resources and production techniques to keep our budget as low as possible, and you were really fun to work with. We were especially impressed with the way you added creativity to our video by using animation and eye-catching graphics. We will definitely be using the Imagimedia team for all our future communication projects.

    • Brian Padden

      President
      HxP Associates

      Imagimedia is “best-in-class.” To start with, they researched my business to gain a complete understanding of my target market and my value proposition. Then they prepared the script with creative and stylistic vision. Production only took a short time to get smooth and professional takes on each shot. They edited everything together resulting in a masterpiece that earned a Telly Award for Direct Web Marketing. When I saw the video the first time, I was truly amazed and still am. Thank you very much Imagimedia. You exceeded my expectations!

    Awards
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    • Imagimedia has been awarded numerous Telly Awards for the creation of business communication videos for companies such as Boeing, Baylor Health Care System, Stevens Transport and others.

      Imagimedia_Telly_Awards

    • We proudly received the Best in Show award from the Health & Science Communications Association for a video we created for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

      Award 1

    • Worldfest Houston International Film Festival presented Imagimedia with 2 Gold and 1 Bronze awards acknowledging videos created for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and BNSF Railway.

      Award 2

    • We were also honored with multiple awards for our video creations from the Media Communication Association- International. IABC Bronze Quill, and the Aurora Awards.

      Imagimedia_awards

    Featured Project

    This video was created to help Taitale Studios raise funds needed to finish development of their first of a kind Real Time Strategy game, Novus Aeterno. This is truly a Cinderfella story of a 16 year old kid who couldn’t find the game of his dreams, so he assembled a team of developers from around the world who committed to the project for little or no pay. For the next 4 years they collaborated completely online as a labor of love, ultimately creating a totally new game genre!

    Imagimedia edited together game play sequences with video interviews that we recorded of developers and gamers at PAX- one of the industry’s biggest game conventions. Funding has continued to pour in as the team works on polishing the game for a release in the near future.


    Taitale Studios – Novus Aeterno MMORTS game

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