6 Ways to Reduce the Cost of Your Video

There's no reason to waste money on your video project. Follow these suggestions to make the most of your budget. You'll get a high quality presentation and save money—without cutting corners.

1. Know what you want to communicate.

Every video should have one main goal for its audience. This goal could be an action to take or information to learn.

Example Goals:
  • buy your product
  • learn safety procedures or new employee orientation

    • When you begin planning your video, one of the first steps will be to devise the goal.
    Stick to one main goal to avoid sending mixed messages. For example, explaining your company’s capabilities while introducing a new product can be information overload.

    If you have two separate goals that must be met, you could put each goal into its own video segment. These segments could then be marketed individually or accessed as choices on a DVD or website.

    Too much information thrown at an audience will be a waste of their time and a waste of your money.

    2. Be organized.

    Most video production companies work on a time and materials basis.
    More planning on your part equals less money spent, fewer hours of production, and faster delivery of your final product.

    When developing the script, meet with the writer for a information gathering session. Prioritize the information to let the writer know what is essential to include in the script.

    When planning the shoot, assist in the development of the shot list. Get all the shots at one location before moving on to the next one. This will streamline equipment setup time, resulting in a shorter, less expensive shoot.

    Have everyone ready on the day of the shoot.  You'll save money if everyone knows their role. The crew and actors are working on an hourly rate, so time is money.

    3. Be specific about details.

    You know your business better than the producer or writer of the video. Jump in with both feet and get involved in your project's creation.

  • Read over the script carefully before giving your approval. You'll avoid extra costs for having a narration read twice.

  • Watch the footage on a monitor as it’s being shot. If something doesn't look right, let the crew know immediately. Sending the crew back out another day to re-shoot a scene can be a real budget-buster.

    Your project should meet or exceed your expectations.
    • You'll save money by catching mistakes throughout the production process, rather than after the edit is completed.  

    4. Stay on schedule.

    Develop a production schedule as soon you start the project.

  • Work backwards from your due date to block out time for editing, shooting, and scripting.

  • Set intermediate deadlines for each phase of the projects: a date for the script to be approved, a shoot date, a date for the editing to be completed.

  • Be sure to allot time for the project to be approved and duplicated.

    • By getting each step of the process completed on schedule, you'll be sure to stick to your budget and meet your final deadline.

    5. Choose one decision maker.

    A committee is skilled at identifying a problem and deciding that a video is necessary to solve it.

    During the production process, however, it is a good strategy for a committee to delegate one person to head the production. This person can be responsible for making the decisions on behalf of the entire committee.

    The production process will go faster if one person makes the decisions. It will also avoid endless revisions that could make a project go over budget.

    6. Make decisions and commit to them.

    The script is the blueprint of your video. Any changes should be made in scripting phase of your program.

    Imagine a house being built. The framers are just about finished with the walls when someone decides to alter the blueprints and change the foundation.

    That’s what it’s like when someone changes a script after the shooting has been done. “Don’t worry sir, we can move that wall... but it’s gonna cost ya!”

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