Preliminary Budget:
Avoid video
production services that offer a “one-price-fits-all” estimate: You’ve
seen them –an invoice with as little detail as possible: “Your Company
Video – $35,000.00.
You are
better off with professionals who explain exactly how you are investing
your corporate video dollars.
It’s better
to understand the “real world” costs up front than to suffer sticker shock
when the final bill arrives.
Many
companies simply don’t realize what professional video costs to produce.
There is a
reason experienced, network quality directors of photography cost more and
shoot video that looks lush and jumps off the screen. They know how to
paint a scene with light. Their professional, broadcast quality cameras,
lights, gobo’s, gels, screens and filters can take a plain bland office
and make it look like Shangra-La -- They often transform tired, baggy eyed
executives into Tom Cruise like stars. It ‘s what top corporations pay
for…and it’s worth every penny.
Real
world budgeting
A
production company will outline an estimate that includes: The number of
locations, travel time and tickets, production days, special effects,
graphics, editing requirements, as well possible professional talent or
narration. With all details in hand, producers can come very close to a
final price. If the proposed project is very complex, requiring multiple
locations, stand-by days and last minute travel, it may not be possible to
submit a final budget until the actual script is complete.
Some video
production companies put a contingency fee in the final estimate. A
contingency figure in the budget reflects the fact that even the most
thoroughly pre-planned video production can fall prey to "Murphy's Law,"
with delays and problems that cannot be foreseen or controlled.
Scriptwriting: Like
blueprints for a homebuilder, or a CAT-scan for neurosurgeon, a detailed
script helps insure a successful – on budget – production. Although it’s
not brain surgery, video production is a highly skilled and detailed
process. And without a carefully designed script, your project could cost
far more than expected, and still not deliver a compelling message.
The script not only
includes the talent's lines, it also plots all visuals (such as camera
angles), and contains creative elements (like special effects) that will
hold the audience's attention. The script is the master plan for the
actual production work.
Scriptwriting for video is different from other forms of writing. In
video – less is more.
As opposed
to an audiotape script, the video script message is carried through the
visuals --not the words. And research studies have shown that people learn
faster --and remember more of what they learned -- when the see rather
than just hear the story.
Steps to
developing a good script
A.
Research: You can’t write what you don’t know! Collect all the
information; interview your technical advisors, employees and customers.
Discovery what’s essential to your video so you don’t waste times
videotaping unnecessary details and boring your audience.
B.
The Treatment: This is a condensed version of the script,
describing, in a general way what will be seen and heard. It is written in
paragraph rather then script format.
C.
The Rough Script: Just as the name implies, the rough script is a
draft, which will explain, in detail, the look and feel of the finished
project.
D.
The Shooting Script: Once all of the additions and/or revisions
from the rough script have been approved, the result is the shooting
script --and the production can begin!
E. The Final Script -
Often you will discover better sound or
find material you didn’t think about during the production shoot. The
producer will re-work and re-write the script to accommodate the new,
better material and conform it to the shooting script for the company’s
approval.
