The next step is to consider the level of complexity and quality that you wish to achieve and to determine a realistic budget. The competence of the crew and the quality of the equipment used has more or less direct consequences for the budget.
Examples of pricing: (= approximate prices in The Netherlands 2006)
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A professional video crew, cameraman, recordist and director plus editors and producers will charge prices between € 350 up to € 1000 per day, per crew member. Excluding the costs for equipment.
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A professional high definition camera can cost € 800 per day to rent, with accessories the price can be around € 2000.
With the rise of digital video and desktop production, companies and freelancers have appeared who specialise in event and exhibition documentations. They are often more affordable than general film and video crews. In high-end productions different tasks are usually subcontracted to a variety of companies that specialise in the certain fields. Film crews are freelance and equipment is rented from specialised companies, editing is done in one company whereas post-production work (such as adding audio and/or visual effects) are done in another, colour correction and DVD authoring in another again.
Specialists who work with event and exhibition documentation produce and deliver the production in its entirety and often operate as small companies, groups of freelancers or “one man shows” who do all the work from camera and sound to editing and DVD authoring. The quality these freelancers can deliver can vary, from amateurish to professional, and the credentials should be carefully assessed before any decisions are made about hiring people.
Good communication between the commissioning institution and the film crew that is producing the video is essential. The institution needs to be clear about how much can be spent and the crew has to make clear what possibilities the different budgetary frameworks allow for. Staff without direct experience of video production can rarely imagine how much time a seemingly simple and easy production can take.
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