Promotional video - Budget Management

Budget Management

The cost list for my promotional video will entrail as follows

show home

cameras

lights

Research into kit costing and whole production management

What do you need to make a movie?

You can shoot video with almost any camera. You can even film and edit on your iPhone. But if you’re serious about filmmaking, you’ll probably need

• a mirrorless camera, DSLR or camcorder
• microphones, headphones and maybe an audio recorder
• a tripod to keep your shots steady
• lights or reflectors
• a computer with a good editing app

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Choosing a camera

Your choice of camera will depend on how much you can afford, and what kind of movies you want to make.  For most people, a mirrorless camera or DSLR, where you can change lenses, is the best choice. The Panasonic G85/G80 is a good camera to start with. But if you’re shooting events, news or documentaries, camcorders are more convenient.

The new stabilised Osmo Pocket is an affordable, very compact alternative to basic camcorders and phones.

For really high-quality images, cinema cameras like the Canon C100 combine the best features of camcorders and DSLRs, though they’re expensive.

Lenses

If you’re buying a interchangeable lens camera, you can buy it with a kit zoom lens, or buy the body alone and choose lenses separately. For an APS-C camera with kit lens, I recommend adding an affordable 50mm lens for low light shots and creative shallow focus.

Sound equipment

Sound is as important as pictures, and you won’t get great audio with the microphone in your camera. Using a separate microphone will make a big difference. Lavalier (‘lav’) microphones, which clip onto clothes, are the most affordable way to get good sound.  Wireless lavs are great if you can afford them. You can also use a directional microphone on a boom pole.

You really need to be listening to the sound on headphones as you shoot. But some cameras have limited audio recording options – and no headphone sockets – so you may need a separate audio recorder.

Tripods and camera support

It’s important to keep your camera steady. Some cameras have very effective built-in stabilisation, but most filmmakers use a tripod or monopod at least some of the time. If you want to be able to pan and tilt your camera smoothly, you’ll need a fluid head tripod. You can also get sliders (for smooth tracking shots), electronic gimbal stabilisers (for continuous flowing shots), and jibs (for vertical camera movements).

Lights and reflectors

Once you start to get serious about filmmaking, you’ll want to control the lighting. You can use inexpensive five in one reflectors to enhance natural light. Basic work lamps are a good starting point for learning about creative lighting. For filming on the go, LED panels are the most convenient option, though good ones are expensive. For a budget studio setup, CFL soft box lights could be a good choice.

Editing

You can edit on Macs, PCs, phones or tablets.

Computers

I use Macs. They’re designed for video editing and widely used in the film and media industry.

You’ll get more for your money with a PC, but they aren’t as user-friendly and you’ll need to check that the spec is good enough to run your editing software. Video editing – especially 4K – takes up a lot of space and needs a powerful computer.

If you don’t need to be portable, a desktop computer will be better value for money than a laptop.

Storage

If you’re just doing small projects, you can keep all your video on your main system drive, but for large and more ambitious projects you’ll probably need external drives. Solid state drives (SSDs) are faster but more expensive than hard drives.

You’ll also need external drives for backing up and archiving projects.

Editing programs compared

On a Mac, you could use the free iMovie. I use Apple’s pro Final Cut Pro X myself.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC runs on PCs and Macs: it’s only available on subscription, as is the simpler Premiere Rush (which also runs on iPads and iPhones).

DaVinci Resolve is a free, though complex, pro program for Mac and PC: you’ll need the paid Studio version to edit 4K or 10-bit footage.

On iPhone or iPad, iMovie is adequate, though LumaFusion is more professional.

Editing programs for Mac, PC and iPhone/iPad compared

On Android, you could use PowerDirector or Kinemaster.

Hire if you can

You don’t need to buy everything. Hiring is a good choice for equipment you won’t use regularly, and it’s also a way to try out equipment before you buy.

PRODUCTION CREW RATES:

(The following rates do not necessarily reflect what our company charges, please call for specific pricing)

• Director of Photography Day Rate: $1,500 to $2,500
• Camera Operator Day Rate: $850 to $1250
• Digital Image Technician Day Rate: $500 to $750
• Gaffer/Key Grip Day Rate: $500 to $600
• Grip/Electric Day Rate: $400 to $500
• Swing Day Rate: $350 to $500
• Sound Recordist Day Rate: $900-$1200

HOURLY RATES FOR A CAMERA CREW

In the end, what you pay is going to depend on what your project entails. Generally, hourly rates for a camera crew range anywhere between $25/hour to $300/hour depending on the service. In order to complete your project, you’ll need to budget everything from crew members, to equipment type, to additional technicians. Your project might require one cameraman and half a day’s work, but it could also require two cameramen and varying types of equipment.

Whatever your camera crew uses will change with whatever is needed to make your video. With how many people are in a camera crew, there’s a lot to take into account. This is an understandably intimidating task. Not to worry ¾ We’re here to do the hard work for you! We’re so excited to discuss the details of your project and contribute to a video your business deserves. It his article didnt fully answer your question how much does a camera crew cost? contact Beverly Boy  to hire a camera crew and we will be happy to consult you on your project.

So the short answer to your question is an independent "film" crew can cost anywhere from free to $10,000 per day depending on size and experience.   A standard corporate shoot crew might contain an experienced Cinematographer, Sound Recordist and Grip. With decent camera gear, a small lighting package, audio equipment they would typically go out between $2,000-$3,000 per day. Rates are all over the map depending where you live and what you want

Kit Cost List

Here I have compiled all my pricing up into a neat format so my client can clearly see prices of everything after reading through the information in how I managed to come up with certain pricing for things by looking online at different sources and finding out for myself. However the information that I have gathered online is ONLY an estimate, there are other ways to get around obstacles like this like possibly borrowing equipment off family and friends for no charge at all (not thinking about risks towards the equipment) and there are certainly ways that we could film and edit using very minimal amounts of money. Such as editing it myself which would save a lot of money on paying an editor and also whilst editing it yourself you get the bonus's of editing it to practically perfection as I would know exactly ho I would want it to look and would look good on a resumé when showing your previous work to possible clients in the future. The prices I have contracted are just online ones and as I've previously said, you can hire equipment out for days for much cheaper options. I have also took into consideration how lucky I am in my circumstance that I can always borrow cameras/equipment from the college practically free of charge. These are just a few ways that we could film this and an in depth version of all the different possibilities we could potentially do it (all suitable for different budgets).


Price Kit List
- Canon 850D DSLR Camera (£900, with 18-55mm Lens) 
OR Hire cameras/microphones and tripod from college - £20 deposit (refundable).
- Stabiliser DJI Osmo Pocket (£249.99)
- Tripod (24.98)
- Shotgun Mic (£130)
- Lavalier mic
- Ring Light(£29.99)X3 = £89.97
OR Using own ring lights and also borrowing friends if more are needed - £0
- Softboxes (£42.99, Comes with multiple)
- Reflectors (£17.99)
- Premiere Pro (£20 a month)
iMovie (free)
 Editing myself using my own software on my macbook downloaded for free by my college (free)









References

-  Tom Barrance  (2013, re-edited in 2018) Equipment for low budget filmmaking, learn about film (online) -  https://learnaboutfilm.com/making-a-film/equipment-for-low-budget-filmmaking/

- Tavares Beverly (5th may 2019) How much does a camera crew cost (online) -  https://beverlyboy.com/camera-crews/how-much-does-a-camera-crew-cost/

- Gary Elmer, Cinematographer/DP/Producer (12 April 2016) Quora : 

How much does it cost to hire a film crew for an independent film? (online) - 

 https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-cost-to-hire-a-film-crew-for-an-independent-film