Icon Studios - Cinematography
There are many influential factors to consider:
Duration
This will be dependent on the purpose of your corporate video but there is often little need for a long corporate video which will cost more. If your production is too long the audience is likely to lose interest, whereas a shorter program which clearly presents the message without losing impact is more likely to meet your objectives whilst remaining within your budget.
Locations
In order to impress a prospective customer you may want to film most of the program on your main site but also show a number of other sites. However, you may need to take into consideration that the more locations there are, the more expensive the production of your corporate video is likely to be.
Voice-over or presenter
This will relate to the purpose of your video. There is little point in having spoken narration if your video is for your exhibition stand as it is unlikely to be heard, but on the other hand if your video is for sending out to prospective customers you may want a presenter or voice -over. You may consider it essential to have a well-known presenter or voice-over in order to present your message but if if you merely require a talented voice-over or artist regardless of celebrity status this will keep the cost down considerably.
Actors
It can be an advantage to have actors in front of the camera rather than members of the staff who may be camera-shy. However, you may need to have skilled members of your workforce demonstrating techniques. It really is a case of prioritizing your requirements in order that you do not compromise the quality of your corporate video in order to save money.
Titles, graphics and animations
If your video is for exhibition use you are likely to need more in the way of titles and graphics in order to enhance the vision often taking the place of the need for a voice-over or presenter as the impact of your message needs to be visually-based. However, if you are having a presenter or voice-over you may not see the need for much in the way of titles and animations therefore keeping the cost down in this area.
Music
Do you need a well-known pieces of music that will incur substantial copyright fees, a piece of music written specifically for your production, again taking a large part of your budget , or will a piece of library music fulfill your objectives whilst at the same time staying well within your financial limits. This is an area in which you do not have to compromise on quality to ensure the overall cost of the production remains within your budget.
Storyboard
The storyboard is not an essential document for a corporate production unless the message is dramatized and involves a number of actors and props.
Beware, do not compromise the quality!
Although you may want to keep within the limitations of your budget and may find it necessary to consider above points carefully, there are areas of the production of your corporate video in which you should not compromise, such as the script.
You may find production companies that will make your corporate video for a lower price by not bothering with a script, or they may claim to use a script but then only present their clients with a 'narrative' rather than a working script (Icon Studios use a 'two-column script' this being the most widely used script format for corporate video.) The script is an essential element of the production process and you may be compromising the quality of your program by going down that route.