Reception area promotional video

Alphakline said:

Hi everyone. I'm trying to decide how much I would charge for a video that would loop on a TV in an office lobby setting. It is a combination of Keynote, imovie and short videos inside the slides.

Here are the stats:
- 30 minutes of continuous video
- Composed of numerous slides detailing office promotions, facts, new technologies, info about the office, info about the dentist,
- Short mini videos of office products like ortho and invisalign, how root canals are done, how you get cavities
- Pretext and after text
- Text on on the slides
- background music
- at least 15 hours of work and editing

I appreciate any advice you guys can offer.

Thanks!
Kerry

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Well since it will be 15 hours work on a rate that would work for you.

For me, a student, £10 an hour would be great to keep the money flowing in.

However if it is your profession then maybe £50 an hour is something more like what you are looking for.

It is all about what you are wanting to get. They may always negotiate the price but as long as you explain exactly what you'll be doing and how long it will take then you should get a fair amount.

Agree that you should charge hourly for this. Give them an estimate - one that's on the higher side of what you think the hours will be (that way if it is under you will look better...versus if it goes over). If you think there's 15 hours of editing, tell them 15-20. If you aren't doing any shooting (all video being provided to you?) cost would be based purely on your time (If you're shooting video for this, you can give a break on your editing if you want, but I'd still say something like "My rate for shooting for five hours/one camera is $XXXX.XX and the editing for the materials would be XXX nd hour, and I estimate based on your needs that 15-20 hours of work will be performed")

That way if your client is of the...picky...variety and is always asking for change after change, you are covered (and client will be responsible for putting you over budget...)

Just let them know how things are going time-wise. Update them, warn them when they are getting close. And when you invoice it, break it down (how much time spent keynoting, making the videos, doing any graphics, etc)

Glad to help. And here's an illustration of WHY you should do all this as hourly (and keep client aware of time usage), taken from my week.

Put together a 5 minute promo video for a theater that was to be put on their website and play in their lobby. Footage was all 'talking heads' (actors/director). Only artwork available was the show's poster as no costumes, set, etc. shots exist yet (in early rehearsals). And of course no video footage exists. Of course, they wanted 5 minutes of talking heads to look as exciting as a commercial for a rock musical...

And the changes were...minute and head scratching. Logo changed 7 times (finally back to what it was the second time). Info on slates changed three times - and that was after it had been signed off last week! I even had to color correct an actors hair because the producer didn't like the color (looked like 'dirty snow').

If I had simply given them a $$$ number I'd have killed someone. As it was, I could tell them (after the fifth change of the day resulting in 45 minutes of processing, exporting, uploading so they could see it) that they were on hour six and if they wanted hour seven to be spent trimming the artwork so it was only up for 4 seconds instead of 5, that would be fine with me.

Oddly enough they decided to stay as is

There are so many factors involved in pricing something like this. If you plan on using live talent (models) that will be a major expense, but in the end it could end up saving you time - and that translates into money. After looking over your parameters, it's still insufficient to give you a ball park estimate. But realistically, it all boils down to their budget. Do they want a high end or basic presentation? I am including a link to one of my film productions done for a major resort. The budget was high due to the fact that they were targeting meeting planners and tour operators. This was strictly a film presentation and not mixed media, but it will give you an idea of what to expect when using paid talent. When I was in talks with them they told me how much they could spend. But in the end I was able to get them to agree to a higher budget. http://www.vimeo.com/5340317

One other thing, when drawing up a contract make sure you put in there for time alloted for changes on their end. They may walk in the middle of this and want something changed. Make them aware that any change will increase the budget. Storyboard the whole thing first and of course have a written script ready to show them or at least a detailed outline. Remember that you are giving them a visual solution, so make it your best shot. And good luck!