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How much should a film or video cost?
- Laurence Scott
- Dec 31, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 24
The Dreaded "It Depends" (And Why We Hate Saying It)
We’ve all been there. You ask a simple question—"How much will a video cost?"—and you're met with a frustrating, vague answer: "Well, it depends... what do you want?"
As a customer, that can be incredibly annoying, especially when you might not know exactly what you need yet!
As your local, friendly video production team, we want to lift the curtain and change that. In this guide, we’re going to give you an honest, transparent breakdown of what actually drives video production costs up or down. We’ll even share some industry-standard pricing links so you can see exactly how the numbers stack up.
Let’s dive into the main ingredients that go into making a video.
The Core Ingredients of a Video Budget
Think of video production like building a house. The final price tag comes down to the materials, the size, and the size of the crew you hire. Generally, the film industry operates on day rates—calculating how many days a project will take and how many specialists are needed.
Here are the key factors we look at:
The final length of the film.
The type of content (e.g., a promotional film, a "how-to" guide, a testimonial, or a music video).
The equipment (cameras, lenses, audio gear, and lighting).
The crew required on set and in the edit suite.
The locations and studio spaces.
Post-production (editing, color grading, and audio mastering).
On-screen talent (presenters, actors, or extras).
Breaking Down the Production Costs
To give you a clearer picture, let's look at how these elements play out in the real world.
1. The Type of Content & Time on Set
A standard filming day for narrative or commercial work is typically built around a 12-hour shoot day. Why? Because it gives you the absolute maximum return on investment for the crew and gear you’ve hired for that day.
The longer a video is, the more varied content we need to capture to keep your audience engaged. Editors need a mix of wide, mid, and close-up shots to keep the visual rhythm interesting.
Different styles of video require different amounts of time:
How-To / Fitting Guides: These can take a long time to shoot because we have to break down every single step clearly. However, if we plan efficiently, we can often batch-film several guides in a single shoot day.
Business Overview Videos: These are usually more straightforward. They typically require a few interviews and some nice footage (B-roll) of your products or services. A great business overview can usually be filmed in just 1 to 2 days.
The Extreme End (Documentaries): On wildlife shows like Blue Planet, camera operators might wait a whole month in the wild just to get one perfect 10-second shot!
💡 Friendly Local Tip: Because business overview videos are so popular and predictable to shoot, we actually offer fixed package prices for them starting from £1,699 + VAT.
2. Gear, Technology, and the 4K Trap
There is a massive variety of cameras, lights, and audio gear out there. The most expensive option isn't always the right one for your project.
For example, shooting in 4K resolution instead of standard 1080p quadruples the amount of data we generate. That means we need much more expensive, high-powered editing computers just to handle the files.
While most production companies own a great base kit, special items are often hired in:
Standard to Mid-tier Camera Hires: £100 – £150 per day.
Top-tier Cinema Camera Packages: Can easily run into the thousands per day.
3. Lighting: Creating the Mood
Good lighting is the secret sauce of beautiful video. Layering different lights creates depth and makes people's skin tones look warm and natural. To do this, you need a mix of light sources, power options, and modifiers (like softboxes) to shape the light.
A popular industry-standard LED light is the Aputure 300D. Renting just one of these costs around £75 – £90 a day. When you realise a great setup requires 3 or 4 different light sources, you can see how lighting alone can quickly add hundreds if not thousands to a shoot budget.
4. Audio: The Unsung Hero
People will watch a video with average visuals, but they will instantly turn off a video with bad sound. To get crisp audio without a distracting hissing background noise, microphones need to be as close to the speaker as possible.
Lapel / Lavalier Mics: A wireless lapel and receiver set adds about £35 – £60 a day.
Boom Microphones: These are perfect because they stay off-camera and block out unwanted background noise, but they require a dedicated Boom Operator to hold them, which costs around £300 – £400 a day in labor.
5. Crew, Locations, and Talent
Time is money on a film set. If you have 3 crew members lose 5 minutes, that’s 15 minutes wasted. If you have 10 crew members lose 5 minutes, that’s nearly an hour gone! To keep things moving swiftly, you need the right hands on deck.
The Minimum Crew: For corporate or promotional video, you want at least a Camera Operator and a Sound Engineer to ensure quality.
Larger Crews: Depending on the scale, you might add a Director, Production Assistants (Runners), Makeup Artists, or Art Directors. Rates range from £150 a day for runners to £300 – £500+ a day for technical operators and heads of department.
Locations: If we can shoot at your premises, it's free! If you need a public space around our local area, we work with organisations like Screen Suffolk. Public permits can cost anywhere from £30 to £1,000+ depending on the crew size and public disruption.
On-Screen Talent: You can always use your own confident staff members for free. If you want to hire professional local actors or models, rates generally start around £250+ a day (and expect to pay more if the video is going on TV due to broadcasting usage fees).
Post-Production: Where the Magic Happens
Once the footage is captured, the heavy lifting begins in the edit suite. Editing is incredibly labor-intensive.
An editor doesn't just chop clips together; they layer audio, mix music, smooth out background noise, and handle the color grade (making sure the colors look rich, consistent, and match your brand).
Standard Corporate Edit: A 3-minute business explainer video typically takes 2 to 3 days in post-production, costing around £750 – £1,200.
Graphics & Effects: Adding simple logos is quick. But if we need to do green-screen removal, frame-by-frame tracking, or complex animations, it can add hundreds to the post-production quote.
Silhouette man editing a video on the computer.
Curious About Industry Standard Rates?
If you want to look at the wider UK industry benchmarks, you can check out BECTU (the UK's main film and TV union). They provide transparent rate cards for different crew roles across online content, corporate videos, and television.
How We Simplify Pricing For You
Now that you know everything that goes into the price tag, we want to share how we handle things to make your life easier.
We use a set pricing structure with fixed prices that works perfectly for about 90% of our clients.
Our secret to offering fixed pricing isn't cutting corners—it’s careful planning. Because we use a proven structure for our promotional videos, how-tos, and explainer films, we know exactly what crew and gear are needed ahead of time. This allows us to work within a predictable framework while still creating a completely bespoke, creative film built around your unique brand story and script.
When you work with us, you get:
A Minimum of 2 Crew Members: A dedicated Camera Operator and Sound Engineer on every package, ensuring awesome visuals and crisp audio.
Multi-Skilled, Flexible Staff: Our team members are cross-trained, meaning our sound engineer can easily jump in to help capture extra footage when needed.
Pre-Planned Gear Packages: No surprise rental fees. We match the right cameras and lights to your goals before we hit record.
Mapped-Out Deliverables: We map out exactly what the final videos will look like with you before the shoot, so you can be 100% confident you’ll love the final result.
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