A real highlight of the summer was the screening of my project: “Merrymeeting Bay: The Rising Tide of Stewardship”. It was shown at the Frontier Cafe and Cinema in Brunswick on June 19th to an overflow crowd. Those who were turned away or couldn’t make it will be able to catch it soon at the Topsham Public Library (time/date to be determined). It was wonderful that all the primary adult “characters” in the piece were able to attend the screening and availed themselves for Q&A afterwards. I consider it a success that nobody asked a question of me (regarding the filming) but rather all questions were directed at bay preservation efforts. The piece, produced for the Cathance River Education Alliance was geared toward educating and enlightening people about bay preservation and I sincerely hope the words and images and stories in the piece serve to bring awareness and a desire to get involved.

Recently I edited a series of blog videos hosted by Dr. Christiane Northrup. Dr. Northrup is very well-known and highly respected spokesperson for a holistic approach to medicine. She has hosted numerous PBS specials on health and has an office in Yarmouth Maine.

I’ve been asked once again to shoot for a documentary exploring the vibrant garage band music scene in Lewiston. Following the success last year of Museum L-A’s “Echoes in Time”, this summer, a “PALhop Reunion” will be held at Lewiston’s Colisee auditorium on August 14th. I’ll be filming behind the scenes HD footage of this extravaganza as part of a documentary by producer Bill Maroldo.

Recently I was asked by the Maine Film and Video Association (I am a board member) to plan our next MFVA meeting. The topic I’ve picked will be: Getting the Best Video Image. We’ll explore the latest in high definition imagery; look at the latest in lighting and techniques for documentary and studio lighting set-ups; and camera mounting and motion techniques. The workshop will be held at Maine Studios, most likely in December. I’ll post again once a date has been set for the event.

Have a great rest of summer!

Budgeting your production

How are budgets determined? A client’s guide

There are many, many different budget ranges and no one magic formula for doing them.  A producer needs to look at the following:

-Research

Will the producer need to delve into your company’s history to tell the story? Is there a lot of printed material, both in-house and articles about the company?

-Script

Who will write it, how long will it be, what will it cost? (Cost saving tip: Somebody from your company writes a script or at least a rough draft)

-Production

How many shoot days are needed? Can you ensure your staff is ready and helpful? (Cost saving tips: A staff person to help carry equipment might offset a production assistant in the budget or at least speed up the crew’s efficiency. Maybe your company does the interviews, freeing the crew to focus on the shot.)

-Post-Production

The complexity of editing will completely affect the cost here. Do you need music and what will it cost? Do you need special graphics or animation? Were the shoots carefully structured and wedded to a script and a shot list? Distribution Making a nicely packaged DVD with attractive packaging adds to the cost If you wish, we’ll turn over the master tape to you if you prefer to shop around and find the best deal for DVD duplication, printing and packaging.

There are no hard and fast rules for what to expect to pay.  The budget has everything to do with how slick and complex your project is, how much time is needed for each step of production and how much you might be able to assist in the process.  MI Media will provide you with a range based on various criteria. Most any video that requires more than a day of shooting and is structured through editing and narration and/or interviews is going to cost upwards of a few thousand dollars.  The exception to this rule being coverage of an event where very little editing is needed.  Elements like professional narration, music rights, special graphics or animation will each add to the cost.

One starting point that producers frequently use is:  for every finished minute of video expect to pay $1000.  So a 20-minute video would cost $20,000.  However every rule has an exception.  Every project has different needs. Every producer will create a different story/concept requiring different components.

At MI Media our budgets will show you breakdowns, providing a range of: Amount of days needed for each facet of production Day rate for each job, cost for special tasks, costs for special equipment. Options for music, graphics, animation.

Confused yet?  Stay with us as we have a great example of how budgets work. While $1000 per finished minute is a reasonable average for many projects, here are a few examples of budgets where the costs per minute vary quite substantially.  These are all based on actual budgets that MI Media has created, but the company names may have been changed.  Also for the sake of brevity, these are shortened and do not show the line item breakdowns of our full budgets.

PROJECT A 30 second LLBean spot.  Goal: to show product in best light,  to compete nationally 2 days of research/developing story concept/writing/meetings 2 days of shooting HD video w/ 3 person crews: Producer, camera or DP, audio 2 days of editing / purchase of rights to a popular song
$12,000

PROJECT B 12 min. marketing video for Maine Nature Conservancy 4 days filming remote locations throughout Maine plus travel (producer also shoots) 1 day filming interviews with reps from the organization (producer/videographer) ½ day scanning historic still shots / Simple narration written and voiced by client Purchase of 30 seconds of professional stock footage 3 days editing / 1 day creation of very nice DVD menu, labels and printing Purchasing 4 music clips from a local composer
$12,000

PROJECT C 22 min. video showing how Thos Moser Furniture is made. Used to educate sales people based in remote locations.  2 days filming manufacturing process / 1 day for interviews (HR person does interviews, freeing up the producer to run camera) 2 days for editing (company reps pre-select the shots they want used) Simple text graphics / music from a production library / No paid narration. Edited project burned directly to a half dozen DVDs.
$12,000

You can see how three different projects of different lengths require the same final budget figure.  Why?  Project A requires much thought and planning as we are creating something from scratch.  Concept, goals and execution all have to be determined. While it requires less total production time than the other examples, the equipment and personnel needed for each production day is much greater.  It needs to be polished as the target audience needs to be sold on a product. Project B comes in right at $1000 per finished minute.  It requires travel costs and time to get to the remote locations and find the nicest shots.  However, I both produce and shoot saving the cost of a DP or videographer.  No lights are needed until the one day filming interviews.  The purchased footage is a slight splurge, but adds a lot to the finished project.  Nice DVDs are made as the organization plans to send them out as inducements to join. Project C is very close to $500/finished minute.  Why so much less?  All the shooting is contained: in one place.  The shots don’t have to be “found”, as the reps already know – and point out – exactly what needs to be shot.  Simple lighting might be needed in some cases.  Note that the human resources person conducts the interviews.  This means the I, the producer/shooter am freed up and a second crew member is not needed.  Also, the company prescreens the video and selects the shots they want, saving about 1/3 of the editing time.  The “audience”, being the company’s own sales force is required to watch, so the product needn’t be slick and entertaining.  But they WANT to watch it anyway because it saves them from having to fly back to Maine to see the actual process.  They learn how the product is made and even feel like they’ve met the actual workers! In all these examples I am trying to show how every project requires very different levels of time/personnel/equipment and extras.  In each case the target audience is different, requiring a different look, a different level of polish, if you will.  None of them are any better or more worthy than the others.  All of them were simply designed to optimize the resources needed.  They address the requirements and budget of the client and they provide exactly what the anticipated audience needs in order to act upon the information.

The Compelling Corporate Video: What a PR Professional Needs to Know

8:30 AM – 10:00 AM — Holiday Inn West, 81 Riverside Street, Portland

You’ve been asked to create a compelling corporate video. What are your first steps? How do you find a video producer who can meet your needs? How involved do you need to be? What will it cost?

Join Mark Ireland, veteran corporate-image producer and Donna Murphy, PR professional and long-time MPRC member, for a discussion of the challenges, pitfalls and ins and outs of producing a successful video project. Together they will cover the make-up of a production team, the roles of producer and client, steps in the production process and reaching a final product that everyone is proud of. If you are planning to embark on a video project in the near future, you’ll come away with information and tips to help make the process a smooth one.

If you are planning to embark on a video project in the near future, you’ll come away with information and tips to help make the process a smooth one.

It’s an honor to be selected for this presentation!

-Mark

My “bible” for research and inspiration has been the award winning book “Confluence”, written by Franklin Burroughs of Bowdoinham.  Recently the book was granted a literary award both for its lusciously eloquent writing as well as it’s stunning photography by Heather Perry.  I am featuring both Franklin and Heather within the video.  Franklin is seen demonstrating sculling and poling techniques while scouting for his much beloved ducks.  Heather, a National Geographic photographer living in Bath dons a full wetsuit and immerses herself into a freezing river amidst hordes of alewives.  I was along with an underwater video camera an am very excited about this footage!

Much of the video depicts students and teachers of all ages:  John Lichter, a Bowdoin College professor with his environmental studies class.  Rick Wilson of Brunswick High with his students.  Rick’s students — “youth leaders”– teaching elementary school students at the Cathance River Education Alliance summer camp programs.

The video, like Merrymeeting Bay is also a confluence: a gathering of nature and nurture; of students and educators; of sportsmen and recreationalists.  I am very proud of it.  I am humbled by my good fortune of living on these shores.