Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The best answer we can give you is… it depends. It depends on the scale and scope of your project. It depends on the number of videography sessions and locations needed to capture your footage. It depends on the equipment necessary to capture what’s required to fulfill your vision for your video.

There are three variables in regards to video production: equipment, people, and time. In general, the less equipment, people, and time a project requires, the less it costs.

We can work with most budgets to custom design the right fit for your video production.

The time it takes to make your video is very dependent on your needs, the scope of your project, and your timeline.

90% of our projects are recorded and completed between 14 and 90 days, not including the planning process.

Larger, more involved projects have taken six months to more than a year to complete.

A small number of projects have been recorded and completed within 24-48 hours. These projects usually involve the recording and light editing of a live event, meeting, or live stream.

The best way to have this question answered for you is to drop us an email or fill out the contact form on this site. After we talk to you about your needs, we can give you a realistic answer.

The length of your video depends on the purpose of the video, the demographic of your audience, and where people are viewing the video.

If you simply need eyeballs, clicks, or phone calls, concise videos around one to two minutes work well.

If you need to explore something that has a medium to complicated explanation to it, your video will likely be a few minutes longer.

If you’re documenting your organization’s response to COVID-19 or something that involves a lot of people, your video may last ten minutes or more.

If you are selling a product or service to a corporation and appealing to executives in charge of the purchase decisions, you may need a much longer video.

Let’s talk, and we’ll suggest a video length that will best work for your project.

Most people will view your video online through a site such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or another social media channel. We can help you upload your video or even upload it for you.

If you have proprietary information to share, we can suggest password-protected sharing options or even host your video on a temporary basis.

If you have a special case where internet access is an issue, we can create DVDs, BluRay discs, CDs, or thumb drives for you.

We’ve been working full-time as video producers for more than 20 years. We’ve created, produced, shot, or edited more than 1000 videos, beginning in the 1990s. If we haven’t produced a video that is precisely about your topic, the chances are that we’ve made something similar.

Yes, we can help you with a Facebook video. We will format the video with the correct size. Schedule a free consultation now so we can talk about your project

Yes, we can help you with a Instagram video. We will format the video with the correct size. Schedule a free consultation now so we can talk about your project

Yes, we can help you with a LinkedIn video. We will format the video with the correct size. Schedule a free consultation now so we can talk about your project

Yes, we can help you with a Twitter video. We will format the video with the correct size. Schedule a free consultation now so we can talk about your project

We can record your video conference from Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, or a variety of other video conferencing solutions.

We have developed a process that will provide you with the best-looking video that you can get from your participants. We will also help coach your participants on how to look good and sound good on a video conference or video call.

We can also take your raw recordings and edit out any awkward mistakes or pauses to leave you with a more polished and professional video.

iPhones and other modern phones are getting increasingly better at recording video. We can accept almost all types of video recorded on a phone. However, we prefer that you contact us before recording anything. We can share our best practices for recording quality video and let you know how to send us the video once it’s recorded.

During the time of COVID-19, lockdowns, and working from home, phone video popularity has increased exponentially. Part of our COVID pivot included showing our clients how to better record their own videos.

There are lots of styles, genres, tips, and tricks to make your video interesting and engaging for your audience. After we have an initial meeting to learn more about your ideas, we’ll be happy to share our suggestions to create the most engaging video for your needs.

If you see something you like, show us! We can suggest an approach that will be similar, but different enough to make your video unique.

You can do as much work as you’d like, but we can do just about everything involved in the production of your video. We bill based upon our time, so we’ll have a discussion upfront regarding how much participation you’d like from us during the pre-production phase of your project.

Typically, the more work you put in as a client, the less things cost. We can help you determine how much effort is needed from your end based on the goals and purpose of your video project.

The type of video you need is very dependent upon your needs, purpose, budget, and turnaround time.

We’ll suggest options after our initial meeting.

Think about the purpose of your video production. What are your goals? Where will your video be seen? Who do you want to watch your video? What do you want your viewers to do after watching your video? What is your video production budget? When must the video be finished?

Write down the answers.

Then contact us.

We’ll listen to you, think about an approach, and then get you a written estimate for our services.

We travel anywhere for video production. For locations outside of our Ann Arbor service area, we do have a mileage charge. We charge our hourly rates from arrival to departure time. Our day rate is for six to eight hours of work.

We add our flight costs, extra baggage fees, lodging, parking, local transportation, per diem meals & incidentals, and any other out-of-pocket costs for traveling for productions requiring an overnight stay or flights. Otherwise, our production costs are the same.

We do not have a studio. The cost of owning and operating a studio does not make financial sense for our business. Also, we prefer the look of authentic, real-life locations in the videos we produce.

If a studio is mandatory for your production, we can rent one from one of our “Super Friends” in the video production business.

Most of the costs for a video production occur due to a lack of planning or pre-production work. The best advice we can offer to anyone looking to keep their video cost lower is to spend time in the scripting, planning, and pre-production phase. More time spent upfront will result in less stress and less costs.

Yes. We can be hired for contract videography work. We’ve done work for all kinds of TV stations, websites, companies, production houses, celebrities, and others.

Contact us and let us know your needs and gear requirements.

Yes. We can work with a variety of footage, file formats, etc., recorded on all sorts of equipment. We can even pull our old SVHS, VHS, Digital 8, Hi-8, and Mini-DV equipment out of storage if needed.

This is not a service that we offer anymore. Contact us, and we’ll refer you to a trusted vendor.

If you’d like to make your video look like something you’ve seen on the internet, please contact us and send us a link to the video. We’ll analyze the content of the video and let you know what it will take and how much it costs to make your variant of the video.

For new clients, we prefer 50% down prior to the start of work, after an estimate has been accepted.

For established clients, we invoice each job after production is completed and approved.