Got Questions About Video Production In Waltham and Boston Metro?

We found some common FAQs and listed those here.

Below are the most common questions clients and potential clients have posed. If you have any further question, send us a message from our Contact Page.

FAQ

Yes, there are a ton of businesses out there willing to bend over backwards for you. Why should you pick us? We compete on

 

  1. the importance of quick turnaround;
  2. being easy to work with;
  3. having the experience and mature creativity to understand your project without you having to explain it 10 times;
  4. clear, transparent, pricing policy.
In short, you can rely on us to finish the project as agreed to, and charge a fee that won’t surprise you.

In short, yes. While we focus on Event Videos as well as Family Legacy Films, we are open to any kind of project you have in mind. Feel free to tell us what you need and we will tell you whether we are a good fit.

No, we do not have the necessary equipment to do live, online broadcasts. We focus more on recording and editing rather than live videos.

The answer really depends on the project. If you only need us for 30 minutes and the project demands are very minor, we will consider working within your budget. However, with ever-increasing costs related to high inflation, we prioritize the higher-value projects. But it doesn’t hurt to tell us about your video project to see if we can help you.

If you send us to multiple locations that requires more than 30 minutes of driving time, yes, we will charge for travel time. If the video recording is in only one location and is up to one hour away, then we will not charge for travelling to the shoot.

Keep in mind that any hourly-wage employee in any company would get paid for that time. So, if I worked for Staples and the manager asked me to go pick up a package and bring it back, I’d be paid for the time it took me to go and come back.

It’s the same concept for my business, especially if I’m bringing in a second person (i.e. my assistant Elisif) or hire another freelance assistant. If I know it’s going to take Elisif 30 minutes to drive to the shoot and 30 minutes back to her studio to edit a photograph, I’m not going to ask her to donate that one hour. (Well, I might, but she could say no, LOL.) I’ll at least pay her gas money, and if she has to eat a meal while working with me, I’d probably pay for her meal as well.

Then there’s my time, and the gas in my car, wear and tear, etc. There are often hidden costs that customers never realize are there.

In short, depending on the video production we may charge for travel time, especially if it requires more complex travel between shoots.

The complication to answering this question is based on the fact that licensing fees often change from year to year. However, in general, a regular license for music, say, from Audio Jungle, is good only for online content. So, any ad on social media, or posting the video with the music on your website, would be covered.

Broadcast rights are more complicated. Usually, if the video with the music in question will be broadcast on television or publicly screened in film festivals, you will need a broadcast license.

The cost of regular licenses are almost always less expensive then broadcast licenses. In addition, there are often different classes of broadcast licenses depending on the anticipated number of people that will watch the video with the music in question. For example, a “first-tier” license might be up to an audience of 1 million people. “Second-tier” may be up to 10 million. And so on.

The cost to us for the license will be included in the video project estimate that we send you. If we are unsure about what license is necessary, we will make sure to communicated that to you. Up till now we haven’t had that problem, as we focus on clients who need videos for online distribution such as social media posts.

The majority of our clients use the videos we produce for social media posts that encourage some sort of user action (buying tickets, registering, etc.); for online ads; or as featured content on their websites. They also often post the videos on their YouTube channels which helps in SEO integration. See the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium video for a recent example.

The exact fee depends on a project-to-project basis. We do charge a minimum of $500 for editing projects and $1250 for a combo package of recording and editing. If you only want to record video that you will later edit yourself, there’s a minimum charge of $800.

VIDEO

The main video camera we use is the well-regarded Sony a7s-iii, a DSLR known as a “low-light beast” that shoots in 4k. We will record in either S-LOG3 or S-Cinetone depending on the project’s required turnaround time. (S-Cinetone is easier and much quicker to color grade, while S-LOG3 is more difficult to color grade but will return a more customized and possibly higher-quality look.) At times we may record at 1080p instead of 4k for all-day events and conferences.

PHOTOGRAPHY

While we can and do occasionally take  photographs with the Sony camera, for optimum quality photos we use the Canon R5. We contract our project manager Elisif through her business, Elisif Photography, to take care of all professional photo-taking parts of our projects.

Audio and Other Equipment

Audio equipment depends on the needs of the project. We even rent different types of microphones from professional rental firms – such as Rule Camera – if we don’t have what’s necessary on hand. The rental of equipment is included in the final, estimated price that we give you.

While we serve the Boston Metro area, our home office is in Waltham, Massachusetts. So, if you want a video production company right here in Waltham, give us a call!

We will include parking fees and any other fees in our final bill, but only if those costs are necessary to complete the video project. What is important is that we try to include all anticipated fees – gaining entrance to a conference, for instance – on our estimate.

Let's Talk About Your Project

You really have nothing to lose by calling us. We think we’re the best video production business if you want people who are easy to work with and fast turnaround.

Waltham Mill in Waltham, MA
Courtesy of Elisif Photography

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