Video Production History
Why has 'the cost of video production tumbled recently'?
From its inception in 1910 right through to the late 1990's motion pictures have been frighteningly expensive to make. Whether it's a Hollywood feature, an advertising commercial, or television show the cost of both production and post production has been horrendous and time consuming. The rise of the microchip has changed all that.
In the late 90's microchip technology was developed and the production process went digital. Digital video cameras were developed which cost a fraction of previous equipment typically £15K as opposed to £40K. Microchips and capture cards were created which meant a PC could not only edit footage but include special effects such as chromakey. The whole production process became much quicker enabling e.g. news production to transmit edited packages in hours not days.
Once created video compression software and hardware became available. This meant video could be compressed 'live' on other formats such as, Internet, CD ROM, DVD and most recently mobile phones.
The drop in production costs combined with the numerous routes to a target audience means it now cost effective to use video to promote a product, service or idea. A typical corporate video which would have cost £40K would now cost £10K and (by using motion graphics to illustrate company heritage, or sales turnover) look a darn site better.
In terms of distribution? Rather than being sent out on a VHS (yawn) with crossed fingers hoping customers will play it, a video can be streamed from a website (and the user data captured), put into Powerpoint for meetings, or sent as a DVD with a quiz included on it. Key elements can easily be re assigned; so a sales video can become an induction video with a simple change of script and a voice over.
The falling cost of video production has opened thrilling avenues in areas too various to mention and a future too tricky to predict.
