Costing raw footage, alternate hooks and reshoots

Cost raw footage, alternate hooks and reshoots as defined line items. For each, specify the output, work required, price or pricing method, and approval point. An ‘included extra’ is useful only when the quote states what will be delivered and when another fee applies.

Use the costing methods below to turn each request into measurable work and an agreed rate. Broad video-production benchmarks can help with orientation, but are not set prices for these UGC additions.

Raw footage: price the handover and later work

Raw footage can mean camera originals, selected takes, clean clips, separate audio or an editable project. Ask which files the creator can supply, their formats, transfer method and delivery date. The quote should distinguish any fee for preparing and transferring them from the brand’s later cost of sorting, editing, reviewing and storing them.

Cost the handover as either a fixed fee for a defined set of files or preparation and transfer hours multiplied by an agreed hourly rate. State which work the fee covers and list any transfer charge separately. Estimate the brand’s later sorting, editing and review hours, plus any storage charge, rather than treating those tasks as included in the handover.

Broad Australian video-production benchmarks include around $350 AUD per day for entry-level freelance filming in Sydney, $700 to $1,300 AUD per day for an experienced videographer who shoots and edits, and around $2,000 AUD per day at the high end. Editing benchmarks are roughly $50 AUD per hour at entry level, $70 to $90 AUD mid-range, and $110 AUD or more for senior editors. These are not fixed prices for raw-footage handover or UGC add-ons.

Check whether the agreed rights cover the intended later edits and placements; folder access alone does not settle that. If music is embedded, establish whether the planned new edit is cleared or request clean material. Buy source footage for a likely use and a team able to work with it. Extra files are not finished assets.

Alternate hooks: price filming and exports separately

An alternate opening might rearrange existing footage, add a new title card, or use a separately filmed first shot or spoken line. State which is required. Ask how many openings will be filmed, how many complete videos will be exported, and what approved demonstration and ending they will share.

Cost separately filmed openings by the extra filming time multiplied by the agreed filming rate. Cost each additional finished export by its editing hours multiplied by the agreed editing rate. For a title-card-only variation, quote the additional editing work separately from filming.

A new first-person claim needs a truthfulness check, and each finished cut needs review for the impression it gives. Count openings as variations of a concept unless they answer different buyer questions. Creative design and performance testing are separate decisions.

An illustrative scope is ‘two separately filmed openings and two finished exports using the same demonstration and ending’. It is work to quote, not a standard package.

Reshoots: agree when a new price applies

Before filming, agree how the parties will assess a missing specified shot, a brand change, and an event such as a damaged product. The applicable correction or change terms depend on the agreement; none automatically establishes a free reshoot.

Ask first whether existing footage, a pickup shot or a voiceover correction can meet the original brief without changing its meaning. For a proposed new shoot, request a price identifying creator time, location or product costs, editing, replacement exports, and the effect on delivery.

Turn that quote into a calculation: creator time at the agreed filming rate, plus any location or product costs, editing hours at the agreed editing rate, and the cost of replacement exports. Ask the creator to show each component separately so the added work and price can be approved before filming.

Approve extra work before it begins. A cheaper patch is unsuitable if it conceals a required step or creates a misleading product impression. The ACCC can require businesses to back up claims they make about their products or services, and may take compliance or enforcement action on misleading claims.

Compare the options with the base order

For each item, record output, quantity, included work, fee or pricing method, rights, approval point and exclusions. Request a base-order total and a total with the extras you intend to buy. Keep a separate allowance for possible changes; do not count an unapproved reshoot as already purchased.

Put the agreed extra scope, price and payment date in writing. Contractors invoice for their services, and a written agreement can set out how much is payable and when. State whether each extra fee and the total include or exclude GST.