Video Production & Post-Production

Whole projects land in a wide band for the same reason: most US businesses pay about $4,000–20,000 for a finished corporate or promo video, and basic EU setups run from about €1,100 to €6,000 or more, both as 2026 market ranges. The figure moves with shoot days, crew size, locations, talent and the depth of post-production.

A Master Web quote is built from your brief rather than from a rate card. The Corporate package, for example, bundles two days of filming, a 2–3-minute film, 20 product photos, drone footage, color grading, sound design, three social cutdowns and two revision rounds, so you can compare one defined scope against the market instead of guessing.

• Shoot days and crew size: the largest single cost driver
• Talent, locations and travel: billed as separate line items
• Post-production depth: motion graphics, color grading, sound design, versions
• Market range per finished minute: $1,000–10,000 (2026, US agency guides)

Separating the two keeps the quote honest. Production costs are under our control and can be fixed in advance; third-party costs depend on choices you make with us in pre-production, such as a known actor versus a staff member on camera, a rented villa versus your own office, or a popular song versus a library track.

Read any quote with three questions in mind: how many shoot days and crew members are included, which deliverables and formats you receive, and how many revision rounds are covered. If a line item is missing, ask for it in writing before you sign rather than discovering it on the final invoice.

• Included: concept, script, crew, gear, edit, color, sound, subtitles
• Itemized: talent, presenters, voice-over artists
• Itemized: location rental, travel and accommodation outside Istanbul
• Itemized: music and stock licenses, drone permits

One-off shoots still make sense for a launch, a campaign or a seasonal push, where you need a specific concept once. The monthly model fits brands that post several times a week and want a consistent look. The term and the delivery schedule are stated in the quote, and the videos arrive platform-ready for Reels and TikTok.

Posting, community management and paid promotion are not part of the production package. Brands that want the content published and boosted pair it with the social media advertising service, where one shared content calendar connects the shoot day to the posting plan. Creator-made UGC is a separate service with its own creator fees.

• Monthly package: 1 shoot day, 8 vertical videos, script, edit, subtitles, music
• One-off shoot: launches, campaigns, seasonal concepts filmed once
• Not included: posting, community management, ad budget

The work runs remotely for clients in Europe and North America: you upload the material to a shared drive, we cut a first version, you comment on a time-coded review link, and the final files come back in the formats you need. Editing-only jobs start from the same brief as a full production, so send references and the goal of the video.

Good source material lowers the price: organized folders, a note on which takes you prefer, logos and brand fonts, and any music you already license. Send a short sample of the footage with your request and you receive a written quote within one business day.

• Hours of raw footage to review and sync
• Number of deliverables, formats and language versions
• Motion graphics, color grading and sound cleanup required
• Revision rounds included in the edit

The calendar is rarely stretched by filming itself. Script approval that waits for several stakeholders, location or talent permits, a weather window for drone shots and slow feedback on the first cut add more days than any technical step. The quote comes with a written schedule and approval points, so every dependency on your side is visible early.

To hit the short end of each range, name one decision-maker for approvals, book the location and the people who will appear on camera early, and collect your feedback on each cut in a single consolidated round rather than in scattered messages.

• Social media content: 3–7 days
• Corporate promo film: 2–4 weeks
• Commercial with casting and multi-day set: 4–8 weeks
• Rush option: 72 hours for qualifying jobs

Concept and script start from your brief: the goal of the video, the audience, the channels and the references you like. We write the script and, for commercials, a storyboard. Pre-production turns the script into a plan: locations, equipment, talent, shot list, call sheet and permits. This is where most budget questions are settled.

Filming follows the shot list with a crew sized for the job, from a two-person interview setup to a multi-day set with talent. Post-production covers editing, color grading, sound design, subtitles, motion graphics and the export of every format you ordered, then the agreed revision rounds and final delivery.

• Stage 1: brief, concept, script, storyboard for commercials
• Stage 2: locations, gear, talent, shot list, call sheet, permits
• Stage 3: filming with a crew sized for the job
• Stage 4: edit, color, sound, subtitles, formats, revisions, delivery

Rush delivery compresses the schedule, not the process. Approvals that normally take days have to happen within hours, so the client side needs one person available to answer questions and sign off the cut on the same day. Rush pricing is common industry practice; whether a surcharge applies to your job is stated in the quote.

Typical rush cases are a trade-show teaser, a product announcement that moved forward, a reaction to a news moment or a social clip for a launch date that cannot move. If you expect such moments, keep brand assets, approved music and a short list of speakers ready so the 72 hours start immediately.

• Qualifies: approved script, one location, short vertical clips, existing footage
• Does not qualify: casting, multi-location sets, drone permits, broadcast masters
• Your part: same-day approvals from one decision-maker

A shoot day usually runs in blocks: interviews while speakers are fresh, product and detail shots, B-roll of the team at work, and a drone window when light and wind allow. The call sheet lists times, locations, contacts and who is needed when, so staff are not waiting around for hours.

Small preparations make a visible difference on screen: tidy the spaces that will be filmed, brief speakers on the key messages without scripting them word for word, bring clean product samples and share brand guidelines for wardrobe colors. Confirm parking, power and a quiet room for interviews the day before.

• From you: location access, permits, speakers, products, one decision-maker
• From the crew: call sheet, lighting, sound, shot order, backups
• Wardrobe: solid colors, no fine stripes, brand colors where possible
• Logistics: parking, power, a quiet interview room

Resolution is a production asset more than a delivery spec. A 16:9 frame captured in 8K can be cropped to 9:16 for Reels, punched in for a second camera angle in an interview or stabilized without visible softness. The delivered files are then exported at the size each platform expects, which is often 1080p.

Where resolution does show is on large screens: trade-show walls, TV spots, a hero video on a website viewed on a 4K monitor, and anything you want to reuse in two or three years. If the footage will have a long life, capturing higher than you need today is cheap insurance.

• 4K capture: the practical minimum for every project
• 8K capture: reframing room for vertical cutdowns and punch-ins
• Social delivery: platform-sized exports, often 1080p
• What viewers notice first: lighting, sound, color

Restricted zones matter more than the paperwork. Airports, city centers, government buildings, military areas and many waterfronts are no-fly or permit-only zones, and some permits take weeks rather than days, which is why the aerial plan is settled before the shoot date is fixed. Private property also needs the owner on board.

Weather is the second variable. Wind and rain ground a drone, so the shoot plan keeps a backup window for aerials and films the ground scenes first. Tell us early which views you want, such as the factory roofline, a coastline or a full site overview, so the permit covers the exact area.

• Included: drone footage in the Corporate package
• Permits: FAA (US), EASA rules (EU), SHGM (Türkiye); fees itemized
• Restricted: airports, city centers, government and military sites
• Weather: backup window planned for aerial shots

Master Web shoots all three in the Istanbul studio or on location, and the Corporate package already includes 20 product photos alongside the film. For a store catalog, the quote is driven by the number of items, the angles per item and whether you need model shots, styling or retouching beyond standard color correction.

Plan the shot list around where each image will live. Marketplaces and your own product pages take the white-background set, paid social takes lifestyle and short video, and the 360° or detail video sits on the product page next to the size guide. Shipping products to the studio and returning them is itemized in the quote.

• White background: catalog, marketplaces, product pages
• Lifestyle: ads, social posts, campaign visuals
• 360° spin or product video: detail inspection on the product page
• Quote drivers: item count, angles, models, styling, retouching

The tool names matter less than what they enable. DaVinci gives a proper color pipeline, so footage from two cameras and a drone matches and skin tones stay natural. A sound mix with cleaned dialogue, licensed music at the right level and designed effects is what separates a corporate film from a phone recording.

Voice-over options range from a native speaker in your target language to multi-language versions of the same film. Send the brief with the languages you need and the tone you want, calm explainer or energetic ad, and the quote lists the artist fee next to the production cost.

• Editing and color: Premiere and DaVinci
• Motion graphics and titles: After Effects
• Sound: studio mixing, voice-over and dubbing recording
• Voice-over artist fee: separate line item, by language and usage

The Corporate package ships the 2–3-minute film plus three social cutdowns, which covers the usual mix of a website hero video, a YouTube upload and vertical clips. Captions are delivered burned in for social, where most viewers watch muted, and as separate SRT files for YouTube and your site; thumbnails can be added to the deliverable list.

Length follows the channel and the goal, not habit. The first seconds decide whether a social viewer stays, so cutdowns open with the strongest image rather than a logo. TV spots are delivered as broadcast-spec masters to the technical sheet of each channel, with loudness normalization and safe areas, and the Commercial package plans TV and digital formats from the storyboard stage.

• 9:16 vertical: Reels, TikTok, Shorts; 15–60 seconds
• 1:1 or 4:5: feed posts and carousels
• 16:9: YouTube and website, 60–180 seconds; TV broadcast masters
• Paid ads: 6, 15 or 30 seconds; corporate film 2–3 minutes

On YouTube, the title, description, chapters and captions are the SEO work: write them for the search phrase a buyer would type, not for the internal project name. On your site, lazy-load the embed so the player does not block the first paint, and place a short text summary next to it for readers and crawlers.

The SRT caption file delivered with the film doubles as a transcript, which gives your web team the text layer for the page. If the page is already slow, fix that first; a free site analysis shows whether the video or something else is the bottleneck.

• YouTube: discovery, search, captions, chapters, descriptive title
• Embed on site: lazy-loaded player, transcript, VideoObject schema
• Avoid: self-hosted large MP4 files on key pages

Read the metrics as a funnel. A weak hook rate means the first two seconds need a different opening image or caption; a strong hook with a low completion rate points to pacing or length; good completion with a weak click-through usually means the call to action arrives late or is unclear. Each diagnosis leads to a specific re-edit.

Paid platforms add their own labels, such as ThruPlay and cost per view on Meta or view rate on YouTube, and organic posts add saves and shares as a quality signal. The Commercial package plans ad campaign integration from the start, so versions are cut for testing; the campaign reporting itself lives with the advertising service.

• Hook rate: 3-second views divided by impressions
• Average watch time and completion rate: does the story hold
• Click-through rate and UTM conversions: does it move people
• Test two or three openings of the same ad before scaling budget

Raw footage is useful if your in-house team will cut future versions or if the material documents something you cannot film again, such as a factory opening. In that case request it at quote stage, when adding a drive and a transfer day is simple, rather than months later when the project is closed.

For the archive, the practical question is whether you can order a new cutdown or a language version next year without a reshoot. Write the retention period, the storage format and who pays for retrieval into the contract, and keep your own copy of the masters and project exports in two places.

• Standard deliverables: final masters, cutdowns, captions
• Raw footage: separate line item, your drive, requested at quote stage
• Archive: retention period and retrieval terms in writing

The line is drawn by the approvals you gave earlier. Once the script and the shoot plan are signed off, a request that contradicts them, such as a new message, a different speaker or a location that was never filmed, cannot be solved in the edit suite. Anything that works with the footage already captured is a revision.

Two habits make the included rounds go further: collect feedback from every stakeholder into one time-coded list per round, and review the first cut for structure before you comment on color or music. Extra rounds beyond the agreed count are commonly billed at post-production rates; ask for that rate in the quote so there is no debate later.

• Revision: trims, music swap, text fixes, color tweaks, shot swaps
• New scope: reshoots, script changes, extra versions or languages
• One consolidated, time-coded feedback list per round

Files arrive through a cloud download link, which is common practice, with a clear naming scheme: platform, ratio, length, version and language, so your team never uploads the wrong file. Ask for the master if you expect TV use, trade-show screens or a re-edit by another studio; the web MP4 is compressed for streaming, not for further editing.

Later cutdowns are cheapest when they were anticipated: a film shot with vertical framing in mind and with clean, logo-free segments can become a new 15-second ad in a day. Tell us at the brief stage which channels might come later and the shoot plan will capture the extra coverage.

• Per platform: MP4 (H.264 or H.265) in the right ratio and size
• Captions: burned in for social, SRT files for YouTube and web
• Master: ProRes or high-bitrate file for TV, archive and re-edits
• Later versions: depend on archive availability; quoted per request

Ask for three things in writing before you sign: the rights clause for the finished film, a list of every third-party element with its license term, and the price of extending those terms later. A Master Web quote itemizes music, stock and talent as separate lines, so you can see which elements carry a term and decide whether to buy a broader license from the start.

Perpetual, worldwide, all-media buyouts exist for talent and music but cost more than a one-year digital license, so match the license to the real plan. If TV is a possibility within a year, licensing for it now is usually cheaper than renegotiating with an actor whose face is already in your campaign.

• Finished film: rights assigned to the brand by contract (industry practice)
• Music and stock: license term, territory and media apply
• Talent: usage period and channels set in the talent contract
• Buyouts: perpetual worldwide licenses cost more; match them to the plan

Instagram and TikTok add a twist. The trending songs in their in-app music libraries are licensed for personal, organic posts; many business accounts cannot use them, and they are not cleared for paid ads. A produced video therefore uses a licensed track that works in every placement, including ads and your website.

Keep the license document with the master file. If you later add the video to a TV campaign, a trade show or a new country, check the license scope first; web and social licenses do not automatically cover broadcast. Custom-composed music is another route when you want a sound that belongs to the brand alone.

• Library tracks: licensed for the agreed use, certificate on file
• Chart songs: sync license from publisher and label, itemized separately
• Content ID claims: disputed with the license certificate
• In-app trending audio: organic use only, not for business ads

The forms protect you more than the studio. A film that features a former employee who later objects, or a location whose owner never agreed, can be pulled from a campaign at the worst moment. Keep the signed releases with the master file for as long as the video is in use, and have your legal team review the templates if you operate in several countries.

Talent contracts go one step further than a release: they define the usage term, territory and media, and their fees appear as separate line items in the quote. Public locations may also need a filming permit from the municipality or site operator, which is scheduled in pre-production alongside any drone permit.

• Talent and extras: appearance release with term, territory and media
• Employees: written consent, the safe route under GDPR and KVKK
• Locations: owner agreement plus municipal or site permits where required
• Storage: signed forms kept with the master for the life of the video

Cancellation and weather clauses are where disputes start. Kill fees for late cancellations are industry practice because crew, gear and locations are booked and paid in advance; a fair contract states the notice period and the percentage due at each stage. A weather day defines who decides to postpone an outdoor shoot, how early, and what the rescheduled day costs.

Deliverables deserve the same precision as rights: list each video by length, aspect ratio and language, plus captions, thumbnails and the master format, and name the archive period for project files. Master Web puts scope, deliverables, schedule and the itemized third-party costs into the written quote, which then becomes the basis of the contract.

• Scope: shoot days, crew size, locations, equipment
• Deliverables: each video by length, ratio, language, captions, master
• Rights: who owns the film, third-party license terms, extension pricing
• Money: payment stages, kill fees, postponement and weather-day costs
• Archive: retention period for footage and project files

The practical approach is hybrid. Film the assets that need to be real: your team, your factory or store, your product in use, customer testimonials. Then use AI tools to multiply them: alternate openings for ad tests, animated explainers for feature pages, translated versions and fast cutdowns. The footage library from one shoot day feeds months of AI-assisted variants.

Two cautions before you publish AI-generated brand video: check the license terms of the generator for commercial use, and label synthetic people or voices where platform rules or local law require disclosure. Audiences are quick to spot generic AI visuals, and a brand film is usually the wrong place to look generic.

• AI fits: explainers, demos, animated snippets, language versions, concept tests
• Real shoot fits: people, emotion, your product and place, cinematic coverage
• Hybrid: film the real assets once, multiply variants with AI tools
• Check: commercial license of the generator, disclosure rules for synthetic media

The gain for you is time and budget on the parts that do not need taste. Captions in several languages arrive with the first cut instead of after it, a 40-minute interview is searchable by text within minutes, and background noise from a factory floor is cleaned without a re-record. Those hours move into the edit itself.

What AI does not decide is anything a viewer would notice as judgment: which take carries the message, where the cut lands on the beat, how warm the color should feel for your brand, and whether the film says what the brief asked. A human editor and colorist own those calls, and every AI-generated caption or translation is proofread before delivery.

• AI-assisted: transcription, captions, translation drafts, audio cleanup, masking
• Human: story, pacing, shot selection, color grading, music, final check
• Proofread: every machine caption and translation before delivery

Choose the method by channel and budget. Subtitles are the cheapest and work everywhere, including muted social feeds. Studio dubbing with a human voice artist fits brand films, TV spots and anything where tone carries the message; the artist fee is itemized per language. AI dubbing suits training clips, product walkthroughs and internal communication where speed matters more than performance.

Localization is more than translation. On-screen text, lower thirds, currency, units and cultural references are adapted per version, and a native reviewer on your side approves the script before recording. Plan the languages at brief stage: a film cut with clean pauses and separate music and dialogue tracks is far cheaper to version later.

• Subtitles: lowest cost, works on muted feeds, SRT or burned in
• Studio dubbing: human voice artist, fee itemized per language
• AI voices: fast versions for training and walkthroughs; consent for cloning
• Adapt on-screen text, units and references, not only the dialogue

Then ask who actually shows up. A reel can be assembled from freelancers who are no longer available, so confirm the director, camera operator and editor for your job and whether the gear is owned or rented. Ask how feedback is handled, which review tool you will use and who your single point of contact is during the project.

Compare quotes on identical scope. A cheaper offer with one shoot day, no color grade and one revision round is a different product from a two-day shoot with grading, sound design and two rounds. Put the quotes side by side line for line, and treat a missing line as a cost you will pay later.

• Showreel: your sector, your format, recent work, consistent sound and color
• Quote: shoot days, crew, deliverables, revisions, rights, itemized third-party costs
• People: named director, operator and editor; owned or rented gear
• Proof: two reference calls with clients of a similar size

Cost is the obvious difference. As a 2026 market range at US rates, a director runs $800–2,500 a day, a director of photography $600–2,000 and a 3–5-person crew $2,500–8,000 a day before gear and travel. The hidden difference is risk: a solo shoot has no backup for a failed microphone or a sick operator.

A useful middle ground is a two-person team, operator plus sound, for talking-head content, product shoots and monthly social content days. Match the crew to what the footage must achieve and how long it will be in use, not to the size of the company ordering it.

• Solo: interviews, events, simple social clips in one location
• Two-person: talking heads, product shoots, monthly social content
• Full crew: corporate films, commercials, multi-location and drone work
• Market range, US day rates: 3–5-person crew $2,500–8,000 (2026)

Typical cases are a US or European brand with a supplier, factory or office in Türkiye that needs a site film or product shoot, a company that wants location footage from Istanbul, and clients who send footage filmed elsewhere for editing, grading and sound. Travel and accommodation outside Istanbul appear as separate line items in the quote; shoots in other countries are discussed during scoping.

Master Web is a software agency with offices in Istanbul, Amsterdam and Miami Lakes, Florida, and an English-speaking team. Support runs during business hours, Monday to Saturday 09:00–19:00 Istanbul time (UTC+3), inquiries get a same-day reply and the written quote follows within one business day of the free discovery call.

• Filming: Istanbul studio and locations, production organized across Türkiye
• Remote post: video briefs, written approvals, time-coded review links
• Hours: Monday–Saturday 09:00–19:00 Istanbul time (UTC+3)
• Itemized: travel and accommodation outside Istanbul