FAQs

Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about our video production services.

What's the process for making a video?

STAGE 1

Consultation

We’ll arrange a call or meeting to discuss what you want to achieve with your video, as well as creative ideas about content, tone, and style. What is your message? Who is the audience? Where will this video be seen? How will you measure the success? We will prepare a quote or detailed proposal that works within your budget. You’re welcome to come to us with a detailed brief, or if you just have a vague idea at this stage we can work it out together. Book a free consultation

BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION

STAGE 1

STAGE 2

Pre-production

Once the proposal has been signed off, we’ll assign a dedicated Account Manager who will be your constant point of contact throughout the process, overseeing the whole project. They will organise a kick-off meeting to review the content, tone, and style of your film and to discuss logistics such as contributors and filming locations. Depending on the nature of your project, our team will then prepare the script, storyboard, or shot list for your film and a full shooting and delivery schedule.

STAGE 2

STAGE 3

Production

Now the fun of actually making your film! Our versatile team of in-house creative filmmakers will work with our state-of-the-art production kit – from the basics of cameras, lighting and sound equipment to specialised grip kit including gimbals, motion control sliders and drones. We’ll make sure you’ll have a clear idea of the crew, timings and equipment ahead of the day.

STAGE 3

STAGE 4

Post-production

This stage involves intensive editing, ensuring the drafted film hits upon all the points planned in stage 2 and successfully captures the required themes, messages and style. We will also welcome the client into each stage of editing, using their feedback on our accessible video amends platform to make any changes they require.

STAGE 4

STAGE 5

Storage and archiving

At Chocolate Films we understand how valuable your footage can be, not just for this project but also for future projects. We archive all of our projects and footage using a long-term LT07 data storage system which will safely store footage for 15-30 years. If you would like a back-up of all your footage, we can copy the content onto your hard drive so you can organise long-term storage.

STAGE 5

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视频生产成本多少钱?

We prepare bespoke budgets for each brief, tailored to your project so you’re only paying for what you need. We’re happy to discuss how we can work to your budget, and you’ll always receive an itemized breakdown from us. Here’s an idea of the potential costs involved at every stage of the process:

Pre-Production

Project Management, including client meetings
Shoot preparation and planning
Location scouting
Talent casting
Research, scripting and storyboarding

Production

Crew time, including travel, set up and pack down times in addition to the shoot
Equipment hire
Travel, subsistence, and accommodation expenses
Carnets and licences
Location or studio hire
Actors’ fees
Hair & Make-up
Costumes and Props

Post-Production

Editing
Motion Graphics Design
Subtitling
Licences for music and stock footage
Optimisation for social media

What about the process for an animation?

The animation process is similar to the live action video process. However, because everything is produced in-house, we have a few more stages. We create scripts, style-guides and illustrated storyboards before starting the animation itself. Watch the video to find out more or visit our animation page.

Play Video

What our clients say

Chocolate Films

5.0

Based on 72 reviews

review us on

Nick Harmer

14:26 21 Jun 23

A very professional team with flexibility and great understanding of the craft. The pre-production was straight forward but the dedication from the team on the day to capture lots of high quality footage of the event was admirable.The final outcomes were well edited and the revisions process was painless and fast. I highly recommend Chocolate Films for event and interview videography.

joe plimmer

11:21 25 Apr 23

A pleasure to collaborate with such a wonderful company that nurtures talent the right way

Anoushka Freeman

17:27 13 Jan 23

We couldn’t recommend Chocolate Films highly enough! The team had a thorough attention to detail, communicated each phase of the production clearly, and were extremely friendly and patient with time delays gathering necessary media items on our side.

A Google User

17:27 13 Jan 23

Emma Hales

16:57 11 Jan 23

Worked with this fantastic company On a vaccine hesitancy video. The company were professional from start to finish, very understanding and patient with the young people involved in making the video and truly brought their ideas to life! Highly recommended!

Social Media

13:27 29 Dec 22

It was a pleasure for Museum of London to work on one of our most exciting wrap up films of the year with Chocolate Films. Anna, Phil and the whole team were helpful, accommodating and flexible through a tricky brief and shoot. Definitely recommend! Jaanuja

Jessica Dillon

11:54 22 Nov 22

Buttle UK worked with Chocolate Films to create an animated video to capture a co-produced report about estranged young people. We are absolutely amazed by the video they created for us! The team at Chocolate Films worked tirelessly to involve our young team, including an in-person workshop and an online one. It was lovely to see how they made it a fun learning experience during the workshops, while also working hard on the core purpose and outcome of the project. We really valued the expertise we received from the project manager, animators and voiceover experts. As they are a social enterprise, it’s clear that Chocolate Films have the kind of values we (a charity) really love. It shows in the beautiful film they created, and the way that they made it possible for us to work with them. We are so impressed and wholeheartedly recommend them without hesitation.

SoaneMuseum

09:42 10 Nov 22

We’ve worked with Chocolate Films on two live stream events. Despite the challenges posed by hosting such events in a historic setting, the Chocolate Films team have been unfailingly efficient and effective in the delivery of both these live streams, which have helped us open up to audiences around the world.

Géraldine Lassalle

18:30 10 Oct 22

We worked with Chocolate Films for producing five movies for a research project involving multiple partners across Europe. We have enjoyed their professionalism while filming the kick-off meeting, interviewing participants about their experience and role in the project. We were also delighted by the high visual quality of the clips they produced. We also greatly appreciated their responsiveness through along the four years of collaboration. In this respect, we are starting a new project with them on an animated movie!

Sophie Munden

15:15 25 Jul 22

Chocolate Films have been fantastic and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to have a video produced. At all times the team were friendly, flexible, and professional. We’re thrilled with the final product. In particular, I’d like to shout out Ben who was our videographer. He was easy-going and worked respectfully with the people we support and our staff to capture some fantastic footage, making everyone feel comfortable. If we are in need of any videos in future, we’d be happy to work with Chocolate Films again.

Andrew Howson

14:31 22 Jul 22

We worked with Chocolate Films to produce live show recordings as well as promotional videos for our children’s performing arts school. I found the whole process to be very easy, all team members were super friendly and professional. I also cannot fault to end product – very pleased.Thank you all!

Victoria Patrick

16:36 05 Jul 22

Fantastic to work with the team at Chocolate Films once again in my role for the Design Age Institute at the Royal College of Art. Love their creative and collaborative approach, and I am always impressed by their and ability to meet challenging creative briefs in tight timescales and deliver above and beyond expectations. Highly recommended!

Other Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! Just send your brief to info@chocolatefilms.com, or visit our contact page. If it’s urgent, just let us know your deadline, and we’ll get a quote over to you.

All of our quotes are fully itemised, so you’re aware at proposal stage exactly what you’re paying for (and not paying for).

Additional services can be arranged during the production process if, for example, you decide you would like another day of filming. But we guarantee that we will deliver the work as set out in the proposal for the costs agreed.

Our standard terms are payments in two instalments: 50% on confirmation of the job (refundable deposit) and 50% on delivery. This allows us to get started on any production expenses straight away and spreads the cost for you.

In short, you can be involved as much as you like! At a minimum, we like to ensure that we have a detailed initial brief at the beginning of the project. This could take the form of a written brief, a phone call or a face to face kick-off meeting. However, we are always delighted when clients want to be more involved in the production process, from scriptwriting and production through to reviewing the edits. Our dedicated Account Managers will ensure that you are constantly kept abreast of the project’s progress, and have every opportunity to take a more hands-on involvement in the project, if you so wish.

The space required depends on the nature of the shoot. We will always consult with you at the beginning of the project to advise on whether the proposed spaces are suitable. If you need a studio, we can help with our studio at our London base.

The amount of kit is dependant on the nature of the shoot. We keep our filming material in contained suitcases (around the size of hand luggage) and flight cases for bigger items such as lights. We will need a sizeable, locked space to keep the kit stored when it is not being used.

Filming times are different for each project. A talking head film can take just a couple of hours and 1-2 days is ideal for a case study, however we’ve also produced 2-3 year documentaries! If you’d like guidance on how long we’d suggest for a project, just get in touch at info@chocolatefilms.com.

Interviews often require contributors to be available for 30-60 minutes, however depending on the project they can be much shorter or longer. If you would like to discuss the practicalities of a shoot, just drop us a line at info@chocolatefilms.com.

Depending on your requirements, we can send a crew ranging from 1 filmmaker to 20 videographers, directors and producers. We will listen to your needs and agree with you on the size of the crew at brief-stage, so you know exactly who’s coming, who you can get in touch with and who you are paying for.

Each film will be assigned a director. He/She has been briefed about what needs to be captured from the day.

We will share interview questions ahead of the shoot, to make sure you/colleagues are well prepared in what they would like to say. Please also share the schedule with your team so they know their interview slot – this will keep things ticking over nicely on the day! If the room could be made available an hour before the shoot, we will have enough time to set up before you/colleagues are ready to shoot.

If you are being interviewed on camera, it is great to consider what you will wear. Generally, we ask for no bold colours or big patterns, as well as tight stripes which will interfere with the screen. It’s also recommended not to wear big statement pieces of jewelry, as they can distract from what you are trying to say!

We will happily share script templates with you before the writing process, so that you can see the best way to format initial scripts.

Our team are also highly experienced photographers, and are always happy to capture still images at the same time as video. In some cases this may involve an additional cost, but this will be made clear up front in the initial quote.

For conference and event films, we can turnaround the edit very quickly and even edit social media clips on-site if needed. Other projects like animated explainers, impressive promos or longer-form documentaries require more time in post-production.

Yes, we frequently include clients’ self-shot clips in our films. If you haven’t shot it yet, we can send over a document giving our recommendations about how to make your self-shot footage as impactful as possible.

Of course! We have an in-house motion graphics team who can design custom animations for your project to highlight your key messages. If you have existing assets to include that’s no problem at all – just send them over and our team can include them in the cut.

As standard, we offer our clients two rounds of amends. Usually the first round is used for feedback on structure, tone etc. and the second round for final tweaks and corrections. If your organisation requires more, we’re happy to factor this into the budget!

Completed drafts will be shared with you via our online amends platform frame.io, allowing you to comment directly onto the video for quick and easy communication.

The cost for subtitling (whether that’s burnt-in captions or separate SRT files) will be specified in the budget. Make sure to ask about subtitling when briefing us about your video project.

You absolutely can take still images from your video to use elsewhere. However, if you have specific still image needs, we recommend capturing dedicated photos on set for higher quality.

GET A QUICK QUOTE

IT's FREE

We’d love to hear from you.

The producers at Chocolate Films are available to talk through your project at a time that suits you. We’ll make sure we really understand your organisation and what you’re looking to achieve with video content. Following the discussion, we’ll send over a detailed proposal for the work you’re looking to commission.

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FAQs

What's the process for making a video?

Consultation

Pre-production

Production

Post-production

Storage and archiving

视频生产成本多少钱?

Pre-Production

Production

Post-Production

What about the process for an animation?

What our clients say

Other Frequently Asked Questions

We’d love to hear from you.

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