A vendor who hands you a price before understanding your project is telling you something important about themselves. Here are the questions we systematically ask before opening any spreadsheet.
1. What problem does this film need to solve?
Not “what film do you want to make” — but what communication, recruitment, awareness or conversion problem this film should address. The answer drives everything else.
2. Who’s going to watch it, and in what context?
A film viewed at an exhibition stand from 3 meters away is not the same film as one viewed on a smartphone during a commute. Format, length, subtitling, information density: everything changes with the viewing context.
3. Where will it be distributed?
Website, LinkedIn, YouTube, in-store screen, conference room, broadcast TV: each channel has its technical constraints and narrative codes. A film “for social” and a film “for our website” can be the same project — or two distinct ones.
4. What’s the real deadline?
“We’d like it in 3 weeks” radically changes how a shoot is organized. A short timeline doesn’t necessarily mean a worse result — but it does mean more resources mobilized at once, which shows up in the budget.
5. Do you have visual references?
One reference is worth a thousand words of brief. Show us films you love — even if it’s for a different reason than what you want to make. Art direction calibrates through images.
6. Who validates and how many revision rounds?
A 7-person validation process with 4 rounds of corrections doesn’t have the same cost as 2-person validation in 2 rounds. Project governance is a real budget factor.
7. Are there any specific technical or legal constraints?
A heritage building requiring authorization, participants subject to specific image rights, licensed music, shooting in regulated public space: these elements are almost always invisible in a first brief and can multiply costs by two.
We ask these 7 questions systematically before writing a single number. Not as a formality — but because without these answers, any budget we’d give you would be fiction.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a serious video agency ask questions before giving a price?
A video quote without a prior brief is a random estimate. The budget for a video depends on precise criteria: number of shoot days, complexity of art direction, number of interviews, 2D/3D animations, music rights. At Signs, we ask 7 fundamental questions to give you a fair, realistic quote.
What are the essential questions to ask before commissioning a video?
The 7 key questions are: (1) What is the measurable goal of this film? (2) Who is the target viewer? (3) Where will the video be distributed? (4) What tone and emotion do you want to convey? (5) Do you have visual references? (6) What are your timing constraints? (7) Who validates internally?
How long does a project brief with Signs take?
Our brief session lasts 45 minutes to 1 hour, on video call or in person in Paris or Geneva. It’s enough to frame 95% of projects. After the brief, we send you a scoping document and a detailed quote within 48 hours. The brief is free and with no commitment.