Budgeting
Any project the artist will undertake in her career no matter how big or small will always involve costs. As it is rare to have endless piles of money lying around waiting to be used, it is wise that they have a budget plan set out for their projects. As hair and makeup designer they will be accountable for the budget and make sure they stick to it. Therefore, it is so important that they get it right.
If they undercut the budget, then they will exceed it. This could happen because of product costs, team member costs, location costs, or even costume costs. On the other end of the spectrum if they are over budget then they might not have the funding to even start the project. Therefore, it is so important to check the budgeting for the project is accurate and not assumptions.
The budget is the overall estimated costs of completing the project at each milestone. It will help set expenditure expectations and help get any project approved. This ensures funds are ready when they are needed. The budgeting plan is not just something that once approval is granted and funding is available that you never look at it again. The artists will have to continuously cross-check all spending with the plan to account for all expenditures and track they are on a budget. As this is the artists project, they will be the ones to plan the budget as well as approve it. This means if they see one design is going to cost more than another, they may rethink the original design and alter it to be a more realistic cost-effective design.
Within their budget, they will need to consider a lot of associated costs such as do they need to pay the other team members? Hopefully, everyone involved with the project will be doing it as a collaboration making their service free. However, they may have to offer some benefits such as travel costs covered or food etc. These costs can be quite minimal but still need to be considered and known on the budget to account for if they are needed.
Then they need to consider the costs involved in creating their designs. What materials will be needed and how long each step will take. What costumes do they need to purchase, or can they borrow them from someone involved? Will there be props and what cost does this include? Again, can the props be handmade or borrowed from a team member? These are all things that need to be known to the artist when planning the budget. To get the answers to these questions they will need to put together a team meeting to discuss with all involved what costs each of their respective departments will incur and details on where they will be scorching the items from to add to the budget.
The reasoning behind having a budget plan is to help with decision making as if the cost is too high for a specific item or material then the design can be altered slightly to source a cheaper option. It will help keep the artist updated on how much the project is going to cost them. It will also aid the artist in knowing what it will be like within the industry to run and manage their own team for a production. Allowing them to get a real insight into what else is required of them as a hair and makeup artist.
When the artists begin planning out their budget, they will need to follow some guidelines. Firstly, they will need to refer to each of their individual designs and list everything that is required to achieve the designs. From costume and props to prosthetics and materials used to create them. They will need to include in this list the models, photographers, costume designers and anyone else who they wish to bring on board to work with them on each individual design.
Using the information from their team they should then be able to put a table together with all costs associated with each item or materials required to achieve the designs. Within the table, there will be some areas such as materials which will cross over into every design which is fine these can be added to the table as 1 cost, not 4 individual costs.
If we look at figure 3 we can see the artists have put together a large table that consists of 6 tables. Table 1 is the total costs from each individual design and the overall cost from each one. Table 2 is the costs associated with all 4 designs. These are materials that can be bought in bulk and used across the design process of all 4-design allowing for bigger costs savings. Tables 3 to 6 are the costs associated with each of their final designs. These are costs such as specific makeup for each look, hair, wigs, costumes and props. They have then correlated total costs for each section allowing them to see what each individual design will cost them before seeing an overall cost for the entire project. This is how they as designers within the industry will have to break down costs for productions as the artist will need to know how much each character will cost to create to see if their design is cost-effective. Where a design is not cost-effective then they can alter the final design to reflect a tighter budget.
Once they have their budget plan in place, they will need to consider a contingency fund. This is a pot of money set aside just in case they come across any unpredicted costs or price increases. They will need to have an emergency fund of around 10% of the overall project costs to use in an emergency and this needs to be included within their budget plan.
Throughout the project, the artist will regularly monitor the budget to make sure they are on plan and can spot early on if they are over budget or heading that way. This will allow them time to determine whether they can alter the current projectory of the individual area that is over budget or whether they need to use part of the emergency fund to balance out the costs.
As hair and makeup designer for this project the artist should try and avoid any unexpected costs which will make them run over budget, however, we know within this industry that this is sometimes out of their control. For this reason, it is always beneficial to make sure they have a substantial amount in their contingency fund to allow for slight variations within the budget. Any variations to the original budget plan need to be monitored and documented throughout. This will allow the artist to look over the data and see where and what was causing the increase in cost and whether this can be eliminated or altered in future projects.
How did the artist build their budget?
When the artists first started their major project she had a plan in mind for hair, makeup, props and costume. The artist also had a total budget in mind for which they were willing to spend overall. This was done in case they had to fund everything while collaborating with others.
Using information from other creatives within their team they put together a budget sheet for everything each department would need. Once the artist had the list together along with costings, they then compiled 5 budgeting charts.
Table 1 (Figure 4) is the cost for each design including the overall cost for items. This is split into cost and actual cost, with a total for each column. These are all linked to the separate charts allowing for a quick glance at all budgets. Table 2 (Figure 4) is the cost for items that will be used across all 4 designs. These are items such as casting materials, makeup, silicone and other hair and makeup costs which would be required for all 4 final designs to be achieved.
Table 3 to 6 (Figure 5 & 6) are the budgets for each individual design and was a combination of hair, makeup, props and costumes specifically for that design. These were put together after the artist and her team listed items that would be required to achieve the overall look. This allowed the artist and her team to see where money was going within the budget and allowed for them to alter the supplier of any items if the cost was too high.
Creating tables like this meant they would have an overall budget cost while also having an individual cost for the designs. Allowing for the artist to see which design would be costing more and allowing them to alter the design slightly if the cost was going to be too high.
Through all the charts the artist added the item with its individual cost, then added the amount they would require to complete the looks which would allow for a total overall cost for each item to be included within the charts. Following this, they added a column for the supplier of the item. This meant they could keep track of where everything was going to come from. This then meant they could add a final column which was the actual cost for the items, whether that was purchasing it themselves, borrowing it from their team or the university supplied it. Doing this allowed them to keep track of what was been spent from the overall budget and allowed for accurate data on how well she was following the original budget.
As can be seen from the overall costs of the project the artist had a starting budget of £2000 available to spend. We can see the items required for the entire project would cost around £1844.03. However,
After working out where everything would come from and generating the cost for items that the artist will need to pay for, the projects themselves were only going to cost around £1133.24. Meaning the artists started the project under budget which allowed for an emergency pot of £866.76. This emergency pot was a good foundation in case they came across any issues with suppliers or sourcing and would allow for additional spending if anything changed within the design process. The artist will check back on this budget chart regularly to see how much they have spent and what is left to be purchased and spent. The artist aim will be to stay under budget when they complete the final images.
Can the artist still be within budget? Keep reading to find out….
Reference List
Australian Institute of Project Management, The Ultimate Guide to Project Budgeting, August 10th, 2021. [Online] Accessed at: https://www.aipm.com.au/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-project-budgets Accessed on: November 9th, 2021
Figure List
Figure 1, Budget
Accessed at: https://www.completecontroller.com/7-keys-to-successful-budgeting/ Accessed on: November 9th, 2021
Figure 2, Benefits
Accessed at: https://www.oldham.ac.uk/the-college/vacancies/staff-benefits/ Accessed on: November 9th, 2021
Figure 3, Major Project Budget, K. Ellison (2021)
Figure 4, Major Project budget and overall budget, K. Ellison (2021)
Figure 5, Merrow & Banshee Budget, K. Ellison (2021)
Figure 6, Goblin & Fairy Queen Budget, K. Ellison (2021)
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