[6stringmerc]

Excellent summation and glad you could share your perspective. Like you point out, it genuinely takes money to create a quality product that meets expectations - you know, feels like a good film. I guess that's why it's kind of funny to watch knock-offs / direct-to-VOD like "Transmorphers" and instantly see why "Transformers" cost something like $100,000 per day during some of their more elaborate scenes (outlier I'm sure but I believe that figure / rumor).

The professionals in industries like yours make things look easy, so to speak, in that understanding behind-the-scenes effort and organization is absolutely staggering to witness first hand. I've done some minor level sound work (boom mic) but also drop in on some sets when filming around town, like Fox's cancelled "The Good Guys" and I can really appreciate the intensity and costs associated with such productions.

The internet is a lot like an open mic night, and in this regard, there are some gems to be found, but it's going to take wading through a whole lot of...ugh...

[Keyframe]

I've long heard people talk about Spielberg's $150k+ average per shooting day, for 45-60+ days, plus second unit (and more even), plus set construction, plus actors. So, it's not far-fetched for big movies.

[shermanyo]

I don't want to spend 30 bucks stroking Speilberg's ego just to show my (hypothetical) kids giant robots fighting for two hours.

They'll get several seasons of Power Rangers, a quality production that required the work of many professionals in the same industry. A lot of whom were probably new to the industry, building experience required to land jobs under people like Spielberg in the future.