Quality. If you don't produce a good product, nobody will want it.

Quality

Quality because it brings repeat demand.

It depends on who your clients are. If you are producing goods for discount or dollar stores (or stores that need to have low-low rollback prices), then I'm sure they willing to put up with a few defects here and there so long as they can get a good bulk discount.

quantity

It depends upon the product. And the times. The "Made in China" junk that flooded our country in the 50's and 60's was certainly based on quantity. Good quality used to be the defining measure of good production. Then, as things got tighter financially, quantity took over. Our cars are good examples of this changing standard. I work in the printing industry and quality is still paramount, but the product must also be fast and accurate. Price is also a measure of production. It is funny, but you can produce work of premium quality with a low price and the customer will usually consider the product to be of lower quality. Conversely, give crappy work to some people, but charge them a lot and they will consider themselves lucky to have products of such worth! To me, it seems like shuffling a deck of cards! Each company, each product and each worker will see different parts of production as prime.

Other: Marketing. Good marketing outweighs any need for quality (look at Microsoft). Quantity does no good if it doesn't sell.

The most important part of film production is everything that happens between the words "Action" and "Cut." Absolutely everything else that happens during Pre-Production and everything before the word "Action" leads to those times when the camera is turned on. As far as quality goes, there is always a balance between working for perfection and working within the parameters of the logistics and resources. Nobody ever sets out to write a bad script or shoot a bad shot or walk away from a setup if it isn't "just right." But sometimes there are circumstances which take priority over staying with a shot or a scene until it is "perfect." I'm not exactly what you have in mind when you ask about quantity. How MANY shots or takes or whatever else is needed is determined by the requirements of the script and the way the studio and/or Director wish to shoot the movie. But again, there is always an uneasy truce between the desire to spend every moment necessary to make something perfect and the demands of schedules and the limitations of budget. But ultimately, the efforts of everyone have to be about in service of the story. That commitment to strive for excellence is what separates the truly amazing and the weak. Brian Dzyak Cameraman/Author IATSE Local 600, SOC http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com