CAN I MAKE A MUSIC VIDEO ON A BUDGET?

In all artistic areas, if we keep our minds open, there are unlimited options to explore how to do things differently.

There are many ways to market your music, a great way is to create a music video and distribute it on various platforms. Music videos have the potential to help you reach a larger online audience while also establishing a distinct identity and visual aesthetic as an artist.

The best thing is that your money isn’t necessarily the most important factor here – you can make a good music video even if you’re on a tight budget. It’s more about your artistic vision, and finding ways to do things differently.

Music videos on a budget takes creativity. In the last couple of years as our music industry was hit by world events, even major stars had to think outside of the box and get very creative, and the results can be seen in their DIY music videos.

It only proves that as long as we keep our minds open there are unlimited options to explore how to do things differently.

Check out this top 10 Most Creative Low Budget Music Videos:

https://youtu.be/2yvxQ8qVQuo

Create a checklist

Make a clear strategy and think of who you could collaborate with, and what you can cover yourself.

When working with people, it’s great to define each person’s role in the project before you start filming. This helps with clear direction and can save possible confusion or lost time.

It’s worth brainstorming the following:

Equipment

Theme

Storyline or message

Filming space/location

How to review the rushes

Editing/cutting

Lighting

Ask your friends for help

Hiring professional actors or videographers is most likely where you’d invest the most of your money.

Plus it’s going to be a fun process, check with your friends too as to who’d like to help you to create your story; lighting, acting, managing people on the day, even being there just in case and helping with some tea.

What different elements can you use?

By adding a video to your music you are establishing your artistic brand, so you want the video to meet your general aesthetic as a musician or music creator. You should stick to your style to strengthen your branding. How can you match the energy of your original music?

You could consider the following:

Graphic elements
Storyline
Solo choreography
Live performance
One-shot video
Multi-angles video (DIY)

It’s good to combine different shots (outdoors and indoors) but in some cases it may affect the costs of the project.

Expand, be creative with what you have around you that’s accessible, and how you can combine those areas together to highlight/support your story and what you’re aiming to say with your music

Choosing location

When choosing where you’re going to shoot your video, think about what will match your aesthetic as an artist. This may be connected to your look, clothes, story, overall vibe and style of your music or song.

Check out 5 tips for choosing video shoot location by SnapShot:

https://snapshotinteractive.com/5-tips-for-choosing-video-shoot-location/

Lighting is the key

Professional lighting costs a lot of money to buy or even to rent. So one of the alternatives to get good lighting is to film a video outside in the natural light, and try to take advantage of sunny days. Depending on the day, early mornings and evening times can have fantastic light for photography, bringing sharp contrasts of light, dark and use of shadow.

Checkout 13 Best Tips for Using Natural Light Photography:

https://expertphotography.com/natural-light-photography/

For indoors, check out LED ring lights which are pretty affordable, and are the essential ‘go to’ for social media vloggers. Some have different settings to vary the colour of the light and its impact.

Light reflectors can also be bought for a little as £10

Or think about alternative light sources, instead of one single top-light source, use lamps in different places. Consider fore-lighting, back-lighting, play around and experiment.

How To Film Indoors With Natural Light (Tips and Tricks) [Home Studio Expert]

How To Film Indoors With Natural Light (Tips and Tricks)

Top 11 Low-Light Photography Tips: Take Great Pictures Without a Flash [Posterjack]

https://posterjack.ca/blogs/inspiration/top-11-low-light-photography-tips-take-great-pictures-without-a-flash

3 different angles – 3 different cameras?

If it’s not poss to hire pro equipment, have a think about different options. Cameras can exist in different tech areas, so think about what equipment might you already have at home?

Try setting up multiple static cameras; your phone, your computer, a regular camera in video mode, another old phone, or even your friend’s phone. Even phones that are several years old will shoot in 4K.

Choose three different angles at which to place all of the gadgets you’ve collected, then hit record! Top tip is to record with audio, even though you’re not going to use that audio – it enables you to align various video sources into one timeline, which you can then swap/edit between.

10 low-budget early videos from massive artists:

https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/10-low-budget-early-videos-from-massive-artists-2307597

There are also many ways to make your videos more interesting without using multiple cameras. One of them worth checking out is a camera rotation transition. You can find plenty of youtube tutorials that will teach you how to use it in your work.