The cost of shooting a music video has been plunging over the past decade, though this is getting crazy. Bands like Interpol started breaking the $10,000-mark back in the early 2000s, though now, simple videos can easily drop below $1,000.
Like this video for the dark-sounding rock song ‘Man It Hurts,’ by Christopher Michael Ferrall, a nighttime video shot in-and-around a construction site. That setting allowed for a number of different backgrounds, and probably didn’t require a permit. Video production was handled by Amor Armour Videos, with camerawork by RealPartyKid, who charged $200 for their services.
Elsewhere, video budgets are getting slashed by a myriad of low-cost options, some of which are comical. Last year, Canadian singer-songwriter Drew Smith outsourced his video to India for $2,000, just to see what happened. The result was a pretty-decent Bollywood-style video, though Smith himself obviously wasn’t in the action.
Another option is the lyrics-only video, which remains a decent first release for bands with little promotional cash. In fact, depending on the genre, that’s more than enough for fans, especially if another, full-blown video is on the way.
And what about live? Rigging a venue with cameras can get really complicated really fast, especially when it’s crowding space for beer-buying fans. But if you can pull it off some decent live camerawork, the results can be fantastic if combined with a good audio out. Just be sure to arrrange things ahead of time with the sound guy.
Sure you can make a video for $200. And it will look like a video made for $200…
But, as Paul suggested, people don’t really care. I saw a funny picture yesterday of pewdiepie sitting in his studio: He used a cheap consumer video camera, not even a dslr, though I think he could afford something better.
Sure they do. I bet you if you show 100 people that video, 95 of them will turn it off within 20 seconds.
Not because of the budget.
Hi Paul — good point. We just made our latest music video for <$1000. A love story with puppies to raise awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: https://youtu.be/Rk9DDPJ_4L4
so glad to be alive today anybody can be a star!!
Not a great example of making a budget music video. I’ve done videos that are broadcast-quality for under $1k. Had the example showed someone good-looking who performed a halfway decent song, not used a tabletop BBQ from Rite Aid and other minor elements I think this would be viewed very differently. This is a poor example of what can be done DIY.
please share! paul@
(and make sure to note the price)
A friend did this one for around $700 using a Sony HiDef cam that he already had. The artist brought in friends who volunteered their time. Most of the cost was spent in post for editing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GDHGoAFYBE
For about $800 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKplllgQBzU&index=6&list=PL9xnlkgFsnyf2lgc6ASBSIBGHEC78G5Hv
Yes yes yes about the sound! Listen to these differences:
My first legit video, created w a company that now charges around $3-4k (4 shooters, high-quality cameras, slides, audio and other gear, awesome editing): https://youtu.be/L0ep7XJ59kI
Recent snippet was done by a friend for $50, and you can hear the audio quality was a problem (1 shooter, room audio only): https://youtu.be/U3IpOGbVIBQ
And this is a video also shot by a friend with great gear, and a connection to the sound board; he’d charge someone around $1k: https://youtu.be/3do_YGYqoGQ