It is the aim of many indie artists to cut cost when it comes to filming a music video, without adequate funding, it is always advisable to invest more into promotion as you find ways to create good content at little to no fees.
In 2021, having a music video is essential to promoting a song, aside from marketing the visual part of the artist, it also helps in reaching millions of users on video streaming platforms.
Shooting a standard music video costs between $5,000 and $10,000 upwards in Ghana and Nigeria. In the video below, Josh Olufemii explains why video directors should charge $5,000 upwards.
Well, this article is not about how music video directors should charge so let us dive straight into various ways artists can shoot music videos for free and a step by step DIY guide to shooting your next music video yourself.
How to Get a Free Music Video
- Relying on Film Students
- Relying on friends who are enthusiastic about filming
- Doing it yourself
Relying on a Film Student
Using social media, you can simply find film students in your area who can assist you with your music video. This will go on his or her portfolio and as a student, he might just request you hire a few things or simply use some gears he or she has already.
You can also reach out to some film students to assist you with your music video by simply walking up to a film school in your area or one that’s closer to you.
Cost= $50 – $250
Even though film students will be super interested in filming a music video for you, you will still have to motivate them to speed up the process and get the best out of it. Also, they may demand you foot the bill for a few props here and there.
Relying on friends who are enthusiastic about filming
There’s always that one friend who is highly enthusiastic about filming, he is always recording your moments secretly and sharing on social media occasionally, yes, that friend! He or she will be of great help when it comes to filming a music video on a budget, all you have to do is to invite the person, have a conversation about what you are trying to achieve, discuss some ideas and then move to plan.
If they have a small camera, you can depend on that or you can just use a smartphone to get great visuals.
Cost= 0 – $100
With working with friends who are enthusiastic about filming music videos, you may incur some cost depending on the concept he or she might bring on.
Doing it yourself
Shooting a music video yourself is the most fun part of being a musician, you literally do what you want with your video. With little to no guidance from anyone on the concept or direction, you end up doing exactly what you want, either good or bad.
Many might be wondering how you can film and perform at the same time, well if you look up modern DSLR cameras like the Canon 80D, you can easily flip the screen to exactly what is going on as you press record. It has inbuilt automatic face detection to know where to focus.
If you are doing this on a mobile phone, then it is even more fun since you can place the camera on a selfie stick to film yourself the entire time from different angles.
Cost= $0
The cost of shooting your own music video with a phone or camera you already own is simply $0.
Steps to filming your music video yourself
- Plan out your shoot
- Choose location
- Get a good smartphone (iPhone or Samsung)
- Find a selfie stick and a tripod
- Film your music video
(Always keep performance scenes in 24fps and Slo-mo scenes in 60fps) - Use any video editing app on a phone or copy footages to edit on a computer
(You can use inshot on mobile or Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas on a computer) - Export your final video
- Share it with your fans
Of course, you will have to check up a few DIY video editing tips to get through this seamlessly but you simply spend nothing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I will say, do not invest huge sums of money into shooting music videos at the stage of your music career where every penny counts. Prioritize your funds and build a journey map that includes how you will shoot your early-stage music videos and market them, all the way to the type of videos to create when you get to your most desired stage.
One of the key artists who dwell on shooting very simple videos and have been overly successful is Kota the Friend, check out the video below;
Hi, if you found this post useful, kindly do well to leave a comment and if you have any future questions, you can direct them to me via yofigg@afrowired.com
