How to make a music video on a low budget?
So you’re in the music scene and you haven’t quite made enough to afford the expense of an expensive music that all those professional studios are charging for, let alone all the bells and whistles that they charge even more for like makeup, hair, costumes and extras.
HAVE NO FEAR, because with enough preparation you can pull it off on your own and save big bucks.
Preparation:
Before you go to a production company, sit down a practice your styling. Being able to do your own hair and makeup efficiently will save you big time instead of getting a professional hired in. All it takes is a bit of practice or a friend who knows what they’re doing and what you want. Here is a tutorial on how to do your own makeup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1g92Xghz-8
Plan:
Being organised saves time AND money. Come up with storyboards of how you want your video to play out as this will help everything move on a lot quicker and possibly inspire changes you like more than the original idea. Planning out a story board can also help start the process of reinventing the shots in the case anything goes wrong. Try and opt for filming outide in the sunlight, this is the cheapest way to shoot a music video. Outside is free, the sun is free and it can be very simple. If you want a studio, you then have to think to times, lighting, set design and many more elements.
Manage expectations:
Managing your expectations is VERY important when it comes to a video. Every aspect has a price, if it’s the lighting, the effects, the location, everything, so it’s important to know what you want from the video. Starting with a £500 budget you need to understand that the video will be limited in terms of locations, times and equipment available, as well as limits in production such as tweaks you want to make and effects you want to add (that stuff isn’t easy).
If you would like to learn how to shoot your own music video, we offer some great Online Courses: https://www.budgetmusicvideo.co.uk/online-courses/
To summarise, diving head first into making a music video will cost you more time and money than if you take your time, look at your options and plan things carefully (a bit of DIY never hurt anyone, did it?). Here are some video tutorials we have shot with our top tips about shooting a low budget music video:
Author: Thomas Mooney
