Making a video clip without breaking the bank

We live in an audiovisual era. Home video has evolved in leaps and bounds with the help of platforms such as YouTube. Creating audiovisual content and the ability to broadcast has become widely available. This revolution has also crossed paths with the world of music, changing the game and becoming an ideal place for artists to unleash their creativity. Here are a couple of tips to get you started on uploading your own YouTube video in promoting your music.

Equipment 

Nowadays, you shouldn’t have to spend a fortune to make a video clip. Starting from €600, you can already find a decent DSLR digital camera to shoot good quality video. With the rise of action cameras it’s not all too uncommon for artists to even record their entire clip on a GoPro and still receive thousands of views.

Lighting is paramount. You can get both hard light or soft light using regular lightbulbs as well as opt for LED lights, which also work in RGB when colour mixing. A smoke machine is a viable option for hiding distracting elements and producing interesting textures when shooting indoors.

A modern problem in present day consumer camera is weight. Compared to their ancestors they are extremely light often resulting in image instability, despite having an integrated image stabilizer. A good solution would be to work with a tripod or step it up with a Dolly.

Script 

It’s not always necessary to have pages and pages of script, but preparing a number of ideas before pressing record is a good idea in itself. Capture what the music evokes in you when listening to the melody and lyrics – be it joy or sadness, melancholy or madness when you’re contemplating setting, characters, colours …

Filming 

If ISO settings are available on your camera, you can reduce the ISO value to reduce noise for a sharper image.

If you’re filming a band performing, do multiple takes from different angles and play around with blur, backlights and experiment with interesting textures. It’s better to get too much material and edit later, than too little to work with.

Postproduction 

It’s time to edit your video and work away any flaws that may have slipped in during filming. A good tip is to use rhythmic elements of the song when piecing it together. And a good foundation to avoid chaos is to keep all the many layers, files and projects you will be working with, well organised and named.

Posting online 

Now that your video is ready, it is time to broadcast to the entire world. Add in the title and make it search engine friendly, especially if a fan has already uploaded your song without the video. Adding tags related to your style of music, your name, your song name etc.

Use the description to help link your fans to your social networks and to sites where they can buy your music (iTunes, Bandcamp, Spotify, website etc.)

Lawrence started playing the electric guitar because of his passion for rock music. Back in the day he played in a metal band, but now plays more for himself.

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