I see most music video directors like to spend at least 60% of their production budget and I have even seen some even spend upwards to 85% of their production budget to try and impress their clients when they could have saved 60% to 80% of their budget and still got the same, if not better results from their final output.
Think about this. If your production budget to do a music video is $2000.00 and you spend 85% of your budget, you end up with $300. If this is good with you, stop reading and keep doing music videos for 7-11 wages. 7 days of hard work shooting and editing a music video is not worth that type of money or your time. In fact, if you put in 40 hours in one week to do a music video at that rate, your getting paid under minimum wage. Not a good.
What you as a music video director should keep in mind is this, and it's proven. Almost 90% of the time, spending a higher budget is not always the answer to making a hot music video. I've even had music videos where I have only spent 10% of the budget, put up against music videos that have spent 50% of their budget and have won in the categories of concept, editing and overall final product.
Here's just one tip that will help you keep more of the production budget in your pocket.
Free Locations
This is one area where I see the most money spent on music video productions. Directors like to drop 40 to 50% of the production budget to obtain a great location when the truth is you can get almost all of your locations for free. What's even better is the only thing you have to do is ask.
Once you find the location you want, contact the owner by phone or in person. Inform them that you would like to use their place of business for a music video shoot. Let them know that you have exhausted your budget but you will give their business name a shot in the music video (meaning get a shot where you can see the name of the clothing store as the artists walks inside the main entrance).
Once you find the location you want, find out who the owner is. Once you find this out, you want to inform them that you would like to use their place of business for a music video shoot. Let them know that you have exhausted your budget but you will give their business name a shot in the music video as well as credits (meaning get a shot where you can see the name of the club as the artists walks inside the main entrance).
I have never paid for any locations and I have completed well over 50 music videos and counting. By knowing this budget saving tip, this will allow you to keep more money in your pocket as well as impress the client.
About the Author:
Jag has been instructing directors on shooting music videos for over 10 years. For more information on obtaining free locations for your video shoot, please visit Jag at www.MusicVideoTrainingCenter.com.
