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Anyone hired a professional film crew to make a music video of one of your songs?
Wondering what it might cost to get a 3:00-minute song put on film.
Ballpark numbers would be appreciated.
In advance, thanks.

Hi Peter
Sorry Peter I can't give you an actual figure but I can give you something to think about

I think to hire a professional film crew to shoot a music video would be very expensive.

There are also a couple of other routes you could go here other than Pro.
College level where students would love to have a project to work on
or ask a friend who has a camera

No matter what you have to have a plan.
You will be wasting a lot of time without one

You do not want your audience to get bored.
There is a great book on the subject "How to Shoot Videos That Don't Suck" http://www.stevestockman.com

Good Luck
Don

Hi Peter,

I think you are better off buying 2-3 cameras and editing it out yourself.

Short answer: for a half-way to decent crew you will pay per camera/ per person on the crew. They will prob charge in time blocks of 2-4 hours but Keep in mind that a 3:00 video may take 8+ hours to get it right. Then, if you are outside your home you will need permits and there are location fees associated with anywhere you go. You can't just film something somewhere... even parks, sometimes you can get away with it but you could get hassled.

I would guess, conservatively, $1,000 min excluding location fees and permits and this is for an indie crew with not a lot of resume. You may be able to do it for less but that is a ballpark. - Also you get what you pay for.

If you do get multiple cameras (so you can make as many videos as you want) you would also want to look into something like Final Cut Pro so you can smoothly edit them all together and break out the audio track from the video track. - They may have a 30 day trial period but that may no longer exist.

I am no video pro but I did do a small project once that I paid about $120 for 30 seconds of footage with 1 camera/ 1 person. It ended up needing a re-shoot so he was kind enough to charge 1/2 price for the second go-round. Also spent a few years in the locations biz as a site manager.

Hope that helps.

Update:
since posting the question, I've talked with a local pro film company... am waiting to hear back re their quote/estimate.
Also, on the advice from one of you peeps, I contacted the local college film department and was given some good info and leads for using students who might need material for a class project.

I'll keep posting updates as I find the real story; and whether or not it's gonna be something fun to jump into.
I like fun things. This could be one of 'em.
Thanks all for the good input.

The important thing is the idea, not the production. If you write a storyboard, and try it out (you would need that anyway with a pro film crew, unless you also want to pay for a producer). With a good phone or handheld camera (gizmos you may already have), you can make really good stuff for almost no money. Idea is everything.

The bigger question is "Why?"

Why do you want to make the video? What is your goal with it?

Videos of any decent quality are usually expensive to make. Financial return on the investment would be a real tough one. Unless it's mainly for your personal pleasure, then that's different.

Casey

i agree with kolstad, the idea is everything. just like the song, even the most professional production won't save an amateurish idea.

why make a video? well, to visualize the song. and the fact is, if you really want to make an impact on the music scene, a video is essential. BUT... you need a smashing song with a smashing vocal, AND a smashing video, simply something that makes everybody's jaws drop in amazement

melodymessiah wrote:i agree with kolstad, the idea is everything. just like the song, even the most professional production won't save an amateurish idea.

why make a video? well, to visualize the song. and the fact is, if you really want to make an impact on the music scene, a video is essential. BUT... you need a smashing song with a smashing vocal, AND a smashing video, simply something that makes everybody's jaws drop in amazement

I like to take on fun challenges... and I like the idea of maybe surprising folks with a fun idea.
Guess we'll just have to wait n see if/how it works out.

Casey H wrote:The bigger question is "Why?"

Why do anything creative?
Why build a custom home when you can buy one already standing?
(fwiw: I designed custom homes for 38 years).

mikeymike2000 wrote:Hi Peter,

I think you are better off buying 2-3 cameras and editing it out yourself.

Short answer: for a half-way to decent crew you will pay per camera/ per person on the crew. They will prob charge in time blocks of 2-4 hours but Keep in mind that a 3:00 video may take 8+ hours to get it right. Then, if you are outside your home you will need permits and there are location fees associated with anywhere you go. You can't just film something somewhere... even parks, sometimes you can get away with it but you could get hassled.

I would guess, conservatively, $1,000 min excluding location fees and permits and this is for an indie crew with not a lot of resume. You may be able to do it for less but that is a ballpark. - Also you get what you pay for.

If you do get multiple cameras (so you can make as many videos as you want) you would also want to look into something like Final Cut Pro so you can smoothly edit them all together and break out the audio track from the video track. - They may have a 30 day trial period but that may no longer exist.

I am no video pro but I did do a small project once that I paid about $120 for 30 seconds of footage with 1 camera/ 1 person. It ended up needing a re-shoot so he was kind enough to charge 1/2 price for the second go-round. Also spent a few years in the locations biz as a site manager.

Hope that helps.

I think if you run the numbers on this, its going to be pretty expensive.

A "camera" whether it be some kind of HD video cam, or something like a Canon 5D MK III plus lenses and sound capture equipment is going to run several thousand + PER unit.

Its true that if you had one of these things, you might be able to augment it with a couple of iPhones shooting HD resolution or something, and then cobble it all together. But I don't think the DIY for video comes nearly as cheaply as the DIY music approach.

True that Final Cut X is only $299, but the skill needed to actually run it well isn't learned in a weekend, just like running a DAW and actually coming up with something competitive isn't done in a weekend.

I do second the film school student angle though. That's usually a price performer.

speaking of the amount of time it takes:

the 48 film project happens in cities all over the world during the year. the idea is to make a 5-7 minute long movie following certain parameters in a certain genre.

In my experience, and with experienced personnel, usually friday night is spent writing and doing location studies and getting permissions. Shooting starts early Saturday and as soon as footage starts arriving people start getting an edit together. Usually shooting continues all day. Sometime in the evening the shoot itself is done. For a 5-7 minute movie. Then editing usually happens all night and most of the next day until they have to stop and make a DVD to submit by Sunday night. At some point on Sunday if you are doing music, you might get a rough edit to score to.

Anyways - to get 5-7 usable minutes of footage you are spending all day doing it. Blah blah blah.

Love to see the video when it lands.