If you’re an indie music artist, then you probably know the feeling of angst that follows the prospect of creating a music video. <\/p>\n
First of all, what? Second of all, how?<\/p>\n
And, of course probably the biggest obstacle…<\/p>\n
How much is it going to cost?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The good news is you can actually create a great music video on a $0 budget.<\/p>\n
Here are some ideas to help you get started<\/p>\n
1. Free Gifs & Memes<\/h2>\n
Gifs and memes are already so popular, why not use them to tell to story of your music? <\/p>\n
This is also very simple and easy to do. <\/p>\n
Just go find some gifs and\/or memes that fit the mood and aesthetic of your music, and edit them together in a way that makes sense. <\/p>\n
2. Lyric Cards<\/h2>\n
Another very simple music video idea that doesn’t cost anything (except maybe some paper and markers if you don’t have them already) is the lyric card video.<\/p>\n
This was made famous by Bob Dylan, and you can see how he did it in the video above. <\/p>\n
All you have to do is find some place interesting to stand and and flip card that have your lyrics written on them as your song places. <\/p>\n
To make this even more interesting, you might try doing this in several different locations, and then you edit all of that footage together. <\/p>\n
3. Computer Screen Capture<\/h2>\n
Another cool idea is just recording your computer screen and using that as the footage for your music video. <\/p>\n
Above you can see a really cool example of this that Tycho did. He has several different videos playing on the screen at once, and then simply types the lyrics in an open document as the music plays. <\/p>\n
Very attention-grabbing, but also free to do!<\/p>\n
You could even show footage from your DAW where you recorded and mixed the track as well. <\/p>\n
4. Interesting Location<\/h2>\n
Another zero-budget music video idea is to simply find an interesting location near you and record yourself lip-synching your song. <\/p>\n
You could even find a couple of different locations and edit them together. <\/p>\n
Or, you could do what Coldplay did, and make the whole thing slow motion. <\/p>\n
5. Household Items<\/h2>\n
There’s no music video more famous for using household items than Ok Go’s “Here It Goes Again”. <\/p>\n
Of course, there video wasn’t exactly zero budget (unless you happen to have half a dozen treadmills lying about). <\/p>\n
But you can take this same concept and apply it for your music video. <\/p>\n
Get creative, and think about what regular household items you can use to make a music video. <\/p>\n
6. Random Places In Your House<\/h2>\n
Similar to the last music video idea, you can create a music video of you performing and random places in your house. <\/p>\n
Matt and Kim did a great job of this with their music video “Daylight”. <\/p>\n
Of course, they took things out of the house as well, and included the back of a taxi and a garbage dumpster, but don’t feel like you have to go that crazy. <\/p>\n
Just think about what places in or around your house would make for an interesting video if you were to also try to perform your song there.<\/p>\n