Directing music video's

C

cleveland brown

Hi

I would like to direct music video's and was wondering if the best course of action would be to go
directly to bands and artist, and ask them. The idea is to eventually direct more established mainstream artist's. I am currently working on a music video for a producer here in the UK. Any advice or help would be great.

Regards
 
Yeah, indie artists are almost always up for a freebie. Find some bands with a sound you like and that you have some video ideas for and approach them with a reel. Once you get a few good ones under your belt move up to more established bands and offer a minimal fee and with each project raise your rate a bit more until it's a good/going rate.

One thing about musicians, they're generally poor.
 
first thing i done was a music vid, just got in touch with a local recording studio, might seem obvious but it's a good place to find bands lol. but after that i gave up on music vids as i found bands and musicians hard to deal with. bad communication etc.
 
Thanks man! Yeah, musicians are known for being flaky haha. I was in my share of bands after high school and can vouch for that. If you find the right guys to work though, a music video cn be a blast.
 
I've become a bit of a go-to guy for music videos in Nairobi with my current policy on payment: If I'm learning something about filmmaking, that comes OUT of my fee, maybe even completely eliminates it. If I have never shot a music video before, I sure as hell shouldn't charge someone for a product that may or may not be complete shit. If I've graduated and I now have an opportunity to use better cameras, lights, dollies, and a crew, then I can start charging for lesser gigs, where I don't GAIN from the experience myself, but rather GIVE. It's simple supply and demand. If the demand comes from both ends, then I consider that a TRADE rather than a PURCHASE, per say.

So if you're in "learning territory," really getting good experience you wouldn't get elsewhere, then give yourself and the band a deal: do it for free or next-to-nothing. You won't (shouldn't) get too many complaints if you don't do a perfect job in the end, and both people gain valuable experience. And if you actually do manage to do a great job, then you have an impressed client liable to recommend/use you again, plus all that valuable experience!

Then when you're doing more complex shoots that demand more technical know-how and leadership skills, you should definitely start charging for jobs that don't teach you anything about cinematography, or offer anything back to you.

My two cents.
 
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