When you are an artist, and do music, and been around for a while, and you (or others) think the music is, cool, then, it might be cool to have a music video for one or two of the tracks, too. Not (just) for promotion, but because it's fun, can be creative and... yeah, it can be an extension of the music. because the mood or atmosphere of the video can align with that of the track. or, if you are really bold, you could even create a video that somehow "explains" what we hear in the track.
the problem is that artists are always low on money, especially little underground rats like ourselves. that do not live in the spotlight of glamour and the... big bucks!
but let me tell you that there is a way out. let's roll right back for this one.
Part 1.
Note: No AI has been used when writing this text
let's start at zero (budget). since the history of music videos, since the early beginnings in the 1960s and 1970s, broadly speaking, there have been 3 main categories of music videos:
a) videos that "just" show the band performing the song, nowadays these videos are usually shot in big stadiums, but in the early years, the "music video" often really just was the band playing in a studio room. early videos by Queen or other rock bands were like that.
b) narrative videos that tell a story. have a plot, something that happens from the beginning of the video right to the end. these became much more expensive and complicated over time. stations like MTV loved them, and a lot of them have become cult classics.
c) "weird", montage, fx, "art house", strange videos. oh, baby, now we are talking! this is the really really good stuff. it can be everything and nothing. they follow no story, neither are they a performance video. it could just be flashing images, or weird claymotion, or any of what i mentioned above (like art house stuff...).
they were often very close to surreal or dadaist art... but, oh wonder, despite of this, some of the most famous music videos fall right into this category!
for example, "sledge hammer" by peter gabriel.
Part 2
so, let's get back to our "budget" problem. if you have zero bucks, which option of these three... looks most appetizing? what is the easy choice?
the multi million dollar narrative movie type of music video...?
no no! it's the surrealist montage, of course.
and if you look back at the roots, the 70s and 80s, even back then, low budget artists did this type of music videos. especially in new wave, or industrial, or goth...
you don't need to buy an expensive camera, you don't need to hire a crew of 100 actors, make up artists, practical effect designers... you don't need to fly to Jordan, nor do you need to have 2 dozen unclothed models pedaling on a sports track, nor do you need to ride on a dolphin while playing your electronic guitar.
(in case you don't get it: the last three were references to three of the most famous music videos. by sisters of mercy, queen, and guns n roses, respectively).
the video could be created out of video footage, it could be created out of electronic fx, it could be created out of... anything and everything.
but how do you do it *right*?
so that people don't laugh at you, wave their sticks at you, and tell you your precious video is nothing but an art waste!
that's a very good question, and i will give you one answer out of many: it still has to have a good idea. you have to come up with an idea that feels good and, at best, is grande and cool and everything.
Part 3
so, i will give an example of one of my own "music videos" that did not cost me a thing.
"Tierra del Fuego". it's a track of mine, in the style of techno-hardcore, 160 bpm.
it's inspired by old videos of the 90s, that had no narrative too. maybe one could term them "rave montage" videos.
inspiration includes video like Drax - Amphetam1ne, Quench - Dreams, Biosphere - The Shield, Aphex Twin - Westworld
so, here are some ideas for it, that i have used in the video.
the idea for the entire video actually came to me when i was looking at the TV program schedule. there was a movie or documentary, i think it was called "under the blue sun of afghanistan".
i went like "what the heck?". since when did afghanistan have a blue sun? is the sun different there, then in the rest of the world or what?
is there something in the air that creates the impression of the blue sun? or some weird reflections off the mountains?
no, the answer was more simple. it was about the shooting of the 3rd rambo movie, which took place in afghanistan. and the effect the hollywood production had on the people.
now what about the blue sun? the movie was not shot in afghanistan... and the production team did not like the gleaming, burning, orange-red sun of the place they were at. so they decided to put a blue filter on it. they explained that it created the effect that the entire movie takes place on a different planet. with that weird blue light in the sky.
i thought "this is very interesting". it is a simple, but very powerful effect. that changed the entire movie. by just using a filter!
everyone could do that. and, i could do that, too, of course.
so, i searched for free, public, domain footage, of suns and landscapes on the internet. i downloaded something, added a blue filter, boom, off we fly to another planet!
(btw if you "copy" my ideas, place make sure that everything is public domain etc)
a rave montage video should also have a recurrent element in it (in my opinion), and that's this weird, glowing, round, flickering ... "thing". looks a bit like a spring on a mental trip (in my opinion). it's orange-red, so this is a bit like a counterpoint to the blue sunlight.
now that i had these 2 elements, i kept adding more and more, dancers, road trips, computer fx, ravers, cyberspace... you got it!
and kept cutting back and forth, which created quite the flickering and crash of colors (intentionally).
so, voila, the video was finished. just took 3 days, 0 bucks, you might not like these ideas (but i do), it might not win a price in cannes or in hollywood, it might not be the best thing ever, but it's a video, and it does the trick.
and, if interested, i am sure you could do something similar, too.
ain't that a cool end to our story?
here's the video:
you can also watch it on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkzC4_PSh6c
or check the track itself: https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/tierra-del-fuego-the-nucleus-project-august
or read this text again, on my blog (soon!) https://lowentropyproducer.blogspot.com/
