Music video production in South Africa

The South African music video production industry has seen a boom in recent years, thanks to a flourishing music scene in the country. What was once a relatively silent sub culture has now evolved into a multi-million rand industry, with new music channels, music festivals and concerts popping up almost daily.

The problem with local music videos

While there are many local bands and artists producing videos, these videos don’t always look too hot. Here’s why:

• We’re not prepared to spend the money. In South Africa, music video producers generally spend much less than our counterparts in the US, Europe, the UK and even other African countries. Many South African music video production houses do much more for less in comparison to international production houses.  It’s important to remember that creative spending on shots, equipment, crew and camera talent allow decent production value for your final product. 
• People expect too much for too little. Even though South African companies (as well as musicians and bands) aren’t prepared to spend top dollar, they still expect the impossible, forgetting that music video producers still need to hire two or three film lenses at a video equipment rental shop to produce the video (the costs of these rentals often exceed the price clients are willing to pay for their entire video production). This misperception is understandable, as music videos from overseas producers are played back to back with local productions.  Seeing a local music video (which was shot on a budget) played directly after an overseas music video will often show startling differences in quality.

Managers, artists, bands and producers need to have realistic expectations – a good idea is to sit down with the video producer and find out exactly what they need to spend money on to get the video done properly.

Quality music video production in South Africa

Camera13 is a Johannesburg based video production company specialising in HD filming and editing on location throughout Africa.  If you want a top quality, MTV (or MK) style video that will grab your fans’ attention, contact our music video production company in South Africa now!

Check out some of Camera13’s music videos