- Less Is More
A lyric video that is clean and polished yet minimal can feel high level without blowing your budget. You can compare it to designer fashion labels such as Balenciaga or Supreme where simple branding can go a long way. Focusing on visuals with a single theme, select font choices and simple lyric placement can make a lyric video look highly produced.
The ‘Standard’ LyricVid video below for Michelle Creber’s ‘Two Ships‘ is a perfect example of high-end minimalism
2. Use You
Some of the best lyric videos can be produced from assets that you already have! Artists can use custom media of themselves in the form of still images, videos from tour, live shows or social media assets accumulated over the course of the year to make their lyric video feel more authentic. This can help your audience get to know you better as an artist. Behind-the-scenes footage is always entertaining and can save you a lot of money in production time without having to film new segments or seek out appropriate web based footage to go along with your song.
The footage for Cico P’s ‘Plus’ lyric video ‘Tampa‘ was provided by the artist saving lots of production time
3. Strong Color Scheme
Color schemes are free and when chosen effectively, they can set the mood of any lyric video. Bright palettes using pastels or neon colors can successfully convey a happier, party energy whereas strong combinations such as black, white and red can be more emotive in relation to dynamic themes. Other powerful couplings could include black and gold, orange and purple or pink and green. Warm colors are known to evoke higher arousal emotions such as love, passion or anger and cool colors such as blue, green and purple are linked to calmness or sadness. Some palettes go beyond 2 or 3 combinations and can include a variety of colors that can help stylize your video. If the theme of your video is set in a different time period such as the 60s or the 80s, certain arrangements can help relay that concept.
The ‘Standard’ video below for Port Cities & Emma-Lee’s ‘I Still See You At Parties‘ uses bright and bold colors
4. Give It An Indie Vibe
Purposely making a lyric video look retro can really elevate the production level. Adding a VHS style filter or using black and white imagery is easy and doesn’t eat away at your video budget. Another simple but creative and trendy technique is to have the lyrics placed along the bottom of the screen resembling closed captions. These effortless effects make the video stylized in a way that feels intentional and calls back to indie films of similar themes.
The ‘Standard’ lyric video for Hope Waidley’s ‘The Boy That Ran Away‘ uses both an intentional indie-style filter as well as closed caption lyric placement
5. Be Weird
Weird is memorable and can certainly be cheap! Using simple creative techniques such as abstract imagery, turning the colors inside out or atypical lyric placement is quick and requires very little additional production time. Changing the fonts for every word or cutting out the visuals in a cool way can make any lyric video look more produced without spending ample additional time and money.
The ‘Plus’ level video for .wavrunner’s ‘uh huh, i like it‘ is a great example of a highly produced yet cost effective lyric video that certainly showcases more abstract visuals
