It goes without saying that any music video is worthless without shots of frolicking penguins (or am I the only one who things so?), but who can afford a flight to Antarctica (or even the Falkland Islands for that matter) to grab that one imperative shot? Until recently I have had to steer clear of stock video either because the cost of an individual shot at sites like Getty Images are too high for my relatively meager production budgets, or less expensive collections didn't have the shots I needed. But there are now some affordable resources out there that make the use of stock footage a viable resource.
Footage Firm has a selection of royalty free stock video DVDs that they offer for free (just pay postage). Themes include aerial, cities, backgrounds, and nature. The DVDs include fifteen generally useful shots in standard or high definition. So when I needed to create a montage featuring nature footage, I just had to shell out about $30 to supply the four-minute music video with shots (though sadly lacking penguins). Someday I'll remember to turn in the receipt.
If those fifteen shots aren't enough for your project, a wider selection of subjects are available for bigger bucks. A DVD of about 40 to 70 clips runs $250. One little tip, though: Although the site may suggest that supplies are limited, I have not seen the stock run out. So you can usually wait until you actually need one of these DVDs rather than stocking up on everything that might be useful later.
I could link to the above mentioned music video, but I must admit that it runs like a demo reel for stock video. It ran on side screens during a concert, so in context it worked fine. I've also used a shot here and there in promos. But it would be great to see anybody's project that creatively utilized stock video. Anybody?
