The damage

How much does it cost to make your own pop video? Mike Stanton investigates

It is hard to remember a time before pop videos, and even harder to think of a pop song doing well without an interesting or innovative video to go with it. Pop-pickers will never forget the sinister bulldozer in Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" and mention dancing policemen and glittery urinals to someone and they will probably say, "that George Michael video".

For small-screen wonders such as these, pop stars would expect to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds and some would not dream of getting out of bed until the supermodels had signed up and Spielberg had agreed to direct.

But the good news for a cash-strapped rookie pop band is that there are no rules to what makes a good video, or to how much it will cost. "You'll probably have to spend at least a few thousand pounds and it'll help if you know people in the business to do you a few favours," advises director Peter Darrell.

So if you are in a band in need of a video, persuade your mate to direct and produce it, shoot the whole thing in a day, get your mum to star in it and do not forget to shout "that's a wrap" at the end.

Equipment hire (per day) 16mm camera, pounds 260; zoom lens, pounds 110; tripod, pounds 35; fluid head, pounds 90; two redhead lights and stands, pounds 23.50; sound-playback system for the band to mime to the song, pounds 100; generator, pounds 62

Camera crew (per day) Director of photography, focus puller and loader, pounds 1,500

Make-up artist (per day), pounds 280

Film Six rolls (2,400 ft/60 minutes), pounds 540; processing, pounds 414 (basic)

Post-production Cutting; dubbing; transferring to video; basic special effects, pounds 2,500

Catering Enough for 10 people for one day, including a round of drinks in the pub after the shoot, pounds 150

Indoor location (per day) nightclub or studio, pounds 100

Transport (per day) Transit van, pounds 46; 10-seater minibus, pounds 144

Extras Your family and friends; props and costumes - any old junk, free

Total expenditure: pounds 6,354.50