Stock Footage Sources
If you’re doing a documentary or a low budget film, you may need stock footage (motion footage and/or stills). If you have an email program that imports vCards, you might find this vCard Stock Footage List helpful. Macintosh OSX users can simply import it into Address Book and query companies about needed footage. It’s a great resource (Thanks to Lindsey for databasing them for all of you!)
Be advised that footage for industrial or educational projects costs an average $25 – $35 per second. The average cost for a sample VHS tape is between $50 and $100.
Of course, some of my favorite footage sources are still Archive.Org and British Pathe. These vast archives have some FREE footage and low-cost items for the budget-conscious filmmaker. In Millimeter magazine (one of the BEST, BEST, BEST trade publications for dv production), I always see ads for Reel Cities. They advertise royalty free footage from a number of U.S. cities. If anyone has information on them, please comment below!
