Music Video Lookbook: Creating Haunted-House Visuals for Shoots on a Budget

Hook: Make a Haunted-House Music Video Without Breaking the Bank

You want the eerie, reclusive-house mood of Mitski’s “Where’s My Phone?” but you don’t have a studio budget or a full art department. That’s the exact problem this lookbook solves: practical shot lists, lighting diagrams, and step‑by‑step DIY set dressing techniques that deliver a haunted-house aesthetic on a micro budget — with examples and workflows you can shoot in a day.

What you’ll get (fast)

• A compact, usable shot list for a 3–4 minute music video: beats, lenses, and lighting notes.
• Three lighting diagrams you can reproduce with common LED panels and practicals.
• DIY set dressing recipes — distress wallpaper, age fabric, fake plaster, and craft your own ‘practicals’.
• Camera settings, post tips, and a low-cost gear list covering under $500 and mid-range up to $2k.

Why the haunted-house look matters in 2026

Since late 2025, music-video creative direction has leaned hard into dense visual worlds that reward repeat views on short-form platforms and streaming — viewers want texture and mystery. Mitski’s “Where’s My Phone?” (which leans on Shirley Jackson’s Hill House imagery and domestic dread) is a perfect example of how a singular aesthetic can lift an entire campaign. As Rolling Stone noted, that video pairs a reclusive interior with intimate dread — a template you can replicate using texture, practical lighting and intentional camera movement.

"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality." — Shirley Jackson, quoted in Mitski’s campaign materials (Rolling Stone, Jan 2026)

The core visual vocabulary (how the look reads)

Before you build, understand the sensory cues that communicate "haunted domestic":

• Low-key contrast: deep shadows that swallow corners, with small bright practicals (lamps, candles) that feel intimate and unreliable.
• Layered texture: peeling wallpaper, dust motes, stained linens — these read on camera even in low resolution.
• Warm-decayed color palette: muted ambers, olive greens, warped teals and sickly magentas instead of pure cyan/orange.
• Practical-driven lighting: real lamps and sconces act as both motivation and visual anchors.
• Slow, suspicious camera moves: creeping push-ins, lateral dolly past doorways, static wide frames that let the mind fill the gaps.

Practical 20‑shot list: A 3–4 minute haunted-house music video

Use this as your skeleton. Each beat ties to a lyric or mood point. Assume a 1–2 day shoot.

1. Establishing wide: exterior of the house at dusk; 24–35mm, slow 6–8s slider push toward porch. Lighting: cool dusk sky, one practical porch light (warm) — sets contrast.
2. Interior wide (corner): subject seated at table, house cluttered; 24mm, static, 10–15s. Light: single overhead practical plus a dim backlight to rim.
3. Medium close (table): 50mm, slow 4–6s push-in as lyric lands; light practical on table (lamp or candle) for facial modeling.
4. Phone close-up: macro or 85mm, shallow DOF; reflection of room in screen, flicker. Use tiny LED to paint reflection.
5. Hallway slow lateral: 35mm, on stabilizer, track laterally past doors; hallway lit by isolated sconces and fog/haze.
6. Mirror reflection: 50–85mm, subject looks away; twist in camera to reveal something off-frame. Use soft back spot to create rim flares.
7. Staircase descent: low-angle 35mm, camera tracks upward from below (subject descends into shadow). Practical stair lights as step cues.
8. Static doorway stare: long 10–12s hold, 50mm; subject framed in doorway, background underexposed.
9. Portrait with window backlight: 85mm, subject lit mostly by window (daylight bounced), interior fill via a warm LED to create mixed temperature tension.
10. Detail montage: hands on old photo frame, cracked porcelain, cigarette ash. 50–100mm macros.
11. Distracting practicals: panning across lit wall of small lamps or figurines. Use a variable ND to blur lights into bokeh.
12. Night table argument (two-shot): 35mm, contentious blocking; lit by a lamp between actors, low fill.
13. Silhouette at window: subject backlit with tungsten gel for streetlight color, heavy fog for halos.
14. Hallway POV: handheld 24–35mm, mimicking a phone camera searching for something.
15. Collage of polaroids: close-ups of pictures being turned over — flicker lamp above, push-in on hands.
16. Door creak beat: single-frame cut-in of door opening slowly; sound design becomes the focus.
17. Ghost light flare: overexposed canted light flare passing across frame for a beat — practical controlled with ND and aperture.
18. Slow pull-back reveal: 24mm, reveal that the room is emptier/stranger than before; use slight dolly out.
19. Phone ring ambush: sync a practical phone tone with a jump edit to static close-up.
20. Final wide (empty house): 24–35mm, static, lights fading — hold as audio decays.

Three lighting diagrams you can build tonight

These ASCII diagrams are top-down with labels. Reproduce each with LED panels, a couple of practical lamps, and a fog/haze source.

1) Low-key dining table (intimate scene)

    Top view:

    Wall
    |-------------------------------------|
    |  P lamp   F      C       K (LED)   |
    |           |      |        |        |
    |           |      |        |        |
    |          [S]     |               [B]
    |                   
    |-------------------------------------|

    Legend: C = Camera, S = Subject, K = Key (warm LED with grid), F = Fill (diffused panel low power), B = Backlight (small LED with magenta/amber mix), P = Practical lamp on table.
  

Notes: Run the key low (1/4–1/2 power) to keep shadows deep. Let the table lamp provide face interest; put haze in the air for light beams.

2) Hallway silhouette (suspense)

    Side/top hybrid:

    [Entry] --- Door --- ===== Hallway ===== --- Window (Street)
                        |               |
                       C|               |B (Backlight through window)
                        |               |
                       [S]    K (small wand)    P (Sconce)

    Legend: K = small key from 45° to subject, but set lower than normal. B = backlight through window with strong gel.
  

Notes: Use a stronger backlight through the window to silhouette. Practical sconces can flicker using a dimmer or battery-powered flicker bulb.

3) Practical-heavy close-up (phone & reflection)

    Front view:

    [Wall with lamp]    Camera -> [S] <- Small LED through phone reflection
         P                C                   R

    Legend: P = practical lamp off-axis to create rim and shadow; R = tiny LED hidden behind phone for reflection eyes.
  

Notes: For reflection shots, control the angle so the LED doesn't spill on the subject. Use an ND if exposure gets tricky while keeping shallow DOF.

DIY set dressing: step-by-step recipes

Focus on texture and believable decay — these read well on-camera and are cheap to build.

Distressed wallpaper (budget materials)

1. Buy inexpensive vintage-patterned wallpaper or patterned craft paper from a roll (thrift stores often have remnants).
2. Prep: sand the wall lightly and use a diluted white PVA glue (50% water) as adhesive.
3. After it’s installed, sandwich tea-stained paper towels in strategic areas and rub to create discoloration.
4. Use diluted brown acrylic paint (1:3 water) and a sponge to stipple ‘mildew’ at corners and seams.
5. Finish with satin or matte clear coat to avoid unwanted shine.

Fake plaster cracks and peeling paint

1. Mix joint compound with a little brown craft paint; apply thinly where cracks would occur.
2. Score the surface gently with a palette knife; allow to dry and sand for flaking edges.
3. Brush a darker wash into the crease to sell depth.

Tea-stained linens & curtains

1. Boil strong black tea and submerge white sheets or lace curtains until desired color is reached (30–45 min).
2. Rinse, dry, then crumple and press selectively for uneven aging. Add small water-diluted rust stains near hems.

Making ‘practicals’ feel haunted

• Swap bulbs: put a 1800–2400K vintage filament or LED flicker bulb in table lamps.
• Layer light: place a small colored gel behind a lamp shade to give an undercurrent of sickly color.
• Create a slow flicker: use a low-cost flicker dimmer or a DIY Arduino flicker controller for repeatable effects.

Low-budget gear lists (realistic options)

Here are two practical kits depending on how much you can spend.

Under $500 (micro-budget)

• 2x Aputure Amaran 100d-style LED panels (used or light alternative) — or 1x Bi-Color 96-panel + 1x RGB light wand.
• 1x portable fog/haze machine (small, $50–120).
• Practical lamps (thrifted) + dimmer plug ($20).
• 2x cheap stands, basic grip kit, a few clamps.
• Camera: any modern mirrorless phone with ND or an entry mirrorless body with a 24–70mm kit lens.

$1,000–$2,000 (reliable indie kit)

• 1x RGBWW panel (bi-color+RGB) like 120x or 300x class.
• 1x Fresnel or small LED Fresnel for narrow rim light.
• Mini fluid head slider or 3-axis gimbal (used market).
• Haze machine + DMX controller or simple in-line dimmer for flicker effects.
• Mid-range mirrorless camera and 35/50/85 prime lenses (fast glass helps low light).

Camera settings & lens recipes

• Frame rate: 24fps for cinematic. Use 60fps for slow-mo inserts (phone flurry, ash falling).
• Shutter: 1/48–1/50 for 24fps. For handheld jitter, push shutter to 1/100–1/200 to sharpen movement if intended.
• Aperture: f/1.8–f/2.8 for intimate close-ups; f/4–f/5.6 for wide room coverage to keep textures readable.
• ISO: Keep under 1600 where possible; use practicals to illuminate faces to avoid heavy noise.
• Lenses: 24–35mm for establishing, 50mm for mid-shots, 85mm for dreamy close-ups and compression.

On-set workflow for one-day shoots

1. Rehearse blocking with actors in daylight to map beats — no lights yet. Mark positions for practicals and camera moves.
2. Set primary practicals and haze; test camera exposure and white balance with lights on; take test frames for grade reference.
3. Shoot wide locked-off plates first (they're the backbone). Then do moving shots and close-ups; save complex lighting rigs for the afternoon.
4. Collect insert plates (hands, objects, phone screen) to help edit rhythm.)

Post-production: color, grain, and the modern haunted palette

In 2026, affordable AI color assistants and LUT generators are common on set. Use them to generate a base grade, then tweak by hand.

• Base grade: drop overall saturation slightly, lift shadows into deep blue-green, push midtones warm amber on faces.
• Halation & bloom: subtle bloom around practicals creates a dreamy, unreliable light source.
• Grain & texture: add 8–12% grain and a tiny chromatic aberration to create analog imperfection. Avoid heavy sharpening.
• AI tools: use real‑time LUT assistants (2025–26 tools) to preview looks on set and upscale small sensor footage for festival deliverables.
• Sound design: reverb on footsteps, distant radio hum, an unsettling low sine that swells under chorus lines — the audio sells the visual dread.

Safety, licensing & legal checklist

• Confirm location release and neighbor notifications for nighttime filming.
• If using live flames, have a fire extinguisher and an adult assigned as safety lead.
• Use royalty-free prop images or secure permission for family photos used as on-screen elements.

Mini case study: Translating Mitski’s mood into your shoot

Take the emotional beats of Mitski’s “Where’s My Phone?” campaign — isolation, domestic freedom inside disorder, and a whisper of classic gothic — and map them to visuals: a single subject inhabits a cluttered living room, practicals become emotional punctuation, and the phone acts as both object and narrative trigger. Do this by structuring your edit around the phone: each time the phone appears, change a visual parameter (color temperature, vignette) to signal psychological shifts.

Actionable checklist before you shoot

1. Print the 20‑shot list and mark must-shoot vs nice-to-have shots.
2. Prep 3 practical lamps and 2 gels (amber + magenta) and a small fog machine.
3. Make one distressed curtain and two tea-stained linens the night before the shoot.
4. Plan for 2–3 hours of lighting tweaks; start the day with blocking and camera rehearsal.
5. Export one on-set LUT as a reference file and upload to editorial for continuity.

2026 trends to fold in

• Vertical edits: plan at least one 9:16 crop of a key moment for TikTok/Instagram Reels distribution.
• LED pixel strips: inexpensive, used as hidden practicals for color shifts that sync to music using DMX or cheap controllers.
• On-set AI LUT helpers: use them to preview a haunted look, but always finish by hand for emotional nuance.
• Sustainable sourcing: thrifting sets and reusing props are both cheaper and favored by festival programming teams.

Takeaways: How to get the look in one weekend

• Start with texture: one distressed wall and tea-stained curtains deliver more mood than ten extra lights.
• Use practicals as your visual language: they tell the camera where to look and help sell scale on a small set.
• Be intentional with camera movement: slow pushes and lateral moves create suspense; handheld POV creates intimacy.
• Finish in post: selective desaturation, halation on practicals, and soft grain lock the haunted vibe.

Final note — what to film first

On micro-budget shoots, the single most important frame is the wide interior that establishes mood and props. Nail that first — if it reads spooky and textured, the rest of your coverage will fall into place.

Call to action

Ready to build your haunted-house music video? Download the free printable shot list and low-budget gear checklist on Artistic.top, test one DIY dressing recipe tonight, and tag your test footage with #ATHauntedLookbook so we can feature your work in next month’s community roundup.

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