I want to direct a music video...

R

Rick Garcia

Member
Hello...I just had a few questions in regards to directing a music video. I have decided that this is the avenue that I want to pursue. I am new to this so I just would like a little info that can help get this thing started in the right direction.

First, I would like to know what type of equipment I should be looking for (camera, lighting, sound, etc). I have a Sony Dig8, which I know is a old consumer camera, but it works. I have no plans to make a serious project with this camera, but I would like to know that while I continue to save money for the equipment I will need, what type of equipment can I use in addition to this in the mean time?

I know local artists that I would be able to shoot videos for as well as other indie artists with deals. As of right now I want to work on the technique and style of shooting with what I have and make the most out of it.

So any information and direction would be greatly appreciated...

thanks,
Rick
 
Hi Rick,
Most Directors I have worked with do not operate. It sounds like you want to Direct and DP, which is not the easiest thing to do. Would you ever consider hiring a DP and Boom operator rather than trying to learn how to light and shoot and direct at the same time?

If you are ready to buy a camera, here are my opinions: I suggest an HD camera. Avoid HDV, as it is lower quality (sampling at 4:2:0) and harder on the editing system. I suggest you get a cam that records to a data card (much quicker to capture/offload, don't have to invest in a $35k deck). Sony EX1 has had nice reviews (about $6.5k. Panasonic HVX200 is what I own (about $5k).

I chose the HVX over the Sony because the following Sony features I did not like: inter-frame compression and lower color sampling (HVX better for green screen), CMOS rolling shutter (bad with extreme motion or flashes), SxS card taked 14 seconds to switch between cam and MCR mode.

HPX500 / HPX2000 are great cameras as are the XDCAM HD series, but in the $50k range.

Lighting - if you are doing music videos, you might need a big light kit. Easier just to rent. Standard 3-point lighting can be accomplished with a 650watt softbox and a couple of 300watt frenels (Arri costs about $2k), but is probably too barebones for a music video.

Sound - you don't need much sound equipment for recording ambient sound, as music videos are lip synced. You will need a play back system that can reproduce well at loud volumes.

35mm Adaptor - gives cinema quality depth of field, pricey investment (easily $3k - $5k with all accessories)

Tripod - Fluid heads start at $1k. I recommend the Cartoni Focus or the Sachtler DV6SB.

If I were you, I would practice with the consumer cam for a little while to see if I really wanted to operate. Ask the local bands if you can come to a practice and shoot them for free...You may realize the money is better spent in rentals and hiring people for specific projects.


J
 
J,
Thanks for all the info. The HVX200 seems like a pretty popular camera and there is alot of people on this site that vouch for it. So its definately one to consider when I have all the money. In regards to the DP and Directing I guess I didnt realize that there was a difference.

As far as the rest of the equipment, thank you cause I had no clue as to the specifics (lighting, sound, adapter). If I just got enough money for the HVX and nothing else, would It just be better to get it all at once?

Now with the consumer cam, would I need any lighting for that? If so, do you know what I can use in the meantime that would be more cost efficent? I realize that I am using a consumer camera but light seems to be important as far as quality.

Any suggestions?
 
You could buy some cheap lights for now.
Halogen work lights, 200W bulbs, etc.
lf possible, shoot most of your initial videos outdoors:
they'll look so much better, with minimal trouble.

Don't just buy any consumer cam, though.
Buy a really good one like the HV20. Or HV30.

When you get your first job, you can rent better gadgets.
When you get your second job, you can start acquiring professional gadgets.

A lot of people buy gadgets and then end up doing nothing with them.
Others spend years learning and by the time they are ready to work,
their gadgets are already obsolete. That's ok if the gadgets are cheap.

Many professionals don't own gadgets.
They just rent what they need.
 
It's very good to learn about lighting and other aspects of the craft of filmmaking. Even if you delegate most of the tasks during production - the more you know the more control you will have over the end product.
Great directors also know how to work as cinematographers, from James Cameron to Robert Rodriguez.
Editing will play a crucial part in producing a music video, so it's good to be knowledgeable in that area, too.
Since you're probably staring out with low budget projects you will have to do most of the stuff by yourself, since you won't be able to pay anybody.
Read a bunch of books on the topic and then start shooting.
Good luck.
 
cool. exactly what I wanted to hear. I also found this for my camera on ebay....190237700402....its a lens and filter package. Only $50, should I get something like that for now?
 
check out www.myspace.com/joystickfilms These are some videos I shot a few years ago when I was in the exact same boat as you. I bought the DVX100a, No lighting, No adapter. and I had no crew. I shot all of these totally by myself. Not the best Idea but i got it done. I learned from these and now I have done a feature length and 2 shorts. But I have a ways to go before i can say I am good.
 
Yeah, don't get in too much debt.
Although I own a HVX200 I just shot a project with a HV20 and I'm very happy with the results. We had great lighting (mostly Kino Flo) which makes all the difference.

I still love my HVX200 and I'm glad I bought it since I was able to learn so much while using it.
I also got more jobs because people are impressed by my 'professional equipment'.

The most important thing is going our there and shoot. With whatever equipment you have. That's how you learn.
 
I used a wide angle converter with the HV20. It's very helpful in tight spaces.
I just can't imagine that a set of lenses for $50 is any good. Sounds like a bad joke.
I spend $100 on just one filter. And I rented the wide angle converter for $30/day.

Those e-bay lenses might swallow a lot of light, distort the image and mess with the colors.
 
hey, I know several directors who don't own any equipment. Nothing more than an HV20. they are still successful with their online tv series and such. However, they pay extensive amount of money to pay for crew and actors.
 
berlinfool said:
I used a wide angle converter with the HV20. It's very helpful in tight spaces.
I just can't imagine that a set of lenses for $50 is any good. Sounds like a bad joke.
I spend $100 on just one filter. And I rented the wide angle converter for $30/day.

Those e-bay lenses might swallow a lot of light, distort the image and mess with the colors.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your honesty. So basically, my sony conumer is efficient for now while I learn, for better quality I should look into the HV20, and eventually move into something like a HVX? Are DVX any good?
 
Everybody succeeds in his own way.

Every field has different paths. Every decision is right as long as you are moving forward and keep shooting. Practice is everything.

Please read Robert Rodriguez' "Rebel without a Crew". It's highly inspiring.

In the end it's all up to you and your vision. The rest follows.

I'm personally in love with HD and feel that standard definition is an insult to my eyes.
The future is HD. The HVX and the Sony EX1 are fantastic cameras.
As long as they don't ruin you financially so you have to work a day job to pay back the money which will keep you from shooting.
 
i have a good idea for you..


READ THE FIRST THREAD!

it's called corrado and it's basically from start to finish how to make a feature film and get into the business. It has a lot of good tips etc.

A good idea would be to hire your guys and use the HV20 for your own personal use. You could use it to practice shooting etc but when it comes down to the hardcore stuff, hire a crew.

Also you should shoot for local bands with your hv20 for free and edit etc. Since it's free they can't complain about the camera or quality. But at the same time they may be lazy and not listen to your direction... especially since oyu have an hv20.

Another word of advice: Watch the "behind the scenes" footage for many films. You can learn alot about directing that way.

Edit: Or watch "the making of" for music videos. Watch as many as you can. (almost forgot this was a music video thread haha)



Good luck!
 
This is funny, it kind of makes me frustrated because I'm working on this DVD project for people new to music videos that would be PERFECT for the original poster, and I'm angry I don't already have it done because I was the OP a bit more than a year ago, I really didn't know anything about how I was going to do what I wanted to do. I just knew that I wanted to make music videos. I spent a long, long time and a lot of research just finding the equipment, fine-tuning my equipment, and continue to do so of course, before I even shot my first music video. Now my second music video has made it into 4 out of 5 film festivals so far, off to a good start. [Side note: the project I'm working on for making indie music videos is my project origination but most of the advice / commentary will be from much, much more experienced directors and DPs than myself, I'm really just producing the project from an idea I had...]

I think it can be dangerous unless you're fairly loaded to buy too much equipment at the start, as others have suggested. I actually did just buy pretty much everything I wanted or felt I needed, which in some cases worked out fine, in other cases was a mistake. I have three Honda generators, one is 6500 watts, the other two smaller pull-start generators with 2000 watts each. I have used these almost not at all, so I would rather have the cash I spent, but oh well. They are still always useful, they won't become obsolete or something. You never know when you need a bit of extra power for outdoor lighting even if it's just to power craft services tables' lights ;)

I've fortunately gotten plenty of use out of a lot of my equipment already in less than a year owning it all, made some money back leasing to my own shoots, and rented out a few times to make more cash back, so it has worked out fine but don't go all crazy buying everything, which is basically what I did.

I'm the kind of person who likes to own what I want to use for the most part, until it gets too expensive, then I cry uncle and just rent. It's not a bad idea to have some sort of a basic setup, above which you rent, so that you can do smaller projects without needing to rent from anyone.

You definitely need a good PA system, which is something I got between my first and second music videos (the first band took care of playback), and it's not a bad idea to own some basic lighting. I have 3 Arri kits and a 2K Arri light as well, above that I rent, like on my last music video we had an additional 24 1K lights, some KinoFlos, a few HMIs, etc. But my kits were still useful for the indoor lighting, took care of those needs mostly (except the kinos).

There is a huge difference between a DP and a director, haha, maybe not on a super low budget music video where they are often one and the same, but I don't shoot myself. Is it a skill I wish I had? Sure, it definitely is. I would love that. But I'm too far advanced as a producer-director to take a step back and spend 2-3 years learning how to shoot really well so that I can still just ultimately hire someone else to do it because I don't even want to work on shoots so small the director has to DP, screw that.

I also learned fast that one-camera shoots for music videos are not my thing. I'll do it if I have no other choice, but once you go two cameras, you don't go back, haha. The last video was shot with two cameras and it was so much better in editing, so many more options. Sometimes you also just don't have the time luxury of saying, "Oh well, one camera, we'll just ask the band to perform the song twice as many times so we can get coverage." Honestly, not worth it. The band gets tired, who wouldn't? My last video was shot on a rooftop partially (the performance), and half of that was during the day when it was almost 100 degrees and the roof made it hotter. They were sweating and we kept having to send the makeup artist in to fix things.

Anyway I could go on forever about music video stuff, but if you want more specific advice feel free to PM me. I was in your shoes not that long ago and I didn't know basically anything. I had no idea how the process worked at all.
 
Jonathan,

Thanks for all the info. When will you have the dvd ready? I will definately start shooting with some people I know. I'm not going to let that stop me, I just wanted to know as of right now what are some of the things I could do being the fact I have the camera that I have right now. Actually my friend has another one similer to mine, so we should have 2 camera to shoot with. I got some cash put away but I will be needing to save alot more to get something like a HVX.

This is a great website and everybody that has posted on this thread has been extremely helpful.
 
Have you considered doing other types of work too for the time being to help out with the cash situation? Even stuff like wedding videography, event videography, etc.? I know for me, I'm trying to do a lot of corporate work while I try to break into harder areas like commercials, paid music videos, etc. I'm actually hoping to help finance my first feature through corporate work, equipment rentals, etc. At the very least I can make the money to buy the RED One, a lens kit, etc. that I'll use for the feature. Sometimes you have to take other work to be able to pursue what you ultimately want to make money doing. I didn't come to Hollywood to do corporate work really, but if that's what it takes to stick around long enough to have a chance at the work I really want to do, I'm all for it.

I am just at the beginning stages of my DVD project, having filmed behind-the-scenes footage for "Winded," my last music video, that I'll use for the project, but now I'm planning two more music video shoots to get the BTS footage from those shoots. Then after that I can start to put together the important content details of the project. I'm excited about what I think the project can be for anyone from high school students wanting to do music videos to beginning professionals first starting in music videos. I don't want to give away too many project details yet because I'm not far enough along, and I also want to make sure that what I say I'll deliver I actually stick with. I aim to have the project finished with filming by September's end, but I'll probably need a month to finish the post work on it. After that, it's a matter of figuring out how I can approach DVD companies that would be interested in this type of completed project. I am hoping to sell the project to a distributor, but short of that I can distribute myself. I have no problem paying a place to replicate 1,000 DVDs or whatever as an initial run and taking on the financial risk myself, it's really not that much money to have DVDs pressed anyway (I can make small orders from home as I have a disk publisher and an Epson Pro 3800 for DVD cover art, etc., but it's time consuming and relatively expensive per DVD for me to do that in any sort of large volume, it's more for tiny corporate orders of 50 DVDs or so). Of course distributing myself would be the faster, more profitable-per-DVD way of doing things, but finding a real distributor would give me more exposure and hopefully more credibility in that type of market.

Another thing is I would rather have the time to submit a few more music videos to festivals, get more festival selections and maybe wins, before I start going out with the product. It looks a lot better to have the back of the DVD read, "Award-winning music video director Jonathan L. Bowen along with numerous industry veterans explain how to make indie music videos whether you are an amateur just starting out or a professional looking to learn more about the field," blah blah etc. rather than "Some guy who has made a few music videos..." ;) I want to have a bit more credentials before I ultimately release the product, so I'm not sure that it will be available until more like 2009. I was really hoping it'd be possible to have it out there by late winter 2009, like end of the first quarter, but we'll see what happens. All I can say is it will be available and it will be done, whether I release it myself or whether it comes through a distributor. I always finish what I start and I'm more interested ultimately in having this project completed than making a bunch of money on it. Odds are I would be lucky to recoup my costs, but it'll be a great product I believe that's not on the market currently in any useful form (there's a really lousy $12.99 DVD on Amazon about making music videos that is seriously one of the biggest piles of crap I've ever seen), so just having that as a project I completed, my first feature-length film project, would be good enough for me. If it makes money that's a bonus. All I know is I will see the project through to completion because it's ridiculous that nothing like it is out there right now.

For the time being, the best and really only good resource is Making Music Videos, a 2007 book that was just released around this time last year. When I first started looking for information, which was early June 2007, I found nothing. Every book was some BS about the artistry of music videos, with no insight at all into how to make them, just examinations of great music video directors that were great for fans of the medium but not really that useful for how you can make them. Even Making Music Videos has some serious flaws. First, I've read the book twice, so I love it and highly recommend it. But it's written to tell you how the BIG guys make music videos, what's standard practice for a music video with a budget of $100,000, or $500,000, for instance. A lot of it is even based on budgets of $1 million that don't even happen anymore, but they did five years ago. It's also not very encouraging in a way to a young, resourceful filmmaker wondering how to do this stuff really well for cheaper. It seems to indicate that everything is impossible unless you have huge bucks. Like a DP costs $2,500 to $5,000 per day, for instance, a grip $450 to $525, hair and makeup people $2,500 per day (what serious garbage, there are great MUAs out there for $200/day, get real, it's hair and makeup not rocket science). It's all based on union pay scales and people being obscenely overpaid. Even my DP for my last music video was joking about these rates. How the heck is a grip worth $500 for a day on a music video? I mean we'd all like to make that much but this is Hollywood, I can find great grips with years of experience for $250/day no problem, really, really world class grips. You don't need to pay people so much for you to get amazing professionals. I paid even less than that on my last music video and got one of the most talented crews I could imagine. So that book is a great starting point to learn how it's done at the absolute highest level, but you have to use your imagination for how you can do it well for cheap.

That's why I am so passionate about my DVD project because the lack of information is astonishing. Even online I haven't found enough. I've found some resources but not what I think people should know. Plus, I'd rather show people through video than tell them on a Website. I'm not a music video expert by any means, but I have the connections who are, and I know enough and am a good enough researcher to make sure I cover all of the topics that are important. I wrote two non-fiction books in my life so far, the last one with a 73 page bibliography (all of my sources), plus I've been published in a third book, so if there's one thing I know it's research. I just don't believe that everyone should have to spend 200 hours figuring out what you should be able to learn from one source in 90-120 minutes. That's why I wrote my two non-fiction books, because I wanted all of the information collected in one place. The information is out there, but the point of non-fiction books and making of movies or how-to movies is to put it into ONE central project that you can access quickly and easily. Without that, everyone wastes time learning things that shouldn't be that hard to learn in today's day and age.

Then again, music videos are just such a fringe medium, they are like a hybrid of narrative filmmaking and commercial filmmaking that is in a lot of ways too small of an industry to be noticed much, despite its wide presence and monumental impact on culture. I still understand that music video production is no more than a $500 million per year industry, which compared to the $33 billion or so generated from theatrical film revenues and DVD sales is insignificant. Advertising spends many times that much as well. That's one reason I want to aim my DVD at everyone from high school students to beginning professionals, because the big guys don't need a DVD, they know how to do this stuff better than us all, they don't care, but the people just starting out have too few resources. The big guys aren't sharing, really. You hang around filmmakers and most of us have done music videos, so we know what's up, but that information is passed down apparently through experience rather than through any tangible media, haha.
 
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