Make a music video, but how?

D

DDirector

Veteran
I made short films using DSLR's and film cameras before. So, I know the process of making films. Also how to make a script, storyboard, etc.

But, making music videos seems to be a lot harder than short films. I dont know anything about making music videos. I dont know the process off it.

What is a proper script, how do you storyboard it so it matches the music, how do you slate it, there are various angles and shots to one part.. so, how do I know how many shots i need, how long does each shot need to be, etc.

I want to learn the full details about music videos.

I could pull one off if I tried right now, but I want to learn it the proper way, the way professionals do it so if I were to do a music video for a well known artist, I would know what to do.

Where can I learn all this, other than going on an actual set?
 
Promos are generally a truncated version of the three act structure, so it should tell a story with a beginning, middle, end, and possibly a character arc. Usually the story spawns from a concept. A concept could be anything from a messy high school break up to Aliens invading the earth and everything in between. Part of the beauty of promos is that you usually have a bit of creative leeway when it comes to your idea. This concept is then accentuated with your choice of location. Locations are incredibly important in making your video standout above the rest. After you come up with a concept (and location) you would then write it out into a treatment so you could pitch to the label or band. Usually we will include images of our location as well as sample color grading to strengthen our pitch.

Next you should storyboard the project, remember you get all of 5 seconds to grab your audience. You should have a wide variety of different shots, angles, and wardrobe changes (depending on the genre). It is better to have too much in the edit than not enough. If you are shooting professionally you usually get 1-2 days to shoot the whole piece, make sure you can accomplish your idea in that period of time.

Production values are huge. Try do as much as possible with your budget. Add motion to most of your shots: dollies, cranes, steady cam, ect.

Promos are fun but not my favorite medium. Hope this helped!
 
Yeah there's no 'right way'. The big music video directors are the one's who pull off unique concepts and do it for less money...

Noah
 
Somebody said there is no right way and I agree with that - David G Smith explained the sync process.
So I will add that you could just practice by taking a song- any song, and try to shoot video for it. Yes you won't have the artist in it or having to deal with that aspect - but it will give you an idea of how to make the dynamics of the music match the video - that's the most important part. Also...on a personal note - I prefer videos where no one is singing the song....just a story with music behind it- Yes it might have to be done for certain artists....but it gets rather boring to watch. You know the generic - show the artist with girls, wrecking stuff, hanging out,etc -then show them playing, back and forth. One of my favorite videos was Sabotage by the Beastie Boys because it was like a short comedic film. REM also did some stuff where they weren't even in the video.
 
Ooops, I deleted the sync post by mistake, supposed to have been a post in another thread.

Yeah, syncing the audio is not that big of a deal if you want the performers seen sing the song in video. What you want is to make sure that they are singing to the version of the song you will be cutting to. This could be as simple as playing the CD version of the song on set and recording the on set audio with your camera while you shoot. Most modern NELs will then let you sync theses tracks without too much trouble. Shoot, I once lost camera audio while shooting like this and was able to sync the performers to the song by eye. Since they were singing to the version we were cutting to one you got a sync point, the footage match just fine. A better way to do sync is to take the song into your NLE and make a time code burn version. Just white numbers on a black background would be fine. Take that timecode burn version and export it to the format you want for on set play back. This could be a DVD that you play back in portable DVD player (with a screen), or a digital version you play back on a laptop, iPad like device or even a video iPod or smart phone. Play back the audio to a loud speaker and shoot the timecode burn at the heads or tails (Or both, which I recommend) of each take you want to sync. With the timecode burn at the head/tails of the shot, syncing latter will be a pretty straight forward.
 
With a quick look on YouTube, I found this video. It is actually kind of annoying, with a commercial in the middle and a pretty lame band, but it gives a good overview of the music video basics.


There looks like there are quite a few posts on Youtube that show BTS of making a music video. You may want to give it a shot.
 
Look at what's out there. Watch MTV, trawl youtube. When you start, there's no shame in borrowing some ideas from top shelf directors.
 
On the more conceptual side of things:

Check out Michel Gondry's or Chris Cunningham's music video's. Some amazing idea's in there.




Also on pulpfiction007's point about not having singers, I'd argue that having too much of a "story" is really distracting in a music video. I'd much rather watch something a bit abstract (maybe why I'm a bit of a Chris Cunningham fanboy). But you're right about really trying to avoid cliche's, just be really aware of what is being done in the genre already and how you want to position yourself in it (our out of it).
 
But, making music videos seems to be a lot harder than short films.
Click to expand...
its not really ANY different. unless youre just shooting a super complex concept or one that requires a lot of precision for post work.

most of the music videos ive done have been "faux live" so what id do is play the cd over a loud stereo or pa while the band lipsyncs and shoot the full song 2 or 3 for each band member, then 2 or 3 more with a general full band feature. then sync all of that and edit like a live show. or just grab all the shots i liked into bins and use as i see fit.

pretty easy.
 
I think they're way easier than most other work, technically - you don't have to mess with audio - even a crappy DSLR mic will pick up synch audio.

First off, feel free to throw away all that "three act structure" stuff - you don't necessarily need to constrain yourself to anything with a music video (hell, check out anything by OkGo, they do some amazing videos) - and this one by new villager really inspired me, for instance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moL0JgNek5A

You DO need a great playback guy. Not a CD player or an Ipod, you need a laptop running something like audacity, where you can set marker points and even chop up choruses, etc. You need someone who knows the song and can play back the sections you need. Playback - choosing the bits and running them - is really huge if you're synching to a track. And get a LOT of head & tail time. Get lots of coverage. You'll be shooting the song in segments of "first quarter of a verse" - in really tiny pieces - and you need your playback guy PREPARED to play the PIECES you need (with enough head and tail). You're not gonna just run the song from the top, you're going to want specific drum rolls, cymbal crashes, guitar hits, vocal bits.

For performance stuff, remember to have mic stands, mics, guitars plugged in, and amp pilot lights glowing. A mic or guitar without a cable acancan look kind of silly.

The first couple music videos I did, I knew the feel I wanted to shoot the performance, and just had a very rough idea of the "conceptual" stuff. At some point you really need to storyboard everything out.

Here are the first two I did - completely pulled out of my butt so to speak - like, every day or two I'd take a break from work and shoot some footage, and then tried to make sense of it all. I'm working on one now that's I'm treating (as far as planning, storyboard, and shooting schedule/shot list) like a short. Both of these were shot with a T2i and Nikon glass. It was fun, but they're both kind of a mess.


 
The music video I am working on this summer is actually a rap video. But, unlike most of these typical rap videos that have fancy cars, girls, and random people bouncing around to the beat, this is story related.

This song is about how although he is not well known, only in his small town, he is really good at what he does. When he first started out, no one believed in him, but over the years he got better. Now, others are afraid of the challenge. He fought through everything to be on top, now he's the 'Best In Town'.

-- In this song he talks about fighting like in UFC, so we wanted to do some scenes in an actual UFC ring, but finding one around us is tough, so we might just go with a regular boxing ring.
-- He also talks about being on top like on top of the work, something like that. and for this we wanted to do a building rooftop scene.


We do have the main ideas, but we still need to fill in the gaps.

Is there any specific storyboard for a music video?
Like if I want a specific shot for a certain point in the music, how would I know when that part of the storyboard goes to that part of the music?

What about slating? How is that done?
 
I don't have any experience in making music videos but as a student I am really interested in getting to shoot or edit some.
I thought while reading this thread that I could share one of my favourite music video :

I really like the look and the feel of this music video, also lots of great steadicam shots (especially the second shot of the video). I would also like to know how they lit it.
This example is another kind of music and it merges the band playing in the same kind of environnement as the one the story is taking place in.

When shooting the band, does the drummer also pretend to play the drums on wide shots ?
I assume that if you choose to include close ups, he is playing for real.
 
If the drummer's in the video, he needs to not just "pretend" if it's moderate to hard energy - he needs to really hit his drums or it will look fake.

In those cases, the band will need to bring their practice PA so the playback will be audible. And you need a studio or location where high volume levels won't cause trouble. And you'll want a good set of earplugs, preferably the kind musicians use, which just "turn down" the sound without making it like mud. And finally, try to bring the volume back down on scenes where the drums aren't in the shot. Give everyone's ears a break.
 
Michael Carter said:
Was that "tits"??? :)
Click to expand...
beats me. haha

But seriously... :P
Are they maybe people in the Toronto region that are working on music videos where I can go on set and see how it all looks?
Where can I find people who are?

In music videos, each shot cut is not really planned is it? Its just shot and whatever looks good is cut? Or would everything be pre-planned in the storyboard?
 
DDirector said:
Are they maybe people in the Toronto region that are working on music videos where I can go on set and see how it all looks?
Where can I find people who are?
Click to expand...

Finding connections is difficult, making them last and work for you even moreso. I would suggest that you look for Directors, Producers, DPs, heck even other runners online, and try to get your name out there. Offer to work for free, hopefully they'll take pity on you and feed you, they might even offer to pay some of your expenses! Have a positive attitude and put in the hard work now, starting from the bottom is a lot of work for what can feel like very little pay off.

DDirector said:
In music videos, each shot cut is not really planned is it? Its just shot and whatever looks good is cut? Or would everything be pre-planned in the storyboard?
Click to expand...

This depends on the style of the video and the way the director likes to work. There are some music videos that simply would not work without an exact plan of how everything will be shot and how it will come together in post. Take for example this video, for Kylie Minogue, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63vqob-MljQ without all the preproduction planning, motion control rigs and all that other fun stuff this video would not work. Then on the other hand you have a video like this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex1qzIggZnA directed by Spike Jonze. Besides organising the group of actors/dancers and crew members to film it's a very guerilla style video. Just go out there with a camera, no permissions, shoot as much as you can (before you get kicked out) and work with what you get in post.
 
I have a fairly set attitude for shooting basic synched performance:

Figure out key things you want - a big drum roll, cymbal crash, singer's yell, etc.

Figure out the basic "flow" through the song - what's your first shot, what shots transition as the song shifts gears;

What's your (really the viewer's) physical movement through the space going to be like - if you start with a bass line, will you segue to the guitar, then the singer? Plot out how the "viewer" will float through the song - if appropriate, avoid impossible movements - let the camera be a person weaving in and out and across;

Figure out your intensity/energy level - where will you move quickly, hold still, crash in, pull out? IF the song takes a dramatic energy dip, will you de-focus out, pull back, etc? When it kicks back in, how will you amp up that drama big time?

Figure out if lights are a "character" - if it's supposed to look like a live show, what would a really kickass lighting guy do? Would blinders come on for the big kick-in after the quiet part? if so, where would the camera be to get the full impact? And if it's supposed to be a live show, will you film it solely from audience POV or more like a VH1 concert film?

Your #1 goal is to track along with the intensity of the song and amp up the emotions.
 
I watched a few BTS videos and I heard beeping before the song started to play.
What is the point of that? Just to sync in post easier?

And when do you add those beeps? Only once in the very beginning of the song?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top