Making A Music Video

[RyanT]

I have always been interested in making a few music videos for my friends who have bands thinking that it'll help both of us get a little more coverage. But as I get closer to actually doing one, I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around how to actually do preproduction and plan stuff out.

I'm just confused how people get stuff to synch up so nicely. Do you plan every shot very meticulously and film with a strict shooting script? Or do you just go out and shoot a bunch of random footage hoping to cut it up into something usable? I'd assume it'd be a little of both, but I just have no idea how far to take it.

So what do you do? How do you go about doing pre production for a music video?

 

[Cheesesailor77]

like you would anything else.

If you're just shooting a performance, then u can pretty much just shoot random stuff. Or not so much random as get a lot of coverage (masters, singles, inserts). You don't really have to worry about line crosses and continuity.

If you have a concept or a b-reel (b-roll?) then u need to do everything you would for a narrative piece. Start with a script or treatment, then do a shot list or boards, etc.

Either way, you need to secure your location, get ur equipment together, figure out how you want to light it, gather any kind of crew, figure out any production design, wordrobe, etc.

I'll try to be more specific if you have more specific questions

 

[rightfrog]

There are a lot of styles of music videos, the most common are: the performance video, the story video and then one that combines the two.

If your band is dynamic, look great and the song is interesting, then sometimes a performance video can stand on its own. Shoot it like you would shoot a scene, a master of the band playing the song, then CU on each performer...maybe ECU on the instruments (like if there's a guitar solo or cymbals crashing)...maybe shoot some stuff of the band setting up for the performance to use as cut away stuff...watch some music videos and break down the shots.

If the song lends itself to a story or the lyrics form some kind of narrative, then go with that...but those are harder to shoot and usually take longer as you have to come up with a story that spans the entire song and has no dialogue...that you'll need to really script out just like you would with a scene or short film.

If you have a lot of time, then shoot both a story and a performance and intercut them...maybe going back to the band for the chorus or solos...

 

[Claude Isbell]

I consider myself a storyteller. Whether it's directing, writing, acting, etc. With few exceptions, I let the music and the personality of the band dictate the storyline. I think if you start with that, you'll get something. I find just clips of a band playing very boring. The mix is usually interesting if done right. A friend's band was playing at a cool roller rink, where they were in a cage with the crowd skating around them. Half of the video for them is material from that. Some of the shots are taken with me on skates and they look like real dolly shots.