Music Videos?

[Carcaridon]

Hey guys.
I know Nate does a lot of these, but I've been thinking of taking this route with local bands to get experience with the camera. I figure with videos, I don't have to worry about a sound person and can just concentrate on the performance and look and gain a ton of experience. I know enough local bands that I could offer my services for free and just have them pay for expendibles.

Seems like a good idea. What do you all think?

I'm shooting a couple of exerps from my own feature length scripts in the next few months, but after that, I'd love to give this a shot.

 

[Nate Weaver]

If you love music videos, do it. It's just as valid a way to gain experience as any other. Any famous music video director you can name got his start in the way you describe...and lots of directors who have gone on to much bigger things than music vids.

But just what is it you're trying to accomplish? Learning how to D.P? Learning how to direct?

The only downside I can think of is that for directors, working in music vids only gives you experience in very certain disciplines. For example, it doesn't generally allow you to work with actors and dialogue too much, nor working with a writer. It does give tons of other things though...working with a D.P....learning how to "drive the bus", so to speak.

Three points of advice:

1-Put the band in a cool location. Can't stress this enough. 75% of it is what's in FRONT of the lens.

2-Never forget you're trying to entertain a mind for 3 minutes. Give other things to look at besides the band, if you can.

3-Make sure your photography and post colorcorrection skills are up to par. One of the hallmarks of the music video are interesting/cool photography and post color work. Be honest with yourself, and if your skills aren't up there, find somebody who's skill are. A music video can be any number of things, including a huge pile of f-ups on the directors part...but if it doesn't "look" like a video, then you've failed and the band looks like dorks.

 

[-zach-]

Make sure your photography and post colorcorrection skills are up to par. One of the hallmarks of the music video are interesting/cool photography and post color work.

Remember people, post production and computers can't do all the work. (Not saying that it isn't necessary), but make sure before you film, you know where, who, what, and how the hell you're doing it. Storyboards, Shot lists, and even rehearsing are the most essential things when you are beginning to film. You have to know how and what you're going to do. If you want an actor to punch someone, you can't say, "Punch this dude." You have to tell them where the camera's going to be, how to show their fist before the punch, and how to make a staged punch look real.

The main bullet point of this presentation would be planning.
And organization.
And don't do drugs, those are bad.

-zach.