MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION

Music Video Production


You will have selected a song track which excites you. You will have some ideas about how you want to visualise this song.

You will have decided on whether you want to tell a story, create an atmospheric video, or present the song in some new innovative way, or use another form of visualisation such as a parody or pastiche.

It’s a good idea to write down the lyrics, so that you know what the song is about.

Your next job is to create a STORYBOARD of your ideas.

Remember that a storyboard first of all tells a story. Try and fit your video idea into 6 or 8 frames. You do not need to draw a frame for every single shot just the most important ones that advance the story.

EXAMPLE

Your chosen song is Lou Read’s 'A Perfect Day'. Here are the lyrics:

Just a perfect day
drink sangria in a park
and then later
when it gets dark
we go home
Just a perfect day
feed animals in the zoo
and then later a movie, too
and then home

Refrain:

Oh it's such a perfect day
I’m glad I spend it with you
oh such a perfect day you just keep me hangin’ on
you just keep me hangin’ on

just a perfect day
problems are left to know
Weekend’s all night long

its such fun
just a perfect day
You make me forget myself
I thought I was someone else
someone good

One way to get to grips with this song is to highlight the words that interest you. Of course you do not have to make a literal video that just shows pictures of the words, but you can use the words as a springboard to keep your video appropriate to the song and yet different.

A music video needs to relate in some way to the lyrics and the music. The audience should be able to see the relationship between your pictures and the song.

You could make a video that consisted of shots of your own perfect day, which could be a day on the beach, or in a racing car, or at a theme park, or in the garden at home. You would be illustrating what ‘perfect day’ means to you.

STORYBOARD

Let’s say we want to illustrate quite literally some of the words – the words in orange in the song.

Use a blank storyboard with 8 frames and put each of the words under each frame.

click on image to enlarge

What pictures would you video for these words? You will have to capture the pictures on video, so you will need to interpret the ideas so that you are able to video them. The first row may be easier than the second row.

Row 1 Sangria is a Spanish wine drink that is usually made in a pitcher or jug. The zoo, the movie and home are straight forward.

Row 2 you are going to have to think about how you might visually interpret a phrase like ‘forget myself’ . I am sure you can do better than my suggestions.

VIDEO PRODUCTION

You have produced a storyboard which shows some of the central images you want to video. Now you have to shoot the pictures.
• Make a list of ALL THE SHOTS you need – this is called a shot list. Don’t rush this stage of the production process. It is much better to spend time thinking about what you want to shoot BEFORE you take out the camera.
• You may need some props – e.g. a jug of sangria for our Perfect Day shoot.
• You will almost certainly need to go to some locations; even the garden is a location. Make a list of all the locations – this is a location list.
• Now make a final SHOOTING SCRIPT which lists each shot and where it will be done and at what location. It should have two columns:


You may feel this is a lot of work and that you are not sure what you may find at the beach. Believe a shooting script is 100% worth it. When you get there you may find there are more shots at the beach, then that is a bonus of extra material – great, you will need it.

• For a music video you will need at least one shot for every 4 beats of the music. A fast rock and roll number will need more shots than a slow ballad.
• Try to make pictures that have either camera movement or something happening in the shot – or both.
• Use a variety of camera angles – her are some examples of different angles
• Only use the zoom lens for something really important
• If you are filming a band performing a music track, ask them to mime to playback.
• To make a video of a band performing live is altogether different, and should only be attempted if you have a lot of experience with sound and vision.



Experiment with different camera angles – it will make your video more interesting.

Shooting a music video check list
• Shoot many more pictures than you need.
• Try and shoot in sequences that are dependent on the location or on the subject
• Shoot every idea with the camera at different angles
• Shoot Close Ups and Wide Shots of everything
• Keep the camera steady by using a tripod and let the action move within the frame. Filming something static like a flower, ask someone to shake the flower a little as if it is moving in the wind.
• Shoot in strong daylight wherever possible
• Shooting inside - turn on all the lights in the room – you can’t have enough light on video
• Get movement by moving the camera with the subject
• Use film lights if you have access to them.
• Use a whip-pan occasionally – a whip-pan moves the camera very quickly from one subject to another
• Use the zoom - but not too much, it gets so boring!

Good luck with your shooting – then look at POST-PRODUCTION.