1) Choose Your Song
Having a music video can help promote your band, through video sites such as YouTube and MySpace. As well as by getting exposure on national television. If you're a film maker making a music video is a good way of getting exposure and experience and bands are often happy to give you a creative free reign. A video doesn't need to cost a fortune what's important is having a good idea and working within your budget. Production companies charge a fortune for even the simplest promo video, but you can easily do it yourself. First things first, however. You have to choose your song.
While it might make sense to make a video for your upcoming single there are a few other factors to consider:
• It can take a lot longer than you think to make a video, so by the time it's finished your single might have come out. It might be an idea to think about making the video for a subsequent single.
• Having said that, in these days of internet downloads, any track can be seen as a single, so there might be a track on the album that you have a great idea for a video for, even if that track wasn't originally planned as a single.
• Remember that it can take a long time to shoot and edit each second of video so while you might have a good idea for a video for that 10 min epic that closes the album it might be more practical to shoot a video for the 3 min pop song.
2) Get a Team and Equipment Together
However complicated (or simple) your shoot is, you'll need a team of people. As well as the actors/performers you'll need:
• Camera person – At least one, and maybe more.
• Lighting Person – If you're filming inside you'll need lighting, and someone to look after it.
• Director/dogsbody – You need someone in charge of the shoot, making sure everything is running smoothly, and who can go buy batteries when you need them.
It's a good idea supply some kind of refreshments for your crew – that will not only keep them happy but also stop them popping off to the shops to get their own supplies, just when you need them for the shoot.
Ideally you'll be able to recruit a team who have their own equipment. If you have to get equipment, then you'll want to get the best your budget allows. While prices are coming down, buying a camera, lights and other gear will still set you back a small fortune. You'll be able to get more equipment for your money by renting gear; many places have community arts programs where you can hire equipment cheaply. You can also check out the local colleges in your area to see if they can help. If you are looking to buy gear, then do your research. For example you're probably better of buying a higher spec Standard Definition camera, than a bottom of the range High Definition camera.
3) Plan Your Shoot
The more planning you can do before hand the quicker you'll be able to shoot. If you're renting gear, the quicker you can shoot the less it will cost you, and if you're relying on favors, people will be more willing to help again if you keep the hanging around to a minimum. To plan, you should:
• Draw story boards showing each scene and shot
• List the crew, performers and props you'll need for each shot
• Try and brief the camera and lighting people beforehand so they know what you want from the shot.
• On the day of the shoot be prepared and organised. Keep a record of shots you've made; it'll make editing much easier. Always allow plenty of time for shooting - the finished shot may only last 10 seconds, but could easily take several hours to set up and shoot. When you're happy with a shot, if you have time, shoot it again. You can never have too much footage, and the retake may capture something that you hadn't noticed first time round. You'll have your plan and storyboard to follow, but remember that some of the best moments in a video can be unplanned. Keep the camera rolling – these days tape is cheap.
4) Capture Live Footage
Filming the band playing live can provide you with great footage for a video. Filming the band at a gig will mean you'll be able to capture the bands live energy and their interaction with the audience. There are some difficulties, however:
• They'll only play the song you're making the video for once so you'll only have one chance of capturing the right footage
• The live version may differ considerably from the recorded version so syncing the footage with the track could be problematic
• The band's, and particularly the audience's, movements won't be choreographed, so you, or your camera person, won't know where to be to capture the right shots
• The lighting and effects may look great to the audience but may not look great to the camera
• Your filming may interrupt the bands performance.
• Live filming may provide you with some great footage that can be used as part of a video, but if you want live footage to synch to a video, your best bet is to "stage" a live performance. Get the band to play along (or mime) to the track in front of an audience of mates or invited fans. You can then control the lighting, people's movements and get the track played as many times as you need.. follow these basic steps and im pretty certain your video will be played on MTV....
TO BE CONTINUED
