HOW TO MAKE A MUSIC VIDEO

BY Heather Allso

WHEN CREATING A MUSIC VIDEO…•The record company has to think about the budget of the music video, is going to be a big budget video like Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” or a small budget video like Ed Sheeran’s video for “Photograph” which was a collection of home videos of baby Ed.

•The record then has to write down/sketch out scenes for the video to begin to brainstorm their video ideas that gradually build up throughout the process.

•The record company then discusses with the artist/band the ideas they have for their video and how they want it to look. This is to come up with the desired treatment for the video (video concept) and to outline the plot/narrative of the video.

•The video treatment comes down to the kind of locations needed, situations, narrative, images, the look of the video, colour and pace of the video.

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•Next, it is important for the record company to start creating the story board for the music video. This is important for everyone involved as they are able to have a clear insight into what the video could possibly turn out like and the story board will effectively allow the director to try different approaches to a scene. They also allow the artist and the production company to communicate ideas/feedback.

•Casting the music video is very important for the record company, they need to hire the actors to play the characters within the script. However, music videos based purely upon the artists performance don’t require actors as the only people on screen are the band members.

•Location scouting is the next step, its an important process as they need to find a location with the right lighting, props etc… These places can be studios, houses, living rooms, offices, stores, warehouses, open fields etc…

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•Treating the quality of the video once everything is filmed is the next important step. It is important that the video is compatible with all platforms, i.e. that it is compatible with television broadcast standards. For example, there is a limitation to the amount of colour and luminosity. It’s important to do a proper treatment of the footage through colour correction to ensure that the final product is broadcast friendly.

•Editing and colouring is the next step, this where they have to cut down scenes in order to create pace, add effects to create a tone in the video. This is the longest process, and it is also the stage where colour correction and luminosity correction takes place. Transitions are also applied to some of the shots.

•Mastering is the process that the video editors take to flatten the effects, transitions and colour corrections into a format that is compatible with all media platforms, the most important being television broadcast. Mastering also includes making sure that audio levels are accurate whilst still applying to the rules of the television broadcast.