How to Create a Video for a Song You Wrote
Once you have recorded your single it is time to pre-produce your video., Take the vision and begin to break it down into a list of shots you must have in your video, like the lead guitar solo or the band walking across a bridge., Using your shot...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Once you have recorded your single it is time to pre-produce your video.
Videos fall into two general categories, performance or concept based.
In a performance video, the underlying theme is a re-creation of a live concert.
A concept video will generally tell a story that may or may not be obviously linked to the song.
Both sorts of videos can include lip-synched performance clips, assorted band shots and any number of artsy shots.
To get an idea of what kind of video you want to make, watch music video channels to find styles you like.
Once you & your band has selected a style you like, you'll want get together and discuss it until you have a vision. -
Step 2: Take the vision and begin to break it down into a list of shots you must have in your video
Be as specific as possible and list as many shots as you can think of.
As you think of the shots you want, you also need to plan where & when you can shoot that video.
If you are telling a story in your video, you need to have a complete list of how you can visually tell the story, like couple get drunk & argue, each person flirts with strangers until last call when they are left alone at closing. , It is also nice to make a list of resources you'll need, such as guitars, matching outfits and scene extras.
The two lists are essential for getting what you'll need during the shoots.
You'll soon discover a field shoot can be very confusing & without a shot list you'll almost certainly miss one or two critical shots during the shoots. , Is it too dark, too light or grainy you'll have to fix it before shooting.
Interior locations will almost always benefit from more lighting, quartz work lights are cheap & effective.
If they are casting hard shadows, you can usually bounce their light off the ceiling for a softer, shadowless look.
You will also want to close the blinds & curtains to prevent hot spots and cause exposure problems. , you're ready to shoot the Master Shot for that location.
The Master Shot is a fairly wide shot of the talent doing their thing for the entire song.
If it is a performance based video, this shot will be a stable, continuous shot of the band lip synching to the song.
For a concept based video, you may not need to shoot the entire song at every location, but plan on 30 seconds of overlapping on both ends of the scene.
The Master Shot will be the video you use when you don't have another shot to cover it with. , You'll only need 5 or 10 seconds of overlap on these shots.
Get video of all the solos (no matter how short) and shoot any vocals, all of it lip synched to the digital recording. , Circling the talent, moving in & out, extreme angles and anything you think might look good..
A good way to get a variety of throw-away cut-aways is to enlist friends to shoot them with extra cameras, even web sharing cameras, while you are doing the quality closeups on the list. , The more options during editing, the better the final product.
It isn't unusual to shoot over an hour of video for a 3 or 4 minute music video.
Trying to conserve video will cripple the editing. , (And do it before shooting starts, you might even be able to use their camcorder at the shoot.) While it is possible for a first timer to edit a music video, it is much faster & easier if the editor knows a little about editing. , The Master Shot (or shots) are placed on the first video track and the second audio track.
You can easily synch the video to the master recording by visually aligning the audio tracks. , , It is up to you when you want to mute all the audio tracks except the master digital recording. , Here's where you get to put in all the cool shots picked up with your alternate cameras. , They are placed on the timeline to accent the main video and to keep the edit pace as rapid as possible.
Viewers expect music videos to switch shots frequently, although the actual pacing will depend upon the tempo of the music itself.
And don't forget about experimenting with special video effects, they can add some flash and make marginal shots into something special. , It works equally well with performance or concept videos. , And upload the video to all the video sharing sites you can. -
Step 3: like the lead guitar solo or the band walking across a bridge.
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Step 4: Using your shot sheets
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Step 5: plan a shoot schedule for every location.
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Step 6: When you are at a location
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Step 7: look at the scene through the camcorder.
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Step 8: Once the location is lit & dressed (props in place
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Step 9: extras ready
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Step 10: After reviewing the Master shot on a TV to insure it looks good
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Step 11: you can start getting the closeups on the list.
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Step 12: This is a good time to shoot a bunch of artsy video.
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Step 13: The key to getting a professional look is to shoot as much video as you can at each location.
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Step 14: If you are unfamiliar with Non-Linear Editing applications (or NLEs
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Step 15: ) you may want to draft a friend with their own NLE.
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Step 16: Once all the video has been captured into the computer and loaded into the NLE
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Step 17: post-production begins with putting the digital recording of the music on the first audio track.
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Step 18: The secret to creating a compelling video is twofold
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Step 19: work in layers and keep each shot short (less than 6 or 8 seconds is typical for music videos.)
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Step 20: The second layer is all the solo closeups
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Step 21: synched with the music by visually matching the audio tracks.
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Step 22: The third layer contains the synched throw-away cut-aways.
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Step 23: The final layer contains unsynced or wild shots.
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Step 24: This structure makes it easy to adjust individual shots and try out different ideas.
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Step 25: Render the final project in the highest quality possible.
Detailed Guide
Videos fall into two general categories, performance or concept based.
In a performance video, the underlying theme is a re-creation of a live concert.
A concept video will generally tell a story that may or may not be obviously linked to the song.
Both sorts of videos can include lip-synched performance clips, assorted band shots and any number of artsy shots.
To get an idea of what kind of video you want to make, watch music video channels to find styles you like.
Once you & your band has selected a style you like, you'll want get together and discuss it until you have a vision.
Be as specific as possible and list as many shots as you can think of.
As you think of the shots you want, you also need to plan where & when you can shoot that video.
If you are telling a story in your video, you need to have a complete list of how you can visually tell the story, like couple get drunk & argue, each person flirts with strangers until last call when they are left alone at closing. , It is also nice to make a list of resources you'll need, such as guitars, matching outfits and scene extras.
The two lists are essential for getting what you'll need during the shoots.
You'll soon discover a field shoot can be very confusing & without a shot list you'll almost certainly miss one or two critical shots during the shoots. , Is it too dark, too light or grainy you'll have to fix it before shooting.
Interior locations will almost always benefit from more lighting, quartz work lights are cheap & effective.
If they are casting hard shadows, you can usually bounce their light off the ceiling for a softer, shadowless look.
You will also want to close the blinds & curtains to prevent hot spots and cause exposure problems. , you're ready to shoot the Master Shot for that location.
The Master Shot is a fairly wide shot of the talent doing their thing for the entire song.
If it is a performance based video, this shot will be a stable, continuous shot of the band lip synching to the song.
For a concept based video, you may not need to shoot the entire song at every location, but plan on 30 seconds of overlapping on both ends of the scene.
The Master Shot will be the video you use when you don't have another shot to cover it with. , You'll only need 5 or 10 seconds of overlap on these shots.
Get video of all the solos (no matter how short) and shoot any vocals, all of it lip synched to the digital recording. , Circling the talent, moving in & out, extreme angles and anything you think might look good..
A good way to get a variety of throw-away cut-aways is to enlist friends to shoot them with extra cameras, even web sharing cameras, while you are doing the quality closeups on the list. , The more options during editing, the better the final product.
It isn't unusual to shoot over an hour of video for a 3 or 4 minute music video.
Trying to conserve video will cripple the editing. , (And do it before shooting starts, you might even be able to use their camcorder at the shoot.) While it is possible for a first timer to edit a music video, it is much faster & easier if the editor knows a little about editing. , The Master Shot (or shots) are placed on the first video track and the second audio track.
You can easily synch the video to the master recording by visually aligning the audio tracks. , , It is up to you when you want to mute all the audio tracks except the master digital recording. , Here's where you get to put in all the cool shots picked up with your alternate cameras. , They are placed on the timeline to accent the main video and to keep the edit pace as rapid as possible.
Viewers expect music videos to switch shots frequently, although the actual pacing will depend upon the tempo of the music itself.
And don't forget about experimenting with special video effects, they can add some flash and make marginal shots into something special. , It works equally well with performance or concept videos. , And upload the video to all the video sharing sites you can.
About the Author
Jeffrey Collins
Enthusiastic about teaching cooking techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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