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The five steps of music video production
There are five steps to making a music video (we're really concentrating the first four steps here, but you will need to consider distribution for the magazine element)
0 - The Idea!!!!
1 - Development - including researching videos for inspiration
2 - Pre-production - storyboarding, location scouting, planning, mood boards
3 - Production - shooting the music video
4 - Post-production - editing, effects, mastering, VFX, SFX
5 - Distribution - essentially how the product makes it's way to the audience
Ryd recommends pursuing a career in being a camera person, runner, sound person or assistant direction if the filming itself is your favourite part of the production.
Shyer - Compliments
Typically, a band or artist will dictate the general theme of the video, but a director can still have creative control. It's about walking a line between what the director wants to do and what the band wants to do. In this situation, Ryd's initial idea was to make an experimental and performance based music video. In a meeting with the band, they discussed the meaning of the lyrics. Ryd suggests that for your coursework project, have complete creative control behind your own video!
The song's theme is about pretence and being two-faced. The mise-en-scene of the frogs were suggested by the band. For this video, Ryd shot three different 'versions' of the band, demonstrating three different moods and lighting setups. The video to Compliments ended up being quite different to many of of the band's suggestions, with less 'frog shots' and so on.
It took a day to shoot, with a total of seven hours of shooting, for three and a half minutes. To organise this, Ryd had to meet the band, to contact people to edit and shoot the video. He also had to organise the location, the costume, the lighting setups, the additional props, and to make a plan for the shoot.
Step one - development
It's important to take inspiration from other people's music videos. 'Homage' is fine, 'copying' is not. But it's fine to be inspired by somebody! Look at the specific meaning of the song, by studying the lyrics and considering the mood. You can come up with your own meaning; your own interpretation is important!
Step two - pre-production
Ryd knew he needed a stage, so he enquired at The Portland Arms at the bar as to if it would be possible. Ryd puts down the venue hire success to sending a really polite and nice email. Make sure you thank someone if you're asking for something! Make sure you say exactly what you want right at the top of the message or at the start of the conversation. In this situation, the venue got back quickly, and even gave a discount. One advantage of filming at the live venue was that Ryd was able to use the on-site lights. Always have a back-up plan: it's very possible that the venue or contact will just say no, so don't bank on anything! But make sure to point out the advantages of allowing you to film.
A planning document, for example a shooting schedule will be essential. If you plan stuff to the minute, it will make the process much easier. For the Compliments video, despite being fairly straightforward, NINETEEN separate takes and three different costumes setups were needed. So, make sure that you group everything by costume and lighting setups. Shoot all the wide shots together, shoot all the black and white closeups together. It's all about organisation!
Make sure you schedule breaks for lunch. You should schedule to finish earlier than the final time you should be finishing, otherwise you might get kicked out of a venue etc.Ryd decided to shoot in a single location so the audience can focus on the colours and the setups. A music video needs to grip the audience. However, Ryd encourages you to use multiple locations.
Step three - production
Setup takes a LONG time so make sure you factor it in! It can take hours. Lighting positions camera positions, band positions, experimenting with positioning, and in this case placing a large curtain over the 'Portland Arms' logo. The very first shot will always take the longest of all!
A cinematographer is in charge of everything to do with the camera. For smaller productions, this means she will be the camera operator too.
As a director, it helps to demonstrate dance moves, movements and directions. Remember, your 'band' will be performing to an empty room. It is absolutely essential that your band really gets in to the performance! If they look uncomfortable, your music video will suck. If in doubt, go nuts! It'll look good!
Even if you know that you're only going to be using a single location for a certain part of the song, Ryd's advice is to shoot the entire song for each location. You might end up filming something that looks great, even if you did not initially plan it!
The band or artist doesn't actually play the song live, but mimes to a backing track. It's a weird situation to be in. Drums can be tricky, because even when miming, they make a lot of noise! Miming can be surprisingly difficult. Keep an eye on the camera shots. For music videos, since sound will be added in post, you can talk to your performers as they are performing!
One big piece of advice; make sure everyone's happy. Provide people with snacks! Talk them through the process, and listen to any concerns. One of the most important roles for the director is to motivate the cast and to make them feel comfortable.
Step four - post-production
Music videos will have a significant amount of cuts, far more than other forms of media. So get the filming done as soon as possible, because the editing will take a significant amount of time.
Ryd went through about five rough cuts before the final cut. Ryd suggests showing other people, not just the band. Use the feedback to redraft your cut. Don't get down about the feedback, but act on it. Editing is a long slow process. But it's exciting!Ryd suggests starting to edit as soon as possible. With just nineteen takes, you can create millions of different versions. When editing, try not to stick to your original idea too much. You might change the concept completely!
The editing for this video took a few weeks, and this was with an experienced and effective editor. Music videos have far more intense editing processes than fiction films, and take a surprisingly long time.
Never have the band in with you when you're editing. They will try and change things. No one likes to look at themselves!
Colour correction - where shots are matched to make them look the same. This is especially important if the weather changes or if you shoot the same scene at different times of day.
Colour grading - where the overall look of the film or video is shifted to change the feel of product.
Colour correction is the final stage of production, it's essential to follow the order dictated by Premier Pro.
Types of music video
You must decide which type of video you want to make. Music videos can be one or more of the following, performance based, narrative based, completely abstract, or a combination of these types. Remember, when making your own music video for component three, you will need to have elements of performance and narrative, but it's totally up to you how you approach these! The following videos all demonstrate elements of narrative and performance.
Performance type - Wolf Alice - Blush
Use of male performer instead of the band's female vocalist subverts the expectation of the audience. Intense, emotional performance. An excellent performance is essential for an effective music video! An intense montage occurs towards the end of the video, creating a binary opposition between the slow paced editing of the start of the video. This synchronises with the sudden shift in pace of the track. For rock and indie music there tends to be less female singers, so for a band with a female singer to cast an effeminate man in the lead role questions gender stereotypes.Additionally, the cinematography is particularly atypical and even challenging. The extreme close ups of mouths, clenched fists and the shifts in depth of field functions as a hermeneutic code for the audience
Narrative type - The Armed - Paradise Day
A long, confrontationally quiet intro is extremely subversive of the function of music videos.After the slow narrative buildup, the 'punchline' of the screaming intensity of the hardcore punk song is a surprising binary for the audience. Demonstrates the importance in characterisation for narrative music videosNarrative type - Tellison - Freud Links The Teeth And The Heart
A whimsical, tongue in cheek atmosphere is created through the use of period costumes and the elaborate mise-en-scene. A definite storyline, that makes frequent reference to the lyrics, so loosely linked. Construction of character archetypes. Ryd suggests that a narrative video needs the following:- A protagonist - in this case the bearded man
- A goal for the protagonist to accomplish - in this case getting a lovely dentist to go out with him
- A resolution - in this case the bearded man's failure
Ryd suggests sitting in the boot of a rolling car for an effective dolly shot!
Experimental type - Aphex Twin - 4 - fan made by David Firth
Beat matched analogue glitching and a collection of frankly atypical imagery. Grainy time lapse, suburban housing estates. Hard to grasp, with no conventional narrative. Lo-fi grain emphasises a rough and nasty aesthetic. Variation of shot length, some shots significantly longer than is conventional for a music video.