The Planning
1
Plan every detail, like who the lead character is and what song you're using.
2
Choose the entire cast (even the background characters, they are important too!). Make sure you have good actors and actresses !
3
Get props for the set, a camera and lights. If you don't have lights, go outside on a sunny day and use something called a reflector. Its a piece of white fabric used to "reflect" light onto the set. It is the most effective way to make a professional looking video. You don't need to go out and buy one; you can use a large piece of poster paper or something similar. For the most effective way to focus light, use more than one or even a mirror. You can have a group of people holding it off camera.
4
Remember, the main person on screen is always the brightest on screen. When outside, always have the main character's back to the sun except when the sun is in the middle of the sky. This way, the reflectors can illuminate the person's face and front. Although there is a lot to do to get efficient lighting, it is worth it when you want a high quality video.
The Filming
1
First, find the ideal setting. It could be your room, a location outside, a trailer, or anywhere you want. Some people could rent rooms for the video shoot also.
2
Set up your camera where you can see everybody in your video. Tripods are excellent for this purpose, because you can smoothly turn the camera, and you avoid the "shaky hand" taping that screws up your great performance. Also, if you face the sun dead-on, your video will be too bright and you won't be able to see anything.
3
Determine whether some people will be dancing and the others singing. Maybe you want to change it up and have all singing, or all dancing.
4
Play your song in the background while you're filming. This way everybody is in tune and on the same page.
5
Transfer your video to your computer.
6
By using Windows Movie Maker (PC), iMovie, Premiere or Final Cut Pro (for Macs), synchronize the song and the video together. Import the song you chose, and the video you recorded. Then drag the song to the 'Audio' section.
7
Add a title and credits to the end and there you go, an awesome music video!
Tips
- Always put the copyright somewhere to give credit to the artist and its year!
- For YouTube videos, you need to put the credits in the Additional Details area, or your music may be muted or your video removed due to copyright infringement!!
- Make sure the video camera is not facing the sun, facing a video camera, or any camera for that matter; the sun can greatly damage the internal image capturing hardware.
- A very good strategy to video making is to make 3 completely different videos and mix clips in different places.
Things You'll Need
- Video/digital camera
- Song
- Stereo
- good director/tech producer
- Computer
- Editing software like Windows Movie Maker (PC), iMovie or Final Cut Pro (for Macs), or Sony Vegas for both OS.
- A YouTube account if you are uploading the video.
I have been looking at different moodboards online to try and get an idea of how I can create a good quality, media rich moodboard for the artists Lilygreen & Maguire.
I found http://olioboard.com/, a website which you can use to create moodboards. The website features lots of different moodboards, submitted by the public, and you can enter competitions on the website and win prizes.
Here I was uploading pictures to my account on Olioboard to place on my moodboard.
However, I soon found that Olioboard is not my friend, and it wouldn't upload my pictures into my library, so I started to look for a different website.
I then found MoodShare, another website that allows you to place images together and create your own moodboard.
Once I had collected all the pictures and placed them together, I tried to find an embed code for my new moodboard, but couldn't...
so instead I took a print screen and chopped it down!
My finished moodboard can be seen here.
Mr Henton has spoiled us yet again and has made a very informative post on how our work is going to be marked.
You can access the post by clicking here.
I have thought back to some music videos that I clearly remember from when I was growing up, as this is the time I watched music channels on TV the most. I don't watch music channels any more as I have other ways of getting access to music, and I don't really like the music that is in the charts nowadays. By thinking back to the videos that I personally remember, I can find out what it is that makes music videos memorable and hopefully then, what will help me to make a good quality, memorable music video.
One of the main factors of music videos that makes them memorable is sex / sex appeal. This is used a lot in music videos today.
The first video that came to mind was the video to Alex Gaudino's "Destination Calibria", seen below.
Personally I believe that this video is too explicit to be shown on television, I can't remember how old I was when I first saw this video but I remember being told to change the channel!
However, it is cleverly done, as the level of explicit material shown worked as a shock factor, which is what made me remember the video.
In a similar way, another video that was memorable to me due to a sexual nature is the video to Benny Banassi's "Satisfaction".
Benny Benassi - Satisfaction from Luxo on Vimeo.
This video is also very explicit and equally as shocking as the first video I mentioned, again I believe this is why the video was memorable.
So it seems that the reason that we remember videos with high/explicit sexual content is because it shocks us - whatever age we are - watching the videos back again disgusted me, but I know that if someone were to sing the tune of either song to me, I would instantly remember the video.
Simple videos can also be memorable. For example, the music video to "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve shows a man walking down a street, being bumped and bashed by various people. That is pretty much all that happens in the video, seen below.
The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony from liamliu on Vimeo.
I have read an interesting article on Five of the Most Memorable Music Videos, which you can read here. The writer talks about what happens in the videos that makes them memorable.
Lilygreen & Maguire have their own website, where you can access their music, videos, lyrics, dates and locations of gigs, their personal Youtube, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and a store where you can purchase EPs, singles, and acoustic versions of tracks by Lilygreen & Maguire.
Below is an interview with Lilygreen & Maguire. Some of it is recorded in the boys' flat and there are snippets of them performing. It is quite an intimate interview where they talk about how they got to where they are now and what it means to them.
Here is a playlist of 12 videos, featuring Lilygreen & Maguire in their "Big Welsh Busk" - they went to 12 different locations around their home of Wales, and performed a few songs for free to get themselves known.
Whilst researching, I also found that the duo have a MySpace page and a Soundcloud! Here is a recording of the song that I am using for my music video, found on their Soundcloud profile.
I had made my final decision as to which song I was going to use for my final product, "I Don't Feel It Anymore (Song of The Sparrow), from "The Sparrow and The Crow" by William Fitzsimmons, but I found that the album was released in 2008, and the song that I was going to use was released February 10th, 2008. This means that I had the problem of finding a new artist, a new album, a new song and new ideas, which I was very disappointed about as it set me back and I had my heart set on doing this song.
Luckily, I didn't have to look too far, as I also love a particular cover released by Lilygreen & Maguire, a duo I mentioned in my Potential Album blog post.
The song I have chosen to use is "Come On Get Higher", originally released by artist Matt Nathanson, and recently covered by Lilygreen & Maguire. I am still thinking of ideas for the song as it is a love song, and I don't want to make my music video too cliche.
Here is the official video for the song, starring Lilygreen & Maguire.
Here is the video to "Wetsuit" by The Vaccines.
The main feature of this video that stood out to me was the beats - each picture came up to the beat of the song. This is a technique often used in music videos to make the video more unique and interesting.
I found the video on http://www.hub.tv/2012/05/top-10/, where speaking about the video, they have said:
"Populated entirely by Instagram snapshots, pop-punk indie band The Vaccines are responsible for creating music history with the video for Wetsuit. As the first music video to ever be made entirely from fan-submitted photos, director Poppy De Villeneuve of design agency Partizan utilises the trademark Instagram Toaster filter to maximum effect, portraying a sun-kissed slice of festival life.
Weaving intimate and personal viewpoints into the narrative as the perfect from of fan engagement, De Villeneuve's work is as nostalgic as it is touching."
I have been researching different albums that have tracks on them that I may use for my music video.
Lilygreen & Maguire are a two-man band who are currently recording their first album with Warner Brothers Records UK.
Below is the video to their song, "Ain't Love Crazy", which was released on iTunes on June 10th this year.
Lilygreen & Maguire 'Ain't Love Crazy' from
Mattias Nyberg on
Vimeo.
Another artist I have been researching is Seasick Steve. He is a blues solo artist who is very unique. I have seen him perform live at Reading Festival and there are a few songs on his album, "You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks" that would be good to use for my music video.
Below is a video of Seasick Steve performing one of his songs, 'Treasures'.
Seasick Steve - Treasures from
PIASGermany on
Vimeo.
The final artist that I have researched is American singer/songwriter William Fitzsimmons. I have chosen a particular song from his album, "The Sparrow and The Crow" as a potential song for my music video.
Below is a video of him performing the song, "I Don't Feel It Anymore", also known as "Song of the Sparrow", live in France. The song is originally recorded with a female vocal but as it is a live performance of just William, he sings the whole song alone. It is a video of a live performance as I couldn't find a suitable video of the song.
http://vimeo.com/19738039 from
Bart Jansen on
Vimeo.
