How to make a music video ? In this video series, I detail different levels of knowledge to be integrated in the music video making . I’m not going into specific details but I offers a good overall vision to create a music video.
The 7 areas of technical activities to make a music video
In short, to the question «How to make a music video? » I would say that you must master 10 to 20% of the 7 following areas to make your first music video, then another, and another, and so on… in order to enhance your musical video production. After making your first steps in these areas (with relatively simple result) only your visual culture and experience will enable you to get the result you’re looking for, and this without having to make major studies and even without extraordinary efforts.
- Video shooting (How to use a camera).
- Video production
- Mastering lighting
- The video editing
- Compositing
- keying to make a music video
- Set extension
How to make a music video | The shooting
To make a music video you must learn how to record a video. For this, it’s not so complicated. Just press «record»” LOL. On a serious note, depending on your level of requirement, you will have to:
- Shout a music video with a dslr ( High level)
- Shout a music video with gopro ( Medium level)
- Shout a music video with an Iphone ( Medium level)
- Shoot a music video with a RED camera ( Very high level )
This list of cameras will allow you to shoot your music video. On some devices you can get mind-blowing performance without software (editing) because of their quality and their setting levels ability (white balance, aperture …)
Beyond the use of your camera settings, learn to shoot without shaking
Use a stand, a video stabilizer or another technic …
How to make a music video | The production
By production I mean all that concerns:
- Stages.
- Viewing angles.
- Camera mouvements .
- Framing rules.
Master these simple rules and already you will have achieved a lot. Indeed, these are the few basics that will make your shooting a success in terms of production quality.
How to make a music video | Master the lighting
I invite you now to read the article named “How to make a good music video” in which I speak about lighting. Just like with photography, the rendering quality of a video is largely due to light.
Learn the next subjects:
- Video lighting types ( LED, halogen )
- The amount of light to illuminate a subject.
- Position the light.
- Illuminate a green background.
Depending on the quality of your camera, the amount of ambient light will be more or less important in the final outcome. An iPhone 4S will not support lowlights.
How to make a music video | Video editing
After shooting your videos, you need to assembled them together and in coherence with the music. Despite what some video “Pros” may say, video editing is not a very complex discipline. Personally I think you just need a good software ( Editing softwares), a small training on video editing software and the main tools, and finally a little practice to be good in automatism.
The feeling is very important in music video editing. The feeling (When to cut? When to change scenes?) is obtained and improved by doing two things:
Watch many video clips and replicate the same thing.
Experience : Edit, edit and edit again …
To really have fun I recommend the use of Premiere pro or final cut. However, if you want sleepless nights you can use free softwares. You will find 2 quick tutorials on the links below:
Make online editing with Jaycut
Make online editing with youtube
How to make a music video | Compositing
Compositing is a kind of animated photo montage. Learn compositing basics will allow you deal with the keying and matte-painting. With compositing you can get good quality results without necessarily having to use high end cameras.
How to make a music video | Keying
Keying is the key to transforming your small budget video clips into a big production “look alike”. This is to take your videos (singer, musician …) on a green or blue background to be able to insert stylish décor later.
Keying requires to know how to illuminate a green background and know how to remove that background in a composing software. Ex: After Effects
How to make a video clip| Set extension
If you shoot your videos into an empty or visually medium setting, you can add items to beautify the stage. Set Extension is an extremely powerful technique but requires learning and practice. Set extension is an advanced compositing technique for making music video.
How to make a music video | Organization
Just like any project, making a music video requires to be organized. What you can do before you start:
- A quick storyboard
- A list of places you would like to shoot
- A list of participating people
- A list of fashion and/or costumes accessories
- Set specific goals. (When will you finish?)
Conclusion
Making a music video is not very complicated in itself. Once you have built some basic techniques you can make your first project. The difference will show with time, one music video after another you will get better quality results.
Make mistakes! It’s by making unsound video clips that you become good at this!
To go faster I advise you to read the articles of videoclipmakers.com on video making in general, because even if music video creation is a very special area, the basic rules are the same for all video types.
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