Shooting a Music Video

The Brief – “You escaped like a runaway train…”

For my music video production project, I was given the brief to create a music video at near-professional standard. I reviewed several songs that had interesting lyrics to find one that gave certain emotion and story. Knowing, the college band who would cover the chosen song liked the band, ‘Paramore’ (who ironically are my favourite band) I decided to choose one of their newest songs, ‘In the Mourning’ from ‘The Singles Club’ box set.

After deciding on the song, I analysed the lyrics and decided the song was an emotional one about a break-up (Perhaps the Farro brothers leaving the band), so for my interpretation of the song, I came up with the idea of two band members pretending to be in a relationship and then throughout cuts of the as-live footage show the relationship as the lead singer shows her sadness yet her need to move on. I created a basic storyboard and drafted my proposal to present to the band.

The Band – “…off the tracks and down again…”

I presented the proposal to the band and they liked the idea and even gave positive feedback. As two of the members were in a relationship during the production, they offered to give me footage they had recorded together of them at home that I could review later and use in the video. We scheduled to meet again to decide on costume and give me time to develop and complete all the production paperwork.

After finishing all the pre-production forms, I met with the band again to discuss costume. They gave input and suggested smart casual would be appropriate due to the mood of the song and conventions of the rock genre. We exchanged contact details and set a date for a rehearsal shoot. 

The Rehearsal – “…and my hearts tugging like a steamboat tugging…”

During the rehearsal, it became clear that more shots needed to be recorded and thought out to ensure there is no background footage of camera operators. As I was using a smaller room to rehearse in, it was difficult to work with the tripods during the session. As a team, we also weren’t given the opportunity in the small room to rehearse panning shots with the dolly.

Overall, the practice session was successful as although there were mistakes, it gave us time to correct them for the day of the shoot.

The Production – “All your burdens, on my shoulders.”

I selected certain members of the group to film on each take to ensure there would be as much high quality footage as possible. On each take, I described what sort of shots I required. As there wasn’t a room like the one I had wanted, the as-live footage was shot in the theatre on stage. The lighting was dimmed to set the mood with soft lighting.

The band performed perfectly, acting how I imagined they would for the video. As the lead singer was the focus of the piece (which is conventional of the rock genre and my narrative), she had the most pressure to perform along with the guitarist. They achieved convincing characters (and told what quite ironically what became their story) and they stole the show.

After reviewing the footage from the band’s couple, I decided a shot of the band together and the break up needed to be recorded. So, the next day I shot these two takes to be cut into the footage along with the home movies. 

The Editing – “In the Mourning, I’ll rise.”

During this stage, I reviewed the footage deciding what I was going to use. With the storyboard in mind, I created the first simple edit. 

By marking in points that I liked and points that needed improving I created a second improved edit. Realizing that there were shots in the footage that were interesting but hadn't been used, I created another non-narrative as-live edit combining points I liked from the two previous videos. 

The Final Edit – “In the Mourning, I’ll let you die.”

For the final edit I used sequences from all 3 edits to complete a final cut and ensured that the shots were in time with the song and flowed well. 

The Presentation – “In the Mourning, all my worries.”

When the final video was presented the band, I recieved positive feedback saying the video emphasized the emotion of the song and it gave viewers a empathetic feeling towards the characters in the video's story. 

If I had the chance to re-shoot the video, I would use smoother panning shots and do extra takes to ensure there are no poor shots. 

Here is the finished college music video production of Paramore's song, In the Mourning:

The Purposes of Music Videos

Why are Music Videos so important?

"Television exposure is much sought after by companies and artists as a means of enhancing audience awareness and hence sales" - Studying the Media: 3rd Edition

How and Why? 

So why do artists/bands have music videos? 

The main benefit of having a music video is to make money and promote the artist/band. 

Other positive outcomes from having a music video is that it gives the song meaning. This will also entertain the audience by telling a story. A successful music video usually is memorable and becomes iconic. 


Music has a very large impact on popular culture. Artists like Madonna are an icon for using many different styles and influencing the new directions of pop culture as many of her videos have cult status.

The popular T.V show dedicated an episode to Madonna's music and different styles that influence pop culture today such as bangles, hair in up-do's and leg warmers.

(From left to right Madonna's styles in the 80's, 90's and 00's)

Band Image:

Image is an important feature of a band or artist in raising popularity and determines their success.

The audience wants a style that they can identify with and in some cases copy. A lot of effort goes into the styling of the band/artist. If the band/artist appeals to it's target audience then they are more likely to become very popular and maximize profitability. Artists/bands want to make it obvious on how they want to be perceived by the public domain as some artists, e.g. Marilyn Manson purposefully creates a dark and gothic image to gain popularity through controversy as he is someone the fans who aren't mainstream can relate to.

However, as the artist himself explains in an interview in the documentary, Bowling for Columbine, he explains that people very often misunderstand his image. However, the controversy raises his popularity yet decreases it also as people think he is the cause of youth violence.

An example of Popular culture in music at the moment is:

Pop Rock Bands: All Time Low and Paramore

Both these bands are pop rock/pop punk bands which have influenced the come back of skinny jeans. As popular culture goes in cycles. At the current time, fashion and music seems to be back in the 80's inspired style. 

Where Can You Watch Music Videos?

There are many outlets in which audiences can view music videos. The main ways in which people can access them is music channels such as; MTV, the box, Kiss etc. and the internet on sites such as; youtube and mtv.com. 

Itunes also has the option to download music videos to an ipod or another portable apple device. Another way of viewing music videos is to sell the music video as an easter egg on a CD or as a direct DVD. Availability impacts the fan base in the fact the more exclusive the artist/band is, the more chance they have at raising their popularity.

What is Synergy?

"Synergy - the concept that extra value could emerge from using the effort put into one product in the production and promotion of another. For example, a media conglomerate working with an author in a publishing division might also consider film, television and game adaptations in other division of the same company (or commercial partner company)...

Both industries [Film and Music] were also influenced by the rise of quite specific new media form, the music video." - Media Student's Book: 5th Edition.

Synergy is when 2 or more products are been advertised by another i.e. Film Soundtracks. A great example of a video that uses synergy is Sum 41's 'What We're All About':

The video promoted the band and the 2002 film Spiderman. The video was also released on the DVD as an extra and on youtube. By promoting the popular film which gross was £28,591,639 (UK) (6 October 2002) the music video has over a million views on youtube.

Bands/artists also produce lots of money through selling merchandise on their websites and stock other websites that sell alternative clothing i.e.

www.grindstore.com

www.mamstore.co.uk/sum41

Styles of Music Videos


There are many different styles in which a music videos can be shot and edited. Some music video use one or more of these techniques.

As-Live is when a music video is made to look like a live performance or is a recording of one. This is effective as it shows the bands/artists stage and performance skills. For example, The Blackout's video "Ambition is critical" shows the bands energy in concerts.

Animation can be stop start or digital. This is useful as it means the boundaries of what a producer can and can't do is much greater. An example of this is Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing."

Interprative will take the lyrics and give them physical meaning. This helps reinforce a message of a song and make the song memorable as each line makes you remember the video and vice versa. A fine example is Theory of a Deadman's "I hate my life."

Narrative is when the music video tells a story which is sometimes seperate from the actual song. For example, Green Day's "Wake me up, when september ends" video tells the story of a young couple and how the man goes to war and the woman is left alone missing him.

Surrealist is exactly what it says: dream-like and very unreal. The video for Spandau Ballet's "Musclebound" for it's crazy and un-real style.

Pastiche is a type of parody that doesn't concentrate on one text as it parodizes many. This is an example of intertextuality in which by means of another person's work we can understand theirs.
An example of this would be Michael Jackson's thriller which spoofs the 80's style of horror films.

 

Parody is when a music video spoofs another one in a comic styling. For Example, Michael Jackson's "Beat It" is spoofed by Weird Al Yankovic in his music video "Eat it."

 
Homage is when an artist/band pays tribute to admire someone else's work. This is very useful as a fan of what they are paying homage to may become a fan of them. For example, "Stacy's Mom" pays homage to the classic 80's teen comedy, "Fast Times At Ridgemont High". 

Banned Music Videos

As with all media some content is explicit and therefore is sometimes banned. The company which is responsible for deciding whether a video is allowed to be shown before the watershed is Ofcom. Other companies such as the BBFC. Sometimes censored versions of the video are allowed before the watershed (or safe harbour) of after 9pm. 

However, some artists/bands relish in controversy as they gain popularity through becoming increasingly talked about for been too innapropriate for TV. 
You will need an account and have to be over 18 to watch the video on youtube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-wDJp8ssc

Music videos can be banned for strong language, scenes of a sexual nature, sexual references, drug use, scenes of a graphic nature and/or strong violence.

One example of a banned music video is  Duran, Duran's, "Girls on film," as it's risqué style and nudity needed mass editing before an acceptable one could be aired as it was considered offensive. The video originally was expected to be played at night clubs yet became popular in the mainstream which was unexpected by the band.

Production Values

The more money put into producing a product, the more likely the product shall be successful and will make more money. Speculate to accumulate. 

Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson's, 'Scream' is the music video that used the highest budget to make it as it cost over 7 million dollars in production but has 21,000,000 views on youtube alone. 

Sometimes, a lower budget music video such as Ok Go's 'Here it goes again' (with nearly 10 million views on youtube) becomes incredibly popular for it's originality. However, most often than not low budget videos are generally not as popular unless it is an original idea. 

Conclusion

So, what makes a successful music video that achieves a goal of promoting the band/artist and making lots of money?

• Something original that fits to the bands/artists style and image.
• Using synergy if it is possible to recieve more views by promoting several things at once.
• Using some of the music styles in a creative way.
• Paying out what you can to make the video (have as high a budget as you can).
• Do something controversial if it fits the style you are in. 
• And most importantly by having a band/artist image that is relatable to the target audience.

Music videos are a powerful tool in getting a band/artist noticed and to raise their popularity and income.