So, you’re finally ready to shoot the music video for your new song. The tricky stages of recording, mixing and mastering are all finished up, and you’re finally ready to add some visuals to your masterpiece!
But where do you start? If you’ve never shot a music video before, or you’ve made some in the past and need some more tips - don’t fear, this guide is here to help you!
At Pickering Street Studios, we have a background of experience in the music industry, and know what it’s like from both in front and behind the camera. In today’s blog, we’ll share some handy tips that will help you have a smooth sailing experience whilst creating your music video.
Contents
Deciding on the type of music video you want to create
Deciding on the type of music video you want to create will very much depend on who the video is for and who you are as an artist. For example, if you’re an independent artist looking to create something that will promote your song, you may want to look at doing something more creative to spark interest with your potential audience.
However, if you’re a cover band looking to create a showreel to send to agencies and potential future clients, you’ll probably want to look at creating that’s based more on live performance rather than just creating a lyric video for a cover song.
Lyric videos
Lyric videos can be a great way to promote your song, as it allows your listeners to read the words as they listen to your song in real time. It can also be pretty cost effective, as with the right video editing tools and know-how, it can be pretty easy to create your own! There’s also some great apps that can help you with this as well.
Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones is a classic example of a lyric video, with animated text and visuals!
Getting creative
The main downside to creating lyric videos is the fact that they’re not very creative, and not necessarily very engaging for your audience, either. One of the ways round this is to combine the lyric video style with the other types of music videos to make something that’s more visually appealing - some examples are included below!
Shotgun by Georga Ezra is an example of a step up from a 'standard' lyric video as the video features him singing the song in different locations as well as providing the lyrics!
Gasoline by Maneskin features the classic lyric look woven in with studio-shot footage of the band.
Performance Videos
Performance videos can come in different formats. You may want to create a video where you’re miming along to your track, with fast paced cuts in between shots. Or you might want to create a live performance video of you playing the song in the studio or (or another cool location) to give a different perspective!
You can also mix performance videos with other types of videos too. For example, you could have one part of the video that’s telling a really cinematic story in a more artistic way, mixed in with you playing through the song in a performance, and cut between the two!
Here's an example of a live music video shot by the team here at Pickering Street Studios. We recorded the audio live as the video was being shot too, giving a more raw, live performance.
This classic by Paramore mixes the story and more artistic style mixed in with a performance video.
Artistic Videos
Artistic videos can take a huge variety of different formats. Some videos have very little resemblance to what’s happening in the song, while others may be a short cinema piece that exists separately as a piece of art aside from the video. Some examples for inspiration are included below:
Drive Home by Steven Wilson creates a stunning visual representation of what's being spoken about in the songs lyrics.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams features a storyline with the band mixed in with performance footage.
Preparing for the video shoot
Once you’ve roughly decided on what form your video is going to take, it’s time for the next part of the process - preparing to shoot the video! It’s important to have a vague plan for your video before shooting as just like being in the studio - time is money, and costs can quickly add up.
Planning and pre-production
This could be anything from a fully scripted, fully realised storyboarded, shot planned masterpiece to a vague shot list. Once you’ve got the idea sorted, think about how you’ll shoot the video. Will you look at filming the video yourself, potentially with the help of some friends? Or do you need to bring in a videographer or video production studio in order to bring your vision to life?
Finding a videographer
Finding a good videographer to bring your vision to life can be tricky. Even a quick google search may bring up 100s of videographers in your area. Ask friends, family members or fellow musicians if they have any recommendations for people they’ve worked with before!
Once you’ve shortlisted a few videographers, have a look through their portfolio to make sure they have good quality past work that looks like it can fit in with the vision you have. Have a phone or video call with your chosen videographers to discuss ideas with them, and get a feel for what working with them might be like!
A good videographer will be able to help you bring your vision to life, as well as provide further creative input to help take your video to the next level!
Shooting the video
Once you’ve chosen your videographer, it’s time to set a shoot date. Make sure everyone who is involved in the video can be there and is aware of the time - it’s easy to loose time on video shoots, just like the recording studio!
Plan and prepare before the video so you can give the best possible performance on the day. Even if you’re miming the song, it’s important to know the lyrics pretty well so you can give a convincing and engaging performance.
The same goes for instrumentalists, too. Make sure you know your parts well enough to mime them - nothing is more off-putting when you’re watching back if your hands/legs/fingers aren’t moving where they’re supposed to!
This is even more important if you’re creating a live performance video, as it’s really tough to nail a song whilst recording and being filmed at the same time. Set aside plenty of rehearsal time to make sure you iron out any issues before the shoot.
Be open to changes on the day - sometimes these can provide interesting creative opportunities that can really add something special to your final video!
Editing
The editing process is really where your video can start to come to life. Whether you’ve hired a professional videographer to edit your video, or you’re editing the video yourself - there’s a multitude of different ways to edit can affect the final outcome.
There’s such a huge range of knowledge that comes with editing, but here’s a few tips to help you:
Edit to the beat - it’s a lot easier to ‘sell’ transitions, cuts and parts of the video if they’re lined up with the beats of your song.
Pace the edits - if the video is for a fast paced rock song, you’re probably going to need faster cuts and transitions than if you’re making a video for a slower, folky ballad. Genre is just as important here as it is for music!
With that being said - don’t cut too much too. Sometimes a simple shot that holds on the subject is perfect for the pace of the video!
Posting
Okay, so this isn’t so much about the actual ‘posting’ of the video onto YouTube and Facebook or wherever your video is destined to end up! This is more about thinking about pacing the release of your video.
You can use short excerpts and previews, behind the scenes of the editing and shooting process and other footage to ‘tease’ your audience over a longer period of time. Videos are a huge time investment, let alone money investment, so make the most of building up the excitement and hype for your audience!
After the video has been released, think about how you can re-purpose it for future promotional material. This is a great way to keep the content creation process rolling and bring it into your wider social media strategy!
Hopefully this blog has given you some tips and advice on shooting a music video, and some food for thought on the subject. If you are thinking about shooting a music video, we’d love to help! Check out our portfolio for more of what Pickering Street Studios can offer, and get in touch with us to book in for a free no-obligation call to chat through your ideas!
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