Have a plan!!!
It’s a good idea to have a worked-out plan before you go off shooting…
- Is this a ‘Narrative’ video – telling the story behind the song? Or is it going to be a simple ‘Performance’ video?
- For a Narrative, a good idea is to Storyboard the video – a series of simple sketches that describe each set-up – whether it’s a performance location or B-roll related to the story.
- There’s nothing wrong in finding inspiration from other videos!
Performance Videos
- Your video is a big deal! If you’re hoping to impress potential venues and promoters, it needs to be good! Plan on spending some time and a little money to get it right.
- Unless you can arrange the shoot at a gig, borrow or hire a venue, Light it and make it as realistic a ‘concert’ as possible.
- Arrange with the engineer at the venue for a high-quality recording from the mixing desk. The recording will be the basis for the final video when it comes to the edit.
- For a band, three cameras (they can be iphones too) are about the minimum. So for example, Camera 1 follows the vocalist, Camera 2 features the musicians and Camera 3 is a ‘locked off’ wide shot of the stage.
- It’s important that all the cameras are also picking up audio from the stage or PA. That audio will be used for synchronisation purposes in the edit.
- If you can, grab some shots of the audience enjoying themselves!
- Now read the Technical notes below!
Narrative Videos
- Usually plan on at least a couple of different locations – could be indoors, outdoors, day or night – doesn’t really matter. You can have as many as you like.
- You can use a tripod, handheld or a gimbal – it doesn’t really matter.
- For playback, very important to use the song that you’re actually going to use in the edit.
- The important thing is to have at least one base performance shot of the entire song, from start tio finish, with the artist in focus and in frame throughout, that you can always rely on and cut back to if needed.
- Shoot at least one wide shot and one closeup at each location.
- You can change locations, outfits
- If possible, sing along to the actual song while playing it on set – looks more realistic than lipsyncing.
- It’s important to record the ‘scratch’ audio on the camera mics. Will be used for syncing in the edit – so without it, we’ll be in trouble!
- Shoot some B-Roll too!
Some Technical Stuff
- Whether you’re shooting with a high-end camera or an iPhone, you will need to choose the resolution and frame rate.
- For music videos, the best standard is 4K resolution (3840×2160) at 24fps for a cinematic look, or 4K at 30fps for a smoother, high-energy feel.
- For slow-motion performance shots, 60fps or 120fps is recommended. Use a 180-degree shutter rule: Your shutter speed should be double your frame rate (e.g., 24fps = 1/50th sec, 60fps = 1/120th sec) to produce natural-looking motion blur that mimics human vision.
- Whatever you choose, make sure all cameras are set to the same resolution and frame rate for all the shoots.
- Portrait or Landscape? If your video is likely to be shown on YouTube or Facebook, best to shoot everything in Landscape (16 x 9) format. We can always make a Vertical version for Instagram etc from landscape footage.
- Back up! Backup! Backup! After your shoot, copy all your files to at least one good-quality hard drive. – preferably a SSD (though they are expensive!)
Need Help?
If you are planning to shoot your music video and would like to discuss, give me a call. Happy to help!
Do you have tips of your own? Email them to me: tim@timwatsonediting.co.uk
Tim Watson Editing 