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1. HOW TO MAKE A MUSIC
VIDEO
BY Heather Allso

2. WHEN CREATING A MUSIC VIDEO…
•The record company has to think about the budget of the music
video, is going to be a big budget video like Lady Gaga’s “Telephone”
or a small budget video like Ed Sheeran’s video for “Photograph”
which was a collection of home videos of baby Ed.
•The record then has to write down/sketch out scenes for the video to
begin to brainstorm their video ideas that gradually build up
throughout the process.
•The record company then discusses with the artist/band the ideas
they have for their video and how they want it to look. This is to come
up with the desired treatment for the video (video concept) and to
outline the plot/narrative of the video.
•The video treatment comes down to the kind of locations needed,
situations, narrative, images, the look of the video, colour and pace

3. (CONTINUED)
•Next, it is important for the record company to start creating the
story board for the music video. This is important for everyone
involved as they are able to have a clear insight into what the video
could possibly turn out like and the story board will effectively allow
the director to try different approaches to a scene. They also allow
the artist and the production company to communicate
ideas/feedback.
•Casting the music video is very important for the record company,
they need to hire the actors to play the characters within the script.
However, music videos based purely upon the artists performance
don’t require actors as the only people on screen are the band
members.
•Location scouting is the next step, its an important process as they
need to find a location with the right lighting, props etc… These
places can be studios, houses, living rooms, offices, stores,

4. (CONTINUED)
•Treating the quality of the video once everything is filmed is the next
important step. It is important that the video is compatible with all
platforms, i.e. that it is compatible with television broadcast
standards. For example, there is a limitation to the amount of colour
and luminosity. It’s important to do a proper treatment of the footage
through colour correction to ensure that the final product is
broadcast friendly.
•Editing and colouring is the next step, this where they have to cut
down scenes in order to create pace, add effects to create a tone in
the video. This is the longest process, and it is also the stage where
colour correction and luminosity correction takes place. Transitions
are also applied to some of the shots.
•Mastering is the process that the video editors take to flatten the
effects, transitions and colour corrections into a format that is
compatible with all media platforms, the most important being