1. How to make a good music video.
•The stages are usually as follows:
•The record label, artist and their management agree what to release as a single.
•The video commissioner makes a shortlist of possible directors that suit the style of the idea.
The directors are usually affiliated to particular production companies that specialise in music
videos.
•The director provides a treatment to the video commissioner.
•The director develops the idea into a storyboard once the idea is approved.
•Heads of department are booked eg director of photography (DOP or often called
cameraman), art direct, costume, location manager etc
•The sets are built.
•The shoot (usually lasts up to 2 days).
•The editor produces a rough cut in approximately 3 days.
•Viewing of the rough cut by the director and management to allow for alterations (which is
another reason why you get audience feedback to allow for alterations to your own product)
•Changes are agreed and made before special effects are added.
•On-line video made in the edit (polished version from rough cut)
•Video is passed to record label for release.
The key institutional players in all this are the record company and the video production
company (who makes the video).
The Record Company.
Sign up the band or artist, paying them in advance to cover the cost of releasing a single
including marketing costs, such as the music video, which is ultimately funded by the sales of
the music. The record company employs a video commissioner to develop the brief for the
video, budget and deadlines and sends it to the company/director along with the recording of
the song.
The Video Production Company.
Represents a director within a particular territory eg the Oil Factory production company
represent the director Spike Jonze. The company acts as an agent on behalf of the director,
seeking work for them and negotiating with the client. Unlike an agent, the production
2. company also produces (makes) the video and takes a fee for this. Individual directors are
unlikely to have the finances or resources to pitch for a job so the production companies do this
and the costs are recuperated once the video has been made and paid for. The director used to
take 10% but this is often no longer the case and making a living from promos as a director
has become increasingly difficult.
The Director.
Listens to the track, looks at the lyrics and any other material, such as previous videos by the
same band and outlines a proposal.
If the commissioner/record company likes the idea, they usually hold a meeting with the
director that sometimes includes the artist. The treatment might be amended or simply agreed
and the next stage occurs which is the budgeting.
Budgeting.
This is done by the producer and approved by the head of production and then submitted to
the client. Once agreed a contract is signed.
With the recent economic downturn available budgets have been considerably reduced and the
requirements of multiple signatures from those in charge of big institutions such as Sony, to
agree to the funding, hasn’t helped.
Shooting.
Can take about five days to prepare for compared with two shooting days (think how long you
spend on research and planning compared with Construction and you get the general idea of
the standard ratio). A shoot on location might be less complicated than shooting on a set,
which has to be built and pre-lit, often in a short space of time. Shooting days can be very long,
often starting at 7am and finishing at 1am the next morning. This was certainly the case when
I did videos for Morcheeba and the Lightning Seeds. The benefit was that overtime was paid.
Editing.
The editor must have a clear idea of what the director is after and have access to the
storyboard if required. Editing is divided into two – off-line or roughcut, which takes up to four
days and then shown for approval to the director and Management Company and then on-line
edit, where effects are added and the material is produced to broadcast standard. The time
taken for this varies on the requirements of the video. On-line edits are usually done by a
different editor to the rough cut edit and are based in a post-production facilities house that
own systems such as Flame and Inferno to create the special effects.
