2. There are 3 stages to how music videos are made, these are; pre-production,
production and post production
Pre-Production
In the music industry, pre-production is a process whereby a recording artist
spends time creating and refining their musical ideas. This generally starts off
with the band/artist recording a rough draft or what's known as a demo
recording. This is generally done to establish the premise of what will become
the music video.
This also reduces the time and money spent in expensive studios. This allows
for the artist to enter the major recording phase of the music video with the
basic and most promising ideas already being established
HOW ARE MUSIC VIDEOS
GENERALLY MADE
3. Production
This stage is the process of filming the footage for the video. All of the
scenes planned from the pre-production stage will be captured along with the
lighting, framing and composition that were decided in the pre-production.
This will change drastically depending on the type and genre of the music
video and will follow different conventions. A Live performance style music
video such as My Chemical Romances ‘Planetary Girl’ they will sync footage
with shots from various angles of the gig/concert. And for a dance video such
as Britney Spears ‘Hit me baby one more time’ They will record takes of the
choreographed dance scene or the artist lip-syncing to the recorded track and
then dub it over in the post production stage at a later date
HOW ARE MUSIC VIDEOS
GENERALLY MADE
4. Post-Production
Post-Production is many different processes generally grouped under one
name. This stage includes
- Video editing the music video using editing programs
- Writing, (re)recording and editing the soundtrack
- Adding Visual Effects to the recorded music video, sometimes through the
use of CGI or just special effects
A process that is generally used during the post production of a music video is
that of mixing, this can involve equalization and adjusting the levels of each
track to provide an optimal sound experience. Some other techniques that may
happen is the correction of the timing and pitch correction, often through the
use of different software
HOW ARE MUSIC VIDEOS
GENERALLY MADE
5. The funding for a music video usually comes from who the record label is or
who the band/artist are signed to. However if the artists are not signed to any
record label then they will need to raise the money themselves. The money
that they receive will also come from the popularity of both the band and the
record label. One example of this is ‘Scream’ by Michael and Janet Jackson
which had an overall cost of $7 million to make. This video took place on a
elaborately built spaceship and also shows the two enjoying themselves whilst
also being shown as angry when they see how the media are portraying them.
The opposite can be seen in fatboy slims ‘Praise You’ which was filmed for a
cost of £800. The cost of the music video covered a replacement boombox
and food for the cast and crew yet at the 1999 MTV music video awards. It
won two awards including best dance video, this is an example of how you
don’t need a large budget to make a successful music video
FUNDING FOR MUSIC VIDEOS
6. Francis Lawrence
There’s a certain fantastical elegance to Francis Lawrence’s music videos. The
ice castle aesthetic of Jay-Z’s “Girl’s Best Friend,” set inside an enormous
piece of bling; the swank fetish party going down in Lady Gaga’s “Bad
Romance”; the astral dream-world of Maxwell’s “Fortunate”; and, most
enjoyably, the near-orgy taking place in Britney Spears’ sexiest video, “I’m A
Slave 4 U.” He’s a visual storyteller, and his expensive-looking videos reflect
that.
Examples of Music Video’s that he has produced
“Gone Till November”, Wyclef Jean (1997); “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”,
Aerosmith (1998); “Fortunate”, Maxwell (1999); “Girl’s Best Friend”, Jay-Z
(1999); “I’m A Slave 4 U”, Britney Spears (2001); “Cry Me A River”, Justin
Timberlake feat. Timbaland (2003); “Bad Romance”, Lady Gaga (2009)
EXAMPLES OF FAMOUS MUSIC
VIDEO DIRECTORS
7. David Fincher
At their best, David Fincher’s movies tap into mankind’s darkest psychological
terrain, presenting damaged characters and subdued nihilism through gloomily
lit cinematography. So it should came as no surprise that he first cut his
directorial teeth shooting such bleak music clips such as ‘Straight Up’ by Paula
Abdul and Madonna’s ‘Vogue’
Examples of music videos that he has produced
“Express Yourself ”, Madonna (1989); “Vogue”, Madonna (1990); “Cradle Of
Love”, Billy Idol (1990); “Freedom '90”, George Michael (1990); “Straight
Up”, Paula Abdul (1998); “Janie’s Got A Gun”, Aerosmith (1994)
EXAMPLES OF FAMOUS MUSIC
VIDEO DIRECTORS
8. There are many ways for the audience to be able to access these music videos
and one of the most famous ways to do this is via social media sites such as
Facebook, twitter and YouTube. These sites have become the place to store
these sorts of videos and are regularly visited by many people. Over 4 billion
views are added to YouTube videos each day and quite a few of them go onto
music videos.
Another way for the audience to see music videos are Tv channels such as
MTV, Kerrang and other variants. They stream hundreds of music videos
across a wide variety of genres so its not a surprise when millions of people
tune in to these channels to view the music videso
HOW CAN AUDIENCES ACCESS
THESE MUSIC VIDEOS
9. Artists generally make music videos as a way to promote their latest single and
can also act as a way for them to express themselves creatively via the video
itself. By promoting the single, the band will gain new followers and fans and
will increase the amount of people who watch their videos. Another way in
which music videos serve a purpose is that products from different companies
may be placed within the video as a way for other companies to get
recognition from the viewers of the video. An example of this could be ‘Beats
by Dre’ in which the main characters within the music video could be seen
wearing them showing off the logo which the audience will recognise. This
method has become increasingly popular due to the global scale and success
of music videos due to sites such as ‘Youtube’
WHAT PURPOSE DO MUSIC VIDEOS
SERVE FOR THE COMPANIES/ARTISTS
THAT MAKE THEM
10. There are generally 3 record labels that are know as the ‘Big Three’
•Universal Music Group
This is one of the main record labels and contains artists such as Taylor Swift, Lady
Gaga, Adele and Kanye West. The Record Label itself has a revenue of $1.552 billion
each year
•Sony Music Entertainment
This is a world renowned record label and contains artists such as Beyoncé, Michael
Jackson, Britney Spears etc. The Record Label itself has a revenue of $4.89 billion each
year
•Warner Music Group
This is another famous record label and contains famous artists such as Madonna,
Coldplay, Metallica and Linkin Park. The Record Label itself has a revenue of $2.87
billion each year. Panic at the disco are also featured within the artists signed to
Warner music group but are signed to a sister Label called ‘Fueled By Ramen’
EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT
RECORD LABELS
