The Art of Making a Music Video

Michael Fitzer
March 2007

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In the last 25 years, the invigorating art form of making a music video has grown to be one of the most influential and individually stylistic modes of production in the industry. From the first frame to the last, music videos serve as a blank canvas to your mind's eye, a place to show the world what you can really do when let loose with a camera. But, if you let your creative juices drown your common sense approach to production, your music video masterpiece could wind up a public-access catastrophe.

Despite all of the artistic freedom involved with making a music video , the end result still has to serve one purpose: promotion. The music video is a promotional tool for the artist. It sometimes serves as a conduit to attention from a label, but more often it is a catalyst for CD sales or artist song downloads. While a hit video can do a lot for you as a director, its primary goal is to serve the music artist.

The first step in making your music video is the treatment. In the world of high budgets and major labels, directors typically are contacted and asked to develop a concept or a treatment for the video, based on the message or the mood of the song. This step is often a crap shoot. It's where jobs are won and lost. Often the best concept is not the one that wins the job. Most of the time it's the concept that fits into the allotted budget for the project. Still, large budgets are not always the director's best friend. They often cause more problems and cloud the pathway to creative ingenuity.

Working with small budgets will allow you, as a director, to take the focus off the glitz typically associated with the MTV set and allow you to make the artist the star.

Even with a concise treatment in-hand, it's easy to get sidetracked when shooting something as inspired as a music video. More often than not, an eye on the three "L"s will keep you grounded and focused on making your music video.

No matter how you slice it, there's a business model lingering behind any sort of marketable art form. When it comes to potential legal quagmires, music is right at the top of the list. That's why it is so important for you to make sure you are covered before you give the first "action."

If you're dealing with a musical group that pays dues to ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers) or BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.), you will need to obtain a synchronization license which allows you, as the producer of the video work, to use the copyrighted music in timed relation with a visual image. Even if you are working with a musical act with no formal representation, it is best to keep everything on the level. An informal document agreed upon and signed by both parties that gives you the right to create a work of art based on the piece of music is at least something you can have in your back pocket should the musical act one day rise to the top and you need to retain the rights to showcase your work. For more information on licensing, visit www.bmi.com or www.ascap.com.

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