Music Video « Videomaker Community Forums

nobody
Member

Hey again everyone. Have any of you ever made a music video, or think that you might have enough experience, and can hand out a few tips? The vid will include some footage of the band playing, but thats about all I know. Anything is greatly appreciated!

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

is it just live footage? or are you going to do something like MTV. Watch some vids and see what they do and generate ideas off of that.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

It's live.. but I'm gonna have some stuff that isn't live mixed in.

Posted 8 years ago #
tjborek
Member

I've shot and edited a handful of music videos over the last two years, and I think the music is the best place to start. For me, the choice of live or recorded music dictates where things will go. In my experience, bands (rock bands, at least) tend to perform songs faster in concert, so if you're showing the live performance footage over a recorded music track, sounds and actions inevitably happen out of sync and your work looks sloppy. If I were you, I'd have the band decide from the start whether they want to lip-sync to a recording or use live audio. The end result yields a totally different vibe. My personal preference, however, is for the artist(s) to lip-sync the song a few times:
1. Try to shoot a few lip-sync takes during soundcheck, from multiple camera angles. That way, you already have the lights and stage set up for continuity.
2. Videotape the audience reactions during the actual show.
3. Videotape the band performing in front of the crowd (doesn't have to be the same song, thanks to the magic of nonlinear editing).

That should give you plenty of source footage to edit, which lets you create a lip-synced video with the true "live" feel while retaining the clarity of the studio recording.

Then you need to decide if this video has a storyline or concept to follow, but that's a whole other can of worms.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

Wow, I never even thought of filming the audience.. Thanks for the tips.

Posted 8 years ago #
tjborek
Member

I'd like to see your video when you're done.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

How do I go about setting up proper lighting if it's live? Do you have any footage that I could take a look at before I get started on this?

Posted 8 years ago #
tjborek
Member

Check out http://www.geocities.com/tborek/samples.html for a short sample of a live video I shot for a local hardcore band (hence, the gritty look to the video). This stage during this particular song had a lot of backlighting, so I had fun with it by applying a directional blur filter. This shot uses only venue lighting; I didn't add anything.

Don't worry too much about perfect lighting when you're going for a live concert feel; all but only the DARKEST venues will offer ample lighting. Make sure your camera is properly white-balanced, first and foremost. You may need to boost the gain/exposure (if you have manual controls) and/or select a slower shutter speed to properly expose the darkest areas. And use manual focus if possible; most camcorders' autofocus isn't reliable in darker situations. If you can shoot the artist at a soundcheck with stage lighting on, choose your camera angles then. If you're still getting ugly shadows or the scene's entirely too dark, bring in a couple of clip-on halogen work lights w/aluminum reflectors in a 3-point arrangement. If the venue will let you bring them in, use the brightest bulbs you can find, and position as far away as possible while still making a difference; you don't want to bathe the stage in light, just enhance what's already there.

Another easy solution in to bring a powerful (20 watts or more) on-camera light with a white scarf or tissue paper taped over the front to diffuse it. The diffused light will prevent hard shadows. I'm probably leaving out stuff, but this will help you at least a little bit. Experience is the best teacher.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

wow this is just the infromation i was looking for aweosme also when syncing up for instance the singer to the music should you just kinda move the clip around till it fits the music?

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

You might need to go down to the frame level, but once you get it set you won't need to do it again. (Unless you accidentally drag the clip in your timeline. Ouch!) Be grateful for the Undo command.

Posted 8 years ago #