GCT - Procedure for Making a Music Video

Before I outline the procedure for making a music video I will firstly define what exactly a music video is. A music video can be referred to as ‘post-modern’ because it blurs the boundaries between entertainment programs, short films and advertising. Therefore it falls into none of these categories yet all of them, this is why we refer to it as ‘post-modern’. Essentially a music video is a promotional tool for the band or artist that are being shown, the video is used to help boost CD and record sales as well as online downloads.

The first thing that is done in the procedure of making a music video is the time management. The average music video has a schedule of five weeks and the different tasks in the in the making the music video are allocated into this time, once the time management is done the treatment can be written. The director’s job is write a treatment that reflects the mood and feel of the song, usually coming up with a conceptual, narrative or performance based idea and in many cases a mixture of all of those. Whilst writing the treatment the director needs to keep an eye on the budget and often will be restricted in what he or she can do by the budget. Although in many lo-fi music videos a low budget is the appeal of the video.

Once the treatment is written and finalized the planning begins, the director will usually only have about a week to complete all of the planning and that means that everything needs to run quickly and efficiently to finish on schedule. The first step of planning is that the director will make sure that all the documentation and copyright agreements are valid so that there are no issues with the record label that the artist is signed to. Then the director can set about looking for locations, when choosing his locations he needs to keep in mind the treatment and find suitable locations which reflect those in the treatment. The director will also receive help from the production manager when finding the location as the production manager typically deals with logistics such as locations and props. The locations must also have enough space for equipment and crew and can’t be anywhere which would be too dangerous. Finally, the last thing that needs to be checked before a location can be used is if you need permission to film there. As well as deciding all the locations the art style needs to be in keeping with the bands image. This is where the production designer comes in, they are in charge of the sets overall image and the director of photography who makes sure all the cameras and lighting are set up correctly. There is also the role of choreographer for dance routines the production assistant to ensure continuity between shoots, a wardrobe artist and many of crew members such as electricians.

When the planning is finally over the shoot can begin. Typically the shoot takes around seven days to complete which would include five days of planning and two days of actual shooting. Because the sound for the video is pre-recorded in a studio, no microphone sound is recorded during the shoot. But this does leave one issue of lip syncing, it is essential to maintain almost perfect lip syncing otherwise the video will look very amateur and un-professional, therefore the song is often played in the background for the artist to lip sync to. After the shoot is complete the editing and post production beings and the final version of the music video is put together ready for exhibition.

The final stage of making a music video is the exhibition. The video will be broadcast to consumers through television on music channels such as MTV. There will also