Music Videos

Dominik Muench · April 11, 2005

Hi all,

i have to write an essay about this topic, in terms of how the shootings differ from feature film shoots, how many shots have to be done (many mclip productiosn often go for 3 days only..), differences in technical aspects, shooting habbits and so on. and i would like to hear your opinions :)

thanks for the help

Kevin Zanit · April 11, 2005

Well I just finished a week straight (today) of 3 different music videos, so I may be a little biased ;)

I love and hate shooting music videos. On one side, I love music, thus I enjoy being a part of it. I like the opportunity to be more expressive, and shy away from naturalism some. I like the pace, and the constantly different locations, etc.

I hate the pace and constantly compromising my lighting. I hate the hours (although this recent batch was very reasonable), I hate trying to be creative while being extremely tired. I hate having 5 minutes for each setup. And I hate the feeling of just giving up, and rolling on a scene that I don't feel is done being lit.

As you can tell, it is love hate.

On these particular videos we were shooting between 18 and 25 setups a day. This is not that many setups (it?s certainly enough to fill a day, but by no means unheard of or impossible). But, in the case of a music video we are jumping around to different locations.

For instance, yesterday we were shooting in a large warehouse. In the morning we had a large art gallery set to light. While we were shooting out this set, my gaffer would go off to check on the green screen setup for latter that day. We then moved on to the green screen, which was essentially lit, leaving just the foreground to light. As I was lighting the foreground, the AD came to me and told me that break dancers we had coming in had to be wrapped out by 4:45 (it was about 3:30). The break dancing was going to be shot outside. So while I was working with the green screen I had to thin out my already thin crew and package to start lighting the break dancing. Once the green screen was going, I spent the rest of the time leading into the dancing running back and forth from location to location.

It was hard, but standard for music videos. If anything I light faster for music videos, you have no choice.

Doing these things you have to learn to trust your instincts, and also consult a lot with your gaffer. You do not have time to change your mind much. Once you commit to something, it just better work or you need to learn to love it. "Not every shot will make your reel . . . " ;)

Kevin Zanit

Dominik Muench · April 11, 2005

haha wow, that sounds quite stressfull, thanks for your comment.

Phil Rhodes · April 11, 2005

Hi,

I generally like 'em, especially as the last couple I've done have been at a higher level than anything else I've ever done before. I'll take any music video I can get; they're one of the few things I'll still do for free.

On the other hand, I generally find that when I'm sitting in a QA lab among the whir of fans (as today) I'm chafing to be out behind a camera somewhere, and when I'm out behind a camera, having got up very early and probably not being paid that well, I'm chafing to be in a nice warm room with a keyboard in front of me.

Hohum, I guess there's some kind of karmic balance in there.

Phil

Dominik Muench · April 11, 2005

:) i have to say i like musikvideos too, i havent shot any features yet so i cant compare, but it can be a lot of fun.

April 15, 2005

with the right kind of director a music video can be a great experience. generally, they let you get away with more stuff than let's say in commercials. however, the hours and the working conditions are brutal. production always seems to be a buck short on videos yet they want twice as much in half the time. you can't afford a top notch crew so you got less support that way as well.

but like i said with the right kind of treatment and a director who has an interesting vision you get to do some really cool stuff. There are only three positions in a filmcrew that actually get to enjoy a music video shoot. the director, the d.p., and the production designer. everybody else just suffers.