Tips for shooting music video

Jim H wrote on 3/13/2012, 11:37 AM
I've been asked to shoot a promo video for a local 4 piece band. They will be in a recording studio playing to a studio track of one (or more?) of their songs. I've still got to have a sit down with them to go over their expectations - maybe get them to send me some examples from Youtube on what they like.

So I'd like some feedback from you guys on what sort of things I need to think about. The way I see it now is that we'll record several play throughs of the band playing over the studio track using different camera angles for each take and focusing on each band member... so I'm thinking 5 takes, one wide, and one each for the band members. Here are some questions I put together and would appreciate any comments or additional considerations:

What does the studio space look like? Lots of space? Room for backdrops? High ceilings?

Flexible existing studio lighting? or do I plan on bringing my own lights? Light mounts on ceiling? Windows? (do I need to bring material to block window light)

How many songs? Durations? How much time will you have the space for? Time enough for multiple play-throughs? Daytime or night?

I'm thinking the master audio track(s) should have sync marks (beeps) at beginning and end (ask engineer to add prior to shoot – example, three sharp beeps, three seconds of silence, song begins, song ends, three seconds of silence, three sharp beeps)

My thought here is that I record each take from start to end and line them up in my NLE along with the master audio track using the sync marks on the audio tracks. Then use VASST US or native mulitcam to edit final video.

Thanks for any tips you can offer.

Jim

Comments

richard-courtney wrote on 3/13/2012, 12:30 PM
You forgot the most important thing.....have fun.

The audience wants to see the excitement and enjoyable time they will have
if they purchase a CD or attend a live performance. If you are a venue operator,
will this group bring in money?

Closeups closeups closeups. - Lots of B-roll material
drum sticks hitting, guitar strums

Shoot at the drummers throne the main singer with a spotlight casting a shadow into
your lens. You get the idea.

Love song? Pretty girl with a flower walking barefoot by a stream. Shots that support
the mood of the song. Early morning with fog....

farss wrote on 3/13/2012, 3:23 PM
The venue could be a major PIA. Recording studios are oftenly small and dark with low ceilings.
What is the story, is the video going to illuminate the song or show the song being recorded?

Only 5 takes and each one with a static camera, not much to work with really. Depending, depending, depending, maybe need dolly / jib / crane to move the camera.

5 takes in a row, band is going to lose energy.

All hard to know without knowing the band, their music and their expectations.

Bob
Laurence wrote on 3/13/2012, 3:35 PM
If I was doing a recording studio shoot, I would take my DSLR and my 35mm and 50mm prime lenses. Like Bob said, recording studios tend to be dark and not necessarily pretty places. You need all the light you can get, and in my case, the prime lens is about 8x more sensitive to light than the zoom. That and what is very likely a cluttered background would look better thrown out of focus. If I was shooting this with my HDV camera, I'd be bringing my lights and it would still likely look dark and noisy. With the DSLR and some primes, it would be an easy run and gun job and would actually look quite pretty at the end.
larry-peter wrote on 3/13/2012, 4:50 PM
If the studio is the only location (i.e. no storytelling or conceptual shots happening) and it's obviously going to look like a studio, then I would suggest rolling almost continuously. Get cut-ups happening between takes, laughter, shoot the band when they're taking a break between shots. If you have the ability to overcrank - shoot a complete run-through overcranked and "find" your shots during the performance. I would suggest this to an extent on every take you shoot. Focus on variation of camera angles rather than just individuals. Other than the vocalist, or a featured soloist, it adds a lot of energy to shoot "live" rather than focusing on a particular band member. Look for nicely framed 2 or 3-shots that happen when the band members are moving about. Just make sure to capture an interestingly framed wide master that will cover your *** to do more creative shots.
Jim H wrote on 3/13/2012, 6:45 PM
All great comments. Yeah, I've seen some cramped studios but that's where they think they wanted to shoot... I'll try to convince them that a location would be best for a video...after all the audio track is done.

Yes, from my wedding days long ago, I know the value of one clean wide shot that I can fall back on when my other cameras are wandering...maybe my wide shot will crane up and down throughout for interest. But I figure the 4 "member" cams rolling for the full song - and wandering to get those nicely framed 2-3 shots, should give me enough footage.

I do plan on shooting with my DSLR (alas only 24f/s) with 50mm prime and maybe an 80 or 120 to get the fingers and what not. I don't have a lot of time on the DSLR as a video camera so focusing might be fun... I'm wondering if my D7000 has a quick focus button?? I know it does what Nikon calls "autofocus" but it's slow and loud...but I guess I don't care in this case.

As for special effects, if I have time and cooperation from the talent, I'll do a couple takes with the audio track sped up as fast as the guys can keep up with it. Then slow down the footage to match the original audio and see what that looks like.
Laurence wrote on 3/13/2012, 10:56 PM
I'm sure my D5100 is similar to your D7000 when it comes to focusing. Autofocus is pretty much useless when used as continuous auto-focus. It is constantly changing and going past and back again to the correct focus, then focusing again. It works somewhat at deeper depths of field, but you are going to need the large aperture for low light. You really won't be able to use the autofocus for this gig at all.

I do however regularly use the camera shutter button for a "push to autofocus" function. You can either move the center square to center on the subject, push the shutter button, then start shooting, or you can move the center square to what you want in focus before hitting the shutter button. Another option is to use facial recognition and press the shutter button when you see the yellow square has found the face you want.

I always do this, then lock exposure because the Nikons are horrible at changing exposures in jumps rather than smoothly. All in all, not too bad a workflow though, and most of the time I can actually shoot as quickly with the Nikon as I could with my Z7.

What you have in your favor is that people in a studio tend to stay in one place while they do whatever it is they are doing.
China wrote on 3/14/2012, 12:02 AM
Have a squizz at this vid...



Lots of camera movement, lots of close ups, lots of pretty girls! :-)

This clip has a twist to grab your attention by having the studio crew the reverse gender from the audience would "normally" expect. Identify some kind of quirk of the band or studio to spark curiosity and hold attention...

I would do a dozen takes (at least) for each song if you're only using one camera... close-ups I would leave to the latter part... if each band member knows they will have their "camera solo" coming up later in the shoot, that will tend to hold their interest and energy level through multiple takes... having loud monitor speakers in the recording room (as opposed to or in addition to headphones) will keep the vibe up!

that's what I would do anyway :-)

Would love to see how it works out.


China.
MUTTLEY wrote on 3/14/2012, 5:39 AM
First off, and this is not meant as a slight but more of a loose general rule of mine, never take creative advice from someone who's work you haven't seen.

Second of all, and this is my only real advice for now: do something different, doesn't matter what you do different but do something different. Music vids are the absolute best kind of project in the world to push your boundaries. Doesn't matter if its different lighting, arrangements, experimental shots/angels, have extras dressed as ducks, cut in public domain footage, shoot it upside down, whatever, do something different. There are no rules, there are no limits. Listen to the song 100 times, the visuals will come, when they come, bring them to life and I almost guarantee you'll end up with something you and they love. Beyond the basics that you already know any advice is just opinion but your art should be your opinion, sometimes shared with the artist themselves in tandem. Everything else is just bull***t.

Matter of fact the moment you finish reading my post you should immediately try to forget everything I said but still put on your headphones and listen, its there.

Good luck buddy =)

- Ray
Underground Planet
Rory Cooper wrote on 3/14/2012, 6:36 AM
Agree with Muttley listen and visualize the scenes and cuts in your mind. Lots before you shoot.

Play it safe …shoot at least two complete lock down shots of the ENTIRE track x 2 = 2 angles 23-33 % separation = old school this is your base track which you can expand from. Before you do anything get these 2 shots. Then go beserk.
Jim H wrote on 3/14/2012, 5:16 PM
Love the input - thanks all. Ray, I've seen your work - I'll save your advice.
Turns out they only want one song. The studio is in an old church which they have for 6 hours. I'm hoping for night time.

There is a female vocalist which worries me that lip syncing might be a problem - I guess it's all on her to do a good job, not much I can do.

I filmed these guys before as part of a larger "big band." I just showed up with three cameras and winged it. I wasn't getting paid so no pressure, no expectations. So it was easy to please them and I did learn a few things.
https://vimeo.com/channels/bigband

With just 4 people in a controlled environment dedicated to this shoot, I'm hoping it will be easier to get good shots... but the expectations will be higher - even if I don't take their money.
Byron K wrote on 3/14/2012, 11:22 PM
Nice video Jim! I enjoyed the manga, added energy of the tune.