MS - What is the procedure for making a music video?

Posted by Mark

1.) The label, artists and management decide what to release as a single. The record company will give the artist or band an advance; which will cover most of the costs of releasing the single as well as the music video, which is ultimately funded by sales of the record. The record company will also employ a video commissioner.

2.) The video commissioner will make a short list of potential director. The commissioner will make a brief for the video including, the budget, the deadline and other information.

3.) The video commissioner will then send the brief out to the directors along with the track.

4.) The director will listen to the track and do some research on the artist or band, to see what he or she could have to work with. If the director is interested they will then draw out a proposal containing some of their ideas. The proposal could come in the form of a script or an animatic; and this will indicate the general idea the director has for the video.

5.) The video commissioner will then choose a director. They will usually hold a meeting, which could include the artist. In this meeting the directors’ ideas will be discussed further and a budget and deadlines will be agreed. The producer will draw up the budget, and the head of production will then approve it. Once a budget is agreed, a deal memo will be countersigned on director and budget.

6.) The director will then develop their idea with a storyboard and location photos, taking into account any comments or suggestions made by the artist or band, or the record company.

7.) The production unit will then have to be enlisted quickly as everything is now on a tight time scale. The video must be delivered by the deadline or know body will get paid. The production unit includes; production designer, director of photography, production manager, choreographer, production assistant, wardrobe personnel that will include make-up artists and stylists, and the additional crew members such as camera operators, electricians, runners, set constructions etc.

8.) The sets will then be built. A shot can take up to five days of preparation but just one or two days or actual filming.

9.) All personnel will be on site for the shoot (usually just one or two days). A shoot can take place over a very long day as after all they are on a tight time scale; a shoot could begin at 7am and finish at 1am the next day. It is the job of the director to make the video look as good as possible for the budget he or she has. There is reluctance from director to use digital video on anything other than micro-budget productions, record companies demand a product that will look good on TV and this is enough to justify film stock.

10.) Once the shoot is complete, the film is transferred to tape for editing. After the shoot the producer and production assistant spend a couple of days wrapping up the whole event. They also get invoices from unit members and cost so everyone gets paid.

11.) The editor will produce a rough cut, which usually takes about three days.

12.) The label, artist or band and manager view the rough-cut and provide feedback to the editor

13.) The changes are agreed and the editor makes the changes. Once the editing is complete any post-production special effects are added.

14.) The finished product is then passed on to the label for release to TV stations and airplay in advance of the single release. There is now a large market for music videos on TV however; MTV is still the main target for record labels.

15.) Finally once the video is complete it is ready for marketing, distributing and exhibiting. The music video itself can be a marketing device for the artist. It could get airplay on several different music channels as well as internet websites such as 'Youtube' so it is important that the video is right and gives off the correct image for the artist or band. Popular videos will obviously be played more frequently on music channels. The more the video is played the more well known the artist or band will become if they are not already, also the artist or band will make more money the more frequently the video is played as music channels will have to pay royalties to the artist or band to play their video. The finished music video will be distributed to different music channels once it is complete, but only to however is willing to pay for it. The music video is obviously being exhibited when it is being shown on music channels and internet sites.