Making a music video

The Art of Making a Music Video

In the last 25 years, the art form of making a music video has grown to be one of the most used and stylistic modes of production in the media industry. From the first frame to the last, music videos are made to show the world what you can really do when let loose with a camera. But, if you get to over confident with the music video production, your music video masterpiece could turn out to be a failure!


What is a Music Video production?

Despite all of the artistic freedom involved with making a music video , the end result still has to serve one purpose: promotion. The music video that you create is a promotional tool for the artist. The music videos are usually made to promote the artist or band but more usually it is a video to increase CD sales or artist song downloads. While a hit video can do a lot for you as a director, its primary goal is to serve the music artist or band for their fame and future.

Making a Music Video: The Treatment

The first step in making your music video is the treatment. In the world of high budgets and major labels, directors typically are contacted and asked to develop a concept or a treatment for the video, based on the message or the mood of the song. This step is often a crap shoot. It's where jobs are won and lost. Often the best concept is not the one that wins the job. Most of the time it's the concept that fits into the allotted budget for the project or for example (£0) if a student video project.

Workflow & Planning

Even with a concise treatment in-hand, it's easy to get sidetracked when shooting something when making your music video. so to avoid this always take along production notes and story boards etc to the music video shoot.

Licensing For Making a Music Video

No matter how you slice it, there's a business model lingering behind any sort of marketable art form. When it comes to potential legal quagmires, music is right at the top of the list. That's why it is so important for you to make sure you are covered before you give the first "action."