10 Tips on Your FIRST Music Video

With many of us social distancing and in lockdown, making music videos has become a fun way to share with the world. Whether you are a parent trying to impress the grandparents with a fun family video or a business professional that wants to use video as a new branding tool, here are 10 tips to help you enjoy video success.

1. Decide on a song that represents you as a whole.

Maybe the sweet lullaby with the dulcimer twinkling in the background is your favorite song, but if your branding is more dubstep, spending all that time on that one song may mislead fans who are looking for a different sound. Choose a song that sets the mood of what you are trying to say. Avoid overt manipulation (like super sappy soap opera music unless you are going for a comedic effect). Music can make the difference between a viral hit and a big hum drum Meh.

2. Decide on a budget.

How much can you afford, really afford, to spend? At the least, even with borrowed equipment, a free location, and your brother doing post-production, you will probably blow at the least a few hundred making this video if you don’t have the equipment. High-end videos, like those on MTV, run into movie-budget type numbers, so if you don’t have the dough to make the next Thriller, then go for a style that fits where you are at right now. Today the quality of the CONTENT over the quality of the PRODUCTION matters. So don’t worry if you just have a smartphone and your tablet. You can make pretty decent videos with minimal production gear and low-cost video editing apps. However, always opt for high quality with audio. If that means buying a professional mic to ensure that you can HEAR clearly, then it’s worth it.

3. Decide on a style.

Most likely, your music video will be low-budget. However, bands like OK Go proved that even cheesy choreography and treadmills can become a major hit! (Brief pause as I enjoy their wacky video for the hundredth time.) Find a style that will appeal to your audience. Think about things like location, costuming, color palette (notice OK Go’s choice of pink versus gray), props, choreography, lip-syncing, optional storylines, scenery, etc. Will it fit into a genre (sci-fi, historical, club scene, etc.) It is up to you whether you want to storyboard the whole video or improvise. Most likely you are not going to be working with professional actors, so ad-lib is probably the way to go.

4. Get a location.

There are thousands of free locations around you, from churches to parks, to universities, to warehouses, and the woods. With social distancing, though, you might be stuck in your home. Find a location that fits with the style of your video and then find out whether or not you need permission to tape. Then go from there. Think about things like whether you will need lighting and electricity.

5. Get gear.

You can borrow or rent most professional level gear. If you want to go for that “amateur look”, which is perfect for social media, then you can buy consumer video cameras and equipment. Think about aspect ratio, lighting, graininess, if you are shooting at night, weather, and other conditions that will affect what you will need for the shoot. Use a high-end phone if you need to. For videos just for the family, a smartphone and video editing app might be all you need.

6. Lip Syncing Advice

Don’t be fooled by virtual choirs that make two dozen singers singing at the same time look super easy. These videos take a lot of work in production and post-production. Whether you bring a boom box, a smartphone with speakers, or just blare it from the car, you are going to need the song to playback to make lip-syncing as painless as possible. Use a slate or simple clap and click-track to make sure that everyone sings at the SAME TIME. Once you start taping, take multiple takes, even if you like the first take. The first few takes will be the freshest, but you may need the seventh take to cut in where the bass guitarist was picking his nose. Lip syncing takes a lot of work. Start small with a handful of folks. Then move on to larger ensembles.

Then…Have a blast taping your video!

7. Dubbing Music Video Fun

Dubbing is a pain, but most music videos show at least a few sections where the group is actually “singing” to the tune. Watch several of your fave music videos and try to see how often the video is spliced up. Also, frames are often lost during transfer, so don’t be surprised if suddenly the band is out of sync after thirty seconds of being right on. A click track will help you prevent a LOT of mistakes.

8. Post-production

Post-production is the art of taking hours of video footage and splicing and dicing it down to three minutes of perfection. While pros use Avid, Final Cut Pro, Premier, or other editing software, basic software like iMovie or smartphone apps can be used for post if that is all you have available. If you are good with tech, you can enjoy video editing quickly. However, if you need help, you most likely know someone that has the ability to do some video editing in your community, family, church, or local university.

9. Finishing touches

Play the rough to a “test” audience and honestly listen back to their feedback. Can the colors be played with a little bit more? What about lighting? Is the lip-sync convincing? Were too many effects used (often a sign of amateur videos that focus on the coolness of effects instead of the quality of the whole). Does it tell a story? Does the video represent you positively? It’s better to release a handful of high-quality videos instead of trying to create a video a day, especially if you are working alone. Many YouTube and Instagram stars have a full production team behind the scenes working with them. If you are working alone or only with a few friends, start with a weekly release, and perfect your craft. Finally, be sure that subtitles are available. Believe it or not, many viewers will start watching your video on mute first. Make your video accessible with good subtitles.

10. Promotion

Promotion can take another book of tips. What is the quality of your video? What platform will you use to release it? Do you have a planned product/service/album release that you are trying to push through this video? What if the video goes viral? Do you have a plan for managing, comments, requests, trolls, press, and a possible giant increase in popularity?

Making your first music video is a fun and amazing experience, and the more videos you make, the better you will become at capturing your style in a few short minutes. Follow these tips.

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Sabrina Peña Young is an award-winning composer and filmmaker, and the Creative Director of Bandwidth Media & Film, a digital media and post-production studio in Western New York. She is the author of Filmmaking Crash Course 101 and Composer Boot Camp 101.