Introduction
The opportunity for creators today is limitless. With the internet, you can share anything you want the world to see. You just need a camera, the internet, and your creative ideas to create your own content.
If you are a talented composer and singer who wants to give life to their music or a videographer who wants to create music videos for a living, these tips are for you.
1. Prepare the Right Equipment
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The right equipment for creating your music video will be a handful. If you’re just beginning and trying out, however, try starting with lower budget equipment and then upgrade once the need arises.
To help you with the abundant variety of video equipment, here are our recommendations:
A Camcorder
Of course, a camcorder will capture all your video footage and will be taken for video edits later. Choosing a camcorder will depend highly on your budget. You can opt for affordable HD camcorders. But if you aim for higher quality, you need a high definition camera, just like the ones here.
Video Lighting Equipment
Cameras will need a good light source to capture everything clearly. This problem will be unlikely for daylight outdoor shots, but for low-light environments, equip a good lighting setup.
In choosing a video lighting kit, make sure that your setup will illuminate your shots well. This is to avoid issues such as under-exposure, over-exposure, or inappropriate light color. There are several lighting options available for videographers today, as recommended in this list. Also, new lighting options such as flexible LED panels are a great choice. They’re especially useful when you’re traveling, and when you need customization and multi-functionality of your lights.
After having your lighting devices, it’s time to set them up. The standard for most basic filming is the Two or Three-point Lighting. This uses three lights: the key light, the fill light, and the backlight.
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The key light is the strongest light among the three and is placed in front. The fill light is a soft light used to fill out and remove shadows. This is placed opposing the key light. Lastly, the backlight is placed behind and provides depth. The backlight will create a soft glow in the background.
Other Equipment
Aside from the two mentioned above, other accessories are as essential:
- First, camera batteries should pack enough power needed for your shoot.
- Camera tripods should be on your list to keep your video stable.
- Storage devices such as memory cards should come with a large capacity to store all of your high-quality video captures.
- Also, an additional microphone will be needed to capture audio better.
2. Scout Your Location
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You may have ideas where to shoot your video, but it’s recommended to visit your locations before you start filming. A spacious area can be the best place to film. Consider a spacious room if you have, or better yet, garages, front yards, backyards, and other spacious areas could be your options.
3. Work With a Storyboard
Creating a storyboard will help you a lot for your music video. This is a visual plan on the flow of your music video. It is created with images mapped out in order as it is in the story. To some, it is arranged according to which is recorded first.
Having this will help you properly plan what you should be doing for the day. It will also help check that all the shots are taken for the video to be completed.
To be more guided on creating a storyboard, you can get help from this tutorial.
4. Using Shot Sizes
In recording a music video, it is nice to get several kinds of shot sizes. Shot sizes refer to how much of the scene is included in the video frame. The variety of shot sizes are closeup shots, medium shots, and long shots.
A mix of the three shots can be used during the entire music video. Mixing the shot sizes is much better than using a single shot for the entire length. This variation can keep things interesting throughout your video.
5. Camera Angle and Movement
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Aside from varying shot sizes, changing camera angles can make your music video more appealing. Having your shots at a single angle can bore your viewers. Some of these angles are low angle shot, high angle shot, and head on camera angle.
If you are creating a fast-moving video, having camera movements can be an effective way to shoot. The fast camera movements can work best to the liveliness of the music and to the activities of people in the video. There are numerous ways to move the camera, but here are some reliable movements you can work on.
- Zooming further away from the subject or moving closer to the subject.
- Pan to the right or left.
- Tilting the shot to move up or down.
- Changing the focus from one subject to another, while keeping the view the same.
6. Mind the Composition
When recording, keep in mind that the subject is placed within the scene as a whole. Composing the subject into the frame will make the subject in the video in focus. Moreover, depending on how to use this technique, it can give a music video the emotion and feeling that is supposed into it.
You can compose your subject in the video with a good background, an interesting foreground, having space for the people to walk or to look into.
7. Get the Lighting Right
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An important thing to consider in videography is the lighting for shooting your videos. You should have enough lighting available, as many cameras lose quality in low-light situations. Try recording outdoors, if this can apply to your music video.
For indoor shooting, make sure your lighting accessories can illuminate the area well. Try the camera out first to see if the video becomes grainy in your lighting.
More than that, add lighting to make the mood of the scene. You can take this to your advantage if you can make the lights appropriate to the emotion of the video.
8. Recording with a Green Screen
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If you want to step up your videos by including special effects into it, you may want to try shooting on a green screen. During editing, the green screen will be omitted and will be replaced with a fake background or special effects.
Take note: maintain good and consistent lighting on the subject when you use a green screen. This is done so that the separation of the green screen during editing will be much easier.
Conclusion
These are some tips to help you create your music video. There are more tips and tricks to learn in the art of making videos, so keep learning. The opportunity to learn is abundant. You can learn more from the internet, from other videographers, and, of course, from your own experiences.
