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INDUSTRY research

Production of music videos

Music Video's are generally made differently depending on the type of video being made:

 

Performance: these will be made with the artist as the main feature usually lip syncing or playing their corresponding instruments to the song (the song will be blasted through speakers for the artist to sing along to)

 

Narrative: these videos will be a mainly based around a story to the song

 

 

Concept: these videos are a concept thought up by the director

 

sometimes videos are a mixture of a couple of categories for example most videos are hybrids between the performance and narrative catergories having a mixture of performance and the artist singing and a narrative story. 

A very generalised and brief example of the production process would go something like this:

 

1 - a story board and script

2 - a schedule is made and crew devised

3 - the video is filmed

4 - the production enters post production and editing happens

 

the video is then distrubuted in the distrubtion stage

Purpose of Music Videos

The main purpose for the companies behind the artist is for a song to make money in which a music video assists this process as a promotional tool, due to the nature that music videos are usually released before albums also to construct a star of the artist, there is also the point that music videos may gain media attention and become viral and this would create attention for the artist, the main purpose of music video's for an artist may be to explore further their creative vision or to enhance their creativity and brand identity.

Crew of Music Videos

Below is a rough list of people who may be involved as crew for a music video:

 

- Director - carries out the creative vision

- Writer - responsible more for the narrative of the video

- Producer - this is the person responbile for finacial funding of a video and also shoot schedules etc

- Camera - This is the person who actually operates the camera

- Sound - This is the person incharge of the sound of the production for example you may have foley artists

- Makeup - this is the person who makes the best version visually using the medium of makeup of the cast

Famous Music Video Directors

A music video director is the head of music video production. The director conceives of videos’ artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, crew,  actors, sometimes the director is also the artist.

 

On November 8, 1992, MTV began listing directors with the artist, song, and record company credits, because music videos had increasingly become an auteur’s medium. 

 

"The case for the director as music video author is strong. It is the music video director who has principal control of everything that is added to the pre-existing recorded sound text."

 

Directors, including Michel GondrySpike Jonze, and F. Gary Gray, have gone on to direct feature films.

 

The most expensive video of all time was directed by Mark Romanek michael jackson and Janet Jackson's "Scream" (1995), which cost $7 million to produce. 

 FRANCIS LAWRENCE

 

“Gone Till November”, Wyclef Jean (1997)

“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”, Aerosmith (1998)

“Fortunate”, Maxwell (1999)

“Girl’s Best Friend”, Jay-Z (1999)

“I’m A Slave 4 U”, Britney Spears (2001)

“Cry Me A River”, Justin Timberlake feat. Timbaland (2003)

“Bad Romance”, Lady Gaga (2009)

 

“There’s a certain fantastical elegance to Francis Lawrence’s music videos. The ice castle aesthetic of Jay-Z’s “Girl’s Best Friend,” set inside an enormous piece of bling; the swank fetish party going down in Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”; the astral dream-world of Maxwell’s “Fortunate”; and, most enjoyably, the near-orgy taking place in Britney Spears’ sexiest video, “I’m A Slave 4 U.” He’s a visual storyteller, and his expensive-looking videos reflect that”

 F. Gary Gray

 

“It Was A Good Day”, Ice Cube (1992)

“I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That”, Cypress Hill (1993)

“Natural Born Killaz”, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube (1994)

“Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik”, Outkast (1994)

“Waterfalls”, TLC (1995)

“Show Me What You Got”, Jay-Z (2006)

 

“F. Gary Gray’s contributions to hip-hop’s music video history is cemented, no doubt, but there’s one video in particular that will keep his name amongst the Hype Williams’ of the game forever and ever—Ice Cube’s classic “It Was A Good Day.” An observational stroll alongside Cube throughout his drama-free day, Gray’s visual aid to the former N.W.A. member’s storytelling tune made up for what it lacked in stylistic touches with stark naturalism.

 

Though he directed several other notable clips, Gray’s “It Was A Good Day” work is the most indicative of his moviemaking career: Like Cube’s best video, Gray’s filmography is devoid of any individualism. He’s hopped around through genres, most successfully stopping in comedy (Friday) and rollicking, heist-centered action flicks (The Italian Job); an inability to carve out his own “That’s an F. Gary Gray film” identity, though, leaves him with a curious air of anonymity. Nevertheless, he’ll always have that one good day to his credit.”

Antoine Fuqua

 

“The Most Beautiful Girl In The World”, Prince (1994)

“Gangsta’s Paradise”, Coolio (1995)

“Citizen Soldier”, 3 Doors Down (2007)

 

“Coolio’s once-ubiquitous “Gangsta’s Paradise” plays like an exercise in overcooked melodrama today; from Coolio’s unconvincingly tough leering at fish-out-of-water Michelle Pfeiffer to big man L.V.’s heavy breathing in close-up, the Dangerous Minds accompanying visual doesn’t hit nearly as hard now as it did 16 years back.”

Mark Romanek

 

“Free Your Mind”, En Vogue (1992)

“Are You Gonna Go My Way?” Lenny Kravitz (1993)

“Closer”, Nine Inch Nails (1994)

“Scream”, Michael Jackson feat. Janet Jackson (1996)

“Got Til It’s Gone”, Janet Jackson (1998)

“Hurt”, Johnny Cash (2002)

“99 Problems”, Jay-Z (2004)

“Even if Trent Reznor’s industrial metal isn’t your bag, you have to admire the video for Nine Inch Nails’ dizzying 1994 single “Closer” for its sheer insanity. A phenomenal, and seminal, music clip, “Closer” is weirdly hallucinogenic enough to leave even David Lynch exclaiming, “Man, that’s some crazy shit!” It’s a testament to director Mark Romanek’s gifts; “Closer” is more grandiose than his other videos, but, no matter the scope, Romanek’s footage is always stark and never immediately accessible. For additional proof, see Jay-Z’s non-narrative stroll through urban gloom in MTV Video Music Award-winning “99 Problems” visual.

Or have a look at Romanek’s scarce cinematic productivity. Back in 2002, he turned the bouncy and hilarious Robin Williams into a subdued, frightening sociopath in the underrated, off-putting One Hour Photo; last year, he took author Kazuo Ishiguro’s heartbreaking, dystopian 2005 novel Never Let Me Go and crafted a faithful, equally dense, and intellectually challenging coming-of-age flick. It’s as if Romanek shoots things to only please his own eccentricities, and certainly not mass audiences. You’ve got to love that.”

Michel Gondry

 

“Human Behaviour”, Bjork (1993)

“Around The World”, Daft Punk (1997)

“Heard 'Em Say”, Kanye West feat. Adam Levine (2005)

Michel Gondry’s style lends itself to audience mind-fucking, but not in Gaspar Noé-like, psychologically damaging ways—the ways in which he scrambles brains are like sex by way of Walt Disney on LSD. The French visionary’s knack for harmlessly bizarre direction traces back to his earlier music videos, such as Bjork’s oddball “Human Behaviour,” which offsets its dark nature through cuddly, man-sized teddy bears with Coraline-esque, sewed-on eyeballs. That same quirkiness pervades Gondry’s other clips, namely Daft Punk’s demented circus in “Around The World.”

Staying true to his sensibilities, Gondry’s best feature films share this whimsically unsettling vibe; his cinematic magnum opus, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, for example, is a love story with Freudian sentiments and dreamlike imagery. Even his lesser movies, like this year’s uneven The Green Hornet, don’t lack in visual creativeness; in a Michel Gondry production, whether good or bad, the viewer’s psyche is bound to get freaked. No complaints here.

Spike Jonze

 

“Buddy Holly”, Weezer (1994)

“Sabotage”, Beastie Boys (1994)

“Drop”, The Pharcyde (1996)

“Sky’s The Limit”, The Notorious B.I.G. feat. 112 (1997

“Weapon Of Choice”, Fatboy Slim (2001)

“Get Back”, Ludacris (2004)

“Flashing Lights”, Kanye West (2008)

"The Suburbs", Arcade Fire (2010)

“Otis”, Jay-Z & Kanye West (2011)

“Compared to his staggeringly long music videography, Spike Jonze’s film output has been rather sparse; those three flicks listed above as his “Best Movies” are the only ones he’s directed so far in his singular career. Batting a flawless 3-for-3, the Jackass producer is an auteur we’d love to see more from, and we don’t just mean typically great music videos like his most recent clip, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s simple yet outlandishly fun “Otis.”

Whether he’s working with hip-hop acts or indie rock luminaries, Jonze has always separated his videos from the rest of MTV’s pack with sheer inventiveness: supplanting Weezer into a Happy Days episode for “Buddy Holly”; giving the impression that The Pharcyde are walking the streets in backwards motion for “Drop”; filming Christopher Walken’s mesmerizing one-man dance-off for Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon Of Choice.” Jonze knows nothing about “conventional.”

And the same goes for his movies. In his control, twisty narratives are both funny and disorienting (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), and kids’ movies are un-childlike and hypnotically surreal, yet still poignant (Where The Wild Things Are). Frankly, we need a fourth Jonze flick; another fulfilling brain-tickle is long overdue.”

Michael Bay

 

“I Touch Myself”, Divinyls (1991)

“I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)”, Meatloaf (1993)

Haters have to admit this about Michael Bay: The man has always been obsessed with overboard spectacle. Just look back at his breakthrough, pre-Hollywood music video, Meatloaf’s “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)”; nearly long enough to be considered a short film, the clip is a highly ambitious Beauty And The Beast/Phantom Of The Opera mash-up that appears to have the budget of a reasonably priced motion picture, not an overzealous music clip.

Bay is nothing if not consistent, and it’s that lasting desire to blow budgets that has defined his financially massive film career, kicked off by the Martin Lawrence/Will Smith buddy cop smash Bad Boys and recently signified by the dumb yet entertaining Transformers movies.

Many purists—you know, folks who harp on little details such as story, acting, and coherence—love to ridicule Bay’s films for their soullessness, but to do so is missing the point: Oddly enough, the game’s biggest purveyor of pricey eye candy is also one of Hollywood’s most reliable filmmakers. He promises spectacle, and, as Meatloaf first learned some 18 years ago, he delivers spectacle.

David Fincher

 

“Express Yourself”, Madonna (1989)

“Vogue”, Madonna (1990)

“Cradle Of Love”, Billy Idol (1990)

“Freedom '90”, George Michael (1990)

“Straight Up”, Paula Abdul (1998)

“Janie’s Got A Gun”, Aerosmith (1994)

At their best, David Fincher’s movies tap into mankind’s darkest psychological terrain, presenting damaged characters and subdued nihilism through gloomily lit cinematography. So it should came as no surprise that he first cut his directorial teeth shooting such bleak music clips as…Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up”? And Madonna’s lively ode to supermodel chic, “Vogue”?

OK, so Fincher’s pre-cinema video efforts were mostly pop-centric and bubbly, but the visuals were always uniquely compelling; it wasn’t until 1994’s “Janie’s Got A Gun,” though, that the now-prolific and mega-gifted director displayed his austere brilliance. Staged like a brooding thriller, the Aerosmith clip is a mini-movie that transpires like a tragic Lifetime Movie funneled through a nightmarish prism.

It’s a fitting preamble to Fincher’s filmmaking breakthrough, the following year’s magnificent serial killer downer Seven, which laid the foundation for his string of desolate humanity meditations of the uncomfortably humorous (Fight Club), patiently macabre (Zodiac), and fascinatingly naturalistic (The Social Network) varieties. Two Academy Award nominations later (both for Best Director), it’s no wonder that Fincher’s book-to-film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is this year’s most anticipated film across all platforms; trust, it’s most definitely going to be more Janie than Paula.

Cost of Music Videos

The total cost to produce a professional music video can range from $20,000 to $500,000 and up. There are a handful of music videos each year in the seven-figure budget range, but those are exceptions in the overall market.

Example music video budgets:

  • Macklemore “Wings”: £12,990.72 (2011)

  • Michael Jackson “Beat It”: $150,000 (1983)

  • Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson “Scream”: $10,000,000 (1995, adjusted for inflation)

  • Average studio music video budget: $200,000 – $500,000 (2010)

Estimated production costs:

  • Producer fee: $500 – $1250/day

  • Director fee: $500 – $1250/day

  • Camera operator: $500-1000/day

  • Camera equipment rental: $150 – $3500/day

  • Key grip + assistant + lighting gear: $1000 – $1750/day

  • Wardrobe: estimated $20 – $1000/day per character project

  • City permits: $25 – $1000/day (depending on the city, exact location, whether roads need to be closed, etc…)

  • Location fees and rentals: $250 – $2500+/day

  • Actors: $200 – $1200/day (each)

  • Extras: $50 – $200/day (each)

 

Estimated days of post-production required: 2-3 days

  • Editor fee: $500 – $1250/day

  • Redundant Hard disk archive: $200 – $400

  • Visual FX artist fee: $75 – $150/hour

  • Colorist fee: $100 – $200/hour

 

Additional costs:

  • Band member compensation

  • Development/Pre-production (scripts, storyboards, strategy, etc…)

  • Additional actors and extras

  • Marketing hours

  • Props/furniture rentals

  • Set construction

  • Production insurance

  • Catering (food)

  • Etc…

Garrett Gibbons

Garret Gibbons is a director of photography who has set out what he has experienced with budgets and breakdowns in price on music videos he has worked on 

Level 1: Shoestring Budget ($2,000 – $5,000)

 

  • One full day of shooting (or possibly two half-days)

  • One camera operator

  • Skeleton crew (one or two people)

  • Filmed on DSLR or mirrorless cameras

  • Few paid actors, if any

  • Many production roles will be combined (for example, the Director may also produce and edit; the Director of Photography will probably be responsible for all grip and gaffer work, etc…)

  • Permit fees are often avoided by carefully selecting production locations

 

“Overcome” by Alabaster is a music video in this budget range that garret directed, filmed and edited. 

 

it was filmed in about 6 hours (including setup), all in the same location. 

 

filming the band first, then quickly filled the room with fog, threw up a 2K light, and brought in the dancers, worked with the two dancers for a little less than an hour.

35,364 views

Level 2: Modest Budget ($5,000 – $10,000)

 

  • Several days of shooting

  • Small crew (four or five people)

  • Filmed on higher-end video, DSLR or mirrorless cameras

  • Costumes are an option

  • Several paid actors can be involved

  • Minor visual effects are possible

  • City permits may be required for outdoor shoots on public streets

 

“Jekyll & Hyde” by Theoretics fits in this range. 

 

The band relied heavily on friends and favors, but still had to hire four or five paid actors to participate. used a lot of interesting locations that each required a fee. needed to close off a few sections of street to film several segments, so city permits (and correlation with local police) were necessary. production was small enough that we didn’t need big trucks or generators, so were able to qualify for a less-expensive type of film permit with the cities involved; the same level of production insurance wasn’t required by the cities filmed in since were under $10,000.

33,515 views

Level 3: Healthy Independent Budget ($20,000 – $50,000)

 

At this level, the production feels more like an independent film set, rather than a student film or enthusiast project. It’s not a full-blown film crew sort of feel, but it’s about as close as anyone independently financed generally gets. Here are some characteristics of this budget level:

 

  • Several days of production

  • Medium-sized crew

  • Filmed on RED, Alexa, or other higher-end digital cinema camera packages

  • Experienced, professional actors can be involved

  • Full production insurance is required in most cities

  • City permits are required in most cities

  • Visual effects can be a major element of the video

 

 

directed, filmed and edited for Adam Zwig, “Everybody Love” was within this budget range. Paying actors was a huge part of the budget and the theater setup with the band also had a large number of costs associated with it. This video features a few thousands dollars worth of invisible visual effects as well, where some aspect of the shot was changed after it was filmed, to meet the client’s evolving vision for the video.

16,274,893 views

Level 4: Commercial/Studio Budget ($50,000+)

 

 

  • Several days of production

  • Full professional film crew

  • Filmed on RED, Alexa, or other higher-end digital cinema camera packages

  • Experienced, professional actors can be involved

  • Full production insurance is required

  • City permits are required

  • Visual effects can be a central element of the video

 

At this level, everyone involved is a professional who is present to do one task. There can easily be fifty people involved in the crew (ranging from production assistants to hair and makeup artists to caterers to runners to DITs), and the post-production pipeline is similar to a feature film (a full crew involved in the editorial department and post-production process).

 

edited “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by Justin Bieber in 2011. rough estimate is that it cost around $150,000, SONY Pictures and Island Records were the two corporate entities who financed the project, and the set was run like a feature film with a $10-20M budget. It was filmed on two days in Los Angeles: Justin was filmed for a large part of one day, with the second day being focused on the dancers. The set and props were built in the week leading up to filming, and most of the costumes were rented in Los Angeles. It was filmed in stereoscopic 3D at 5K on twin RED Epic cameras, and edited in 3D on a Final Cut Pro 7 setup using Cineform plugin tools to manage the 3D aspect of the editing process. The edit was rushed to coloring and conforming so that it could play as a pre-roll to the kids movie “Arthur Christmas” for its premiere.

62,272,262 views

COMPARISION BY GARRETT - 

Some of you may look at the difference between “Overcome” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and conclude that money is wasted at higher levels of production. While that may sometimes be true in some aspects, it’s important to recognize that the benefits of a large crew and a full professional toolset tend to manifest themselves in extremely important ways that may not be obvious to the casual viewer.

 

For example, the Justin Bieber video was thoroughly pre-visualized, with mood boards and color palettes compiled in advance so that they could be approved by the various levels of executives involved. There was plenty of time to do everything correctly and predictably, and there was very little risk of the final product turning out differently than expected.

Much of “Overcome” was improvised on set, and required a lot of improvisation and split-second decision-making to pull the shoot off. The dancers hadn’t rehearsed nor had any choreography prepared; I relied entirely on their ability to interpret my direction while I filmed them. We experimented a lot and weren’t entirely sure what the final product would look like while we were in production.

Overall I believe the reason that these directors are so so famous is due to the amount of money that has gone into their productions, because for example there are much more viral alternative productions with little budget that have gone on to be massive successes due to the conceptual quality of the pieces such as macklemore’s same love, this was a success due to its message rather than its flashy and expensive nature that some videos are successful for. But i believe that this is changing and that smaller budgeted productions are actually on the rise for their rawness and unique qualities and that people are tired of the money videos.

 

For example skeet’s video thats not me cost £80 to make with the special effects coming from an iPhone app that was free this video has 14,672,597 views and won Best Video at the MOBOs in 2014

Audience Access to Music Videos

Music Video's are viewed widely today and on a range of devices such as phones, computers and tv.

 

The main platforms for sharing these videos are youtube and Music Channels on Tv.

 

Within these platforms there are channels that will be dedicated to music videos for example youtube's channel vevo focuses on music videos aswell as band's channels themselves

 

TV channels such as MTV also show music videos but these are usually based around a timetable such as chart count down where as vevo can access any video at anny time of day.

 

There is also platforms such as itunes where you can buy music videos for downloard on your devices as well as the artists websites themselves.

 

Nowdays and within the future there is also the look at how music videos are turning into whole albums without detached audio files such as the release of beyonce's recent album on tidal as well as the release of music videos on subscription music services such as apple music and spotify.

 

the whole history of how audiences access and reception of music videos is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video

 

 

 

 

 

In summary I have learnt that crew is key to the production of a music video and this is something to keep in mind with my won music video and partner work, on top of this I have learnt that a good production does not nessacerly mean an expensive one and this is something the indie music industry often seens and demonstrates and therefore is something again to keep in mind when lookung at my own production

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion
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