music video production workflow

WhiteOpus

WhiteOpus

howdy again all, i wanted to ask what will seem like a total newbie question (hence posting this in the newbie section) of you experienced folk who have worked on music videos.

when you take a music video gig, do you generally take control of everything (plot, location, imagery, effects, etc) or do you favor a collaboration with the band to bring THEIR idea to life (regardless of how much you like or dislike the idea)?

my main issue has been that i sometimes allow a band to take control too much (in favor of making the video exactly as they want it) and their lack of experience in filmmaking, in combination with trying to execute too many ideas, causes the video to suffer.

another big issue is quite the opposite: that the artist doesn't want to plan at all and just wants to go out and wing it at some random location, often causing a situation to arise where I have to tell them "no, we can't do that because of _______." Thus making them feel like it was ME who was unprepared or lacking the ability to execute their ideas.

Is there some resource online or elsewhere that I can reference to get a better idea of the process by which music videos are made? I don't mind reading books but I find that sometimes it's better to get many opinions from a community of hands-on people who have experienced or are experiencing the difficulties I am currently. I just want a good way to communicate and be assertive with the bands so that we can make the production not only smooth but acceptable by both parties.

TLDR version: when you make a music video, is it a better to make the video 1/2 your idea and 1/2 the artists' ideas or make it entirely your idea?
 
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WhiteOpus said:
when you take a music video gig, do you generally take control of everything (plot, location, imagery, effects, etc) or do you favor a collaboration with the band to bring THEIR idea to life (regardless of how much you like or dislike the idea)?
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Who's paying? :)

my main issue has been that i sometimes allow a band to take control too much (in favor of making the video exactly as they want it) and their lack of experience in filmmaking, in combination with trying to execute too many ideas, causes the video to suffer.
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Learn how to set limits.


another big issue is quite the opposite: that the artist doesn't want to plan at all and just wants to go out and wing it at some random location, often causing a situation to arise where I have to tell them "no, we can't do that because of _______." Thus making them feel like it was ME who was unprepared or lacking the ability to execute their ideas.
Click to expand...

Don't collaborate with shitty partners.



Is there some resource online or elsewhere that I can reference to get a better idea of the process by which music videos are made? I don't mind reading books but I find that sometimes it's better to get many opinions from a community of hands-on people who have experienced or are experiencing the difficulties I am currently. I just want a good way to communicate and be assertive with the bands so that we can make the production not only smooth but acceptable by both parties.
Click to expand...

You will not become more assertive and gain world experience by reading books.


:)
 
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do you generally take control of everything (plot, location, imagery, effects, etc) or do you favor a collaboration with the band to bring THEIR idea to life
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That depends on who you are and who the client is. I prefer a collaboration if the client can afford a lot of variances.

Thus making them feel like it was ME who was unprepared or lacking the ability to execute their ideas.
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It is you who is unprepared. If you aren't prepared for their style and let it happen, then what else can I say? You've failed to manage client expectations. It's something that you'll learn.

Is there some resource online or elsewhere that I can reference to get a better idea of the process by which music videos are made?
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Amazon.com is a great recourse, though it'll take you a while to find what you need. You aren't going to find a great collection of resources to help you manage music videos, though there are heaps of books on dealing with clients in professional situations in a large variety of industries. Pick one that suits you and read, read, read.

I don't mind reading books but I find that sometimes it's better to get many opinions from a community of hands-on people who have experienced or are experiencing the difficulties I am currently.
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Opinions are like assholes. Everyone's got one and some of them (all?) stink.

The best way is to learn from experience and develop your own style that works with the clients you tend to attract.

I just want a good way to communicate and be assertive with the bands so that we can make the production not only smooth but acceptable by both parties.
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The problem that you're having may be more to do with giving them a quote and then having the client change your scope without an expectation of an alteration in billing. It stems down to needing systems and procedures in place.
 
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I always ask my client for a description of what he felt/visualizes when they hear the song and when they wrote song.

That gives me some more of an idea of how to form a story board that will make them happy.

I then listen to the song hundreds of times in different situations and base my own visualizations to mold with what the artist has visualized.

When it is time to shoot, I send them a script that more or less shows what I had in mind for the video and ask them if they have anything they would like to add/and or change.

We then discuss locations/props/etc, and for the most part, everything works out because my clients are pretty professional and trust my judgement.

I think it's important to have at least 1/2 of the video be ideas from you, because it's always good to get a third person perspective on any type of art whether it's writing a book, making a painting, etc, because you may see/think of things that the original creator may not ever have thought of, and it has a good possibility to make a great work even better.

Hope that helps and I made sense, it's a bit late.
 
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I don't often do the concepting/approaching et al part of the thing. However, I've shot quite a few music videos and it seems to vary. The better production companies I work for tend to approach bands, talk about the song, and then pitch three different concepts, of which the band picks their favourite and tweak until they think it's perfect.
 
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Zensteve summed it up pretty good.

Two types of music vids i have encountered, non paying and barely paying, in a professional environment what i have been told is that they get a few prod companies to pitch ideas and they choose the winner and give the job to them or they already have the idea, hire a director and he just adds his touch.

Non paying or very low budget Music Videos where you normally deal with the band are either, this is our idea! or , you make something up, this can go 2 ways, they love the idea or they hate it and want you to come up with a million ideas until they like one.

What i do is a quit making music videos, i will only consider taking a music video job if they approach me and let me do what i want, those are my rules, they either like them or they don't, but that's just me.

In other words, you create your own workflow, even if they pay and give you the idea in theory they are hiring you because they like your work/style so you should be able to apply your style to their idea and that's when magic happens, if not then run and never look back.
 
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