L A U RA W O O D

RESEARCH INTO THE MUSIC VIDEO INDUSTRY

HOW ARE MUSIC VIDEOS GENERALLY MADE?

• Pre-ProductionThe first stage of making a music video in the music industry is to choose a production company which they know will produce a good video and be known by the public and well respected. If a famous band/artist was to choose an unknown production company then the public may think they are not so serious about making it. It my also not be to a very good standard and therefore people would not enjoy it and want to watch it. It also includes hiring the crew and building/planning sets. In this stage there should also be ideas and a story board in mind with a structured plan of what they want to happen. This should be discussed with the crew and production company. This could take several months to get right and have several meetings with everyone involved.

HOW ARE MUSIC VIDEOS GENERALLY MADE CONT.

• ProductionAt this stage more crew will be hired to help with the production of the video, and then once they know everything is in place, filming will begin. Hundreds of takes will be taken so that they have plenty of footage to work with and create the video. Stills will also be taken and used if necessary. This is probably the most important part of the production process, because if this part goes wrong then the entire video will go wrong and the video may not be made, wasting a lot of money. It is also possible that they will begin to make the video, or even be half way through, and they will not like it, and have to begin completely again. However, as the video will have been drafted so many times this should not happen.

• Post-productionThis final stage is where the video is put together, and edited. If animation is necessary then this is the part of production where it will happen. There would be a separate team of crew who work in the graphics department who specialize in putting these parts together and making the lip syncing and everything else perfect. This music video will then be duplicated hundreds of times ready for different formats and also ready for distribution. Parts of the video may also be used for advertising the video, as well as the stills being used for digi packs and posters.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A MUSIC VIDEO FOR THE COMPANIES/ARTISTS THAT MAKE THEM?

The most obvious and general reason for companies and artists to create music videos is for the profit they make on them. However other reasons include enjoyment, and doing the thing that they love. In the case of the artist it is about showing off their talent for singing and possibly dancing too. Where as in terms of the production company it is about them doing the thing they love too. Media production and working with the aritsts. The purpose of the music video itself is to advertise and get peoples attention for the artist to make them more popular with the public, the better the video is, the more popular the song will be, and then more people will buy it and therefore they will gain more money from it.

WHO ARE SOME FAMOUS MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTORS AND WHY ARE THEIR VIDEOS SO WELL KNOWN?

• Jonas Akerlund- The director of Lady gaga’s ‘Paparazzi’

• David Fincher- The director of The Rolling Stones ‘Love is strong’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Who is it?’

• Their videos are made so popular by the large budget they are able to put into it. The larger directors will not want to do a video for a not very well known artist as the likeliness of it even getting into the charts is slim. They need return on a music video, as then it will become more well known.

• Depending on how well constructed the video is, determines whether it becomes popular, if it is different from normal videos and shows a unique and cleverly choreographed video, the public will be more likely to enjoy it and continue watching it. However it also depends on the song, as if the song is very popular, and makes it into the top 40 chart list, then more people will want to watch the video that goes with it. I know that when a new song comes out and they release the song without a video then I will keep checking the charts on the TV to see what the video is like.

HOW MUCH MONEY IS USUALLY SPENT ON THE AVERAGE MUSIC VIDEO? HAVE ANY BEEN MADE VERY CHEAPLY OR

HAD LARGE BUDGETS?

• According to research, an average, fairly low budget music video would cost a minimum of £50,000. However this can go anything up to $500,000 or even more. For example, Michael Jackson’s music video for scream cost $7,000,000 to make. It really does depend on how well known the artist is, a new artist/band will not have a very large budget to spend on hiring all of the crew to create a video quite as large as Michael Jacksons. ( look on my blog to watch Michael Jackson’s Scream)

HOW DO AUDIENCES ACCESS MUSIC VIDEOS? WHERE CAN THEY BE SEEN?

• There are a number of ways that the audiences can watch a music video, whether it is old or new.

• One of the most popular ways these days is to watch it on YOUTUBE, I find youtube is very useful as it has almost everything, including the brand new videos. Millions of users watch youtube as the videos are easily accessible.

• Another way is to watch music channels on the TV such as; MTV, VIVA, and special time slots when the top 40 countdown and other chart shows are on the TV.

• Snippets of music videos are shown on adverts between TV shows if it is a new video and they are trying to advertise it.