I am in the process of writing the treatment for the narrative, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to post some of the research I’ve been doing in to how video managers go about writing their music videos.
This is an extract from “Making Music Videos” By Lara M Schwartz. I have taken the sections I think apply to my production the most.
“Recycling Ideas:
Some directors recycle ideas for video concepts. “I usually just go into a bag of ideas that I have and I figure out something from there,” Marc Klasfeld (Destiny Child’s “Lose My Breath” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqeIiF0DlTg) and Avenged Sevenfold’s “Bat Country” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHS3qJdxefY Short Version)) Says.
Beginning with the Lyrics:
Some directors begin with the lyrics of the song. Sanaa Hamri describes this process: “First thing, I look at lyrical content to make sure that I want to even be involved. If the lyrical content is good enough and the artist is someone I want to work with I listen to their music in my car and at home. I start letting random images come into my head, kind of uncensored. Sometimes the label and artist have an image of what they want so I take this into consideration. I build it round what their requests are.”
Finding the Hook:
Since record companies regard videos as four-minute advertisements for the songs and the artist, some advertising theory goes into conceptualising them. As Marcos Siega (Blink 182’s “Whats My Age Again?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7l5ZeVVoCA) and Weezer’s “Beverly Hills” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL_WvOly7mY)) points out a director can’t forget or underemphasise an artists unique selling point, something that makes both the artist and video memorable.
Finding the Feel of the Music:
The ‘feel’ is an important factor. “Led Zeppelin has a very Middle Eastern kind of influence to a lot of their music at times,” Nobel Jones points out. “and that’s naturally going to inspire your visuals to a certain degree, or at least play a part on that.”” (Schwartz, L, M. (2007). Making Music Videos. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. 62-64.)
I found from looking into the first article that this relates more to people who have been working in the industry for years, they already have a conceived notion of what makes a good music video and what record companies want. I feel the most important factor in my study into this is going to finding the USP. I feel at the minute the bands USP is the fact that every song is different, some of the members play different instruments on different tracks. For example on “Love is a Crime” the structure is: Vocals: Molly & Amber. Drums: Aaron. Bass: Max. Keys: Joe. Guitar: Josh. Sax: Joe But then on another track, KO4 their structure is: Vocals: Molly & Amber. Drums: Joe. Bass: Aaron. Keys: Max. Guitar: Josh. This is a really handy skill for the band to have, the fact they have such dynamic capabilities is brilliant in the world of music. I need to find a way to show this off in the video.