Shooting regular family videos, or stock videos for that matter, is a completely different task than shooting a music video for a band. This task requires a lot of hard work on the videographer’s part, as it is necessary to perform several different steps before and after the shoot, which require a lot of time, dedication, and creativity.

Creating a detailed plan

Group of Business People in a Meeting About Planning

Shooting a music video can easily go wrong if all of the important things are not planned well. To start creating a music video, it is necessary to do the following things:

Talking with the band – the first thing is communication. What goals is the band trying to achieve with the video and what kind of setting are they expecting?
Listening to the song and creating a fine story – first understand the genre of the indie band. Afterward, focus on the particular song that you are doing the video for. Get in contact with band members to clear up all the symbolism in the lyrics to make sure you understood everything clearly.
Creating a mock-up of the scenes – once you have heard the song and understood it, you can start envisioning different types of scenes that would tell a great story for the viewers. This is a very important part. Now, stay realistic and try to use easily accessible locations, unless you have a bigger budget.
Finding the locations – once you have set up a mock-up of the video and you know what you are looking for, it is time to get out there and find filming locations that will let you tell the story in the right way. If you are shooting in public locations, make sure to ask the officials for permission to avoid any problems during filming.

These are some of the necessary beginning steps before you start shooting the video. The bottom line is to understand the genre, the band’s ideas, and the story that you are going to tell.

Picking the right gear

When you have determined the shooting locations, it is important to pick the right gear for different settings. For example, if you want to focus more on a lovely shooting location that is well-lit, use a wider lens, but remember to have a fast one if you are shooting in low-light conditions. Pay special attention to lighting if you are filming during either day or night. Bring your lights with you, as it is going to allow you to make the most out of every location and add a special touch to your story.

Remember to shoot in a flat mode, as you are going to have much more flexibility in post-production.

Post-production

Once you have all the shots, take the mock-up and start compiling all of the videos into a meaningful whole. This part takes a lot of time, but you can make various adjustments, as well as add layers of other video footage, to add some more abstract elements to the video.

When it comes to color gradation, it is quite hard to make all of the scenes evenly colored, so watching online tutorials or outsource video editing is a great way of completing this part a lot quicker.

These are the most important tips when it comes to shooting a music video. Many people think that expensive gear gets the job done, but, it is actually the videographer who influences the video quality the most. Get creative, think of an extraordinary story and give your best to tell it well.