How to Set the Right Mood and Pace for Music Videos?

In music, it’s not all about the sound and videos are important as well. Of course, I’m not saying that working on music, producing it, mixing and creating a great composition is not important. It simply doesn’t stop there – in the music industry, promotion is also quite important, as is leaving a great impression on the audience.

One of the most effective ways to grab the attention of the crowd is through a music video. If the music is followed by adequate video material, the whole thing will be more effective and memorable. Through a music video, a person might get interested in your specific style of music and then find the whole album and listen to it.

Still, the music and the video material need to complement and go well with each other. This requires a lot of creative video editing and understanding of concepts such as tempo, beat, and rhythm. You don’t need to be a musician to edit together a great music video, but you need to understand these concepts and how they feel. This goes beyond just music videos. Editing to beats works in all video editing. This can be to musical cues, sound effects or more.

Here are some tips to help the pace of your music video editing.

Listen to the dynamics of the music

One of the most important things when making a music video is to actually listen to the song you are making the video for and always keep it in mind while creating the video. When the song culminates, it’s only natural that you should increase the pace, and when there are slower parts which are quiet, the pace should be slower.

When both of these things align, the music video will leave a greater impression on the viewer and have him or her experience the music more vividly. If the music is dynamic, tense and full of energy, then the video for it should also be similar, leaving a much stronger effect on the listeners/viewers.

One of the best parts of creating a music video is the freedom you have as a filmmaker. You aren’t;t tied to the same rules as other video types. There doesn’t need to be a story, and it doesn’t have to make sense. Obviously having great visuals is one of the most important ways to grab viewers attention, but it’s how these elements cut to the music video that is the most important.

Listening to the music and getting a feel for how it flows will help in not only providing great images but knowing how those images will flow in editing. Listen to similar songs in the same genre and watch as many music videos as you can that fit the music and images you are using. What works in other videos? What techniques can you incorporate or expand upon in editing? There is something powerful about a music video that enhances the music is tied to.

Consider the genre of the music

For a lot of beginners that make music videos one of the common problems is that they simply create or shoot videos which are not really “adequate” for the genre of the music. Each music genre has its audience and each audience has its preferences, likes, and dislikes. This means that there are things that they would enjoy seeing and things they wouldn’t enjoy.

For example, if we are talking about metal music, naturally the songs will be intense, loud with distorted guitars, screaming vocalists, and machine gun drums. This means that you cannot put a small girl in the video, dreaming around and playing with her dolls. The fans of that music will probably not like the idea and they won’t take it seriously unless this is somehow tied to something about the band.

What instruments stand out in the music? You can cut on lyrics, drum beats, melody, bass and more. Genres such as hip-hop have very strong beats and bass. Cutting on these will not only feel familiar to viewers but also fit the style of the music. Something that is more in the rock genre allows for cutting more specific instruments, and lyric heavy genres fit well with editing to the rhythm, of the singer. Don’t only think of this while editing, but also before you shoot the video.

Build momentum

Even though music videos don’t need a story, there needs to be a reason for the visuals and an order for them. That isn’t to say that music videos don’t benefit from having a story as some of the best videos ever created are basically mini-movies. Choose what works best for the music, the artist, and the message. Always keep in mind what the visuals are leading to.

When there are images and scenes you want people to see, as they are important to the story, slow down the video and make sure that everyone watching sees what’s happening on the screen. Additionally, slowing down scenes might help you provoke deeper thoughts in the viewers, while a faster pace builds adrenaline and invokes surges of energy.

Music videos are very important for representing a band or a musician. They can help good musicians break through and give them the attention they need. The reality is that a music video can make a person take the time to listen to the music and if it is good, they might become a lifetime fan.

As consumers consume more and more video, the music video has become more important than ever. The cost of producing one can be fairly inexpensive too. Make sure and offer many different types of music video packages that entice artists at all levels.