How to Make a Music Video

Every musician dreams of being famous: people noticing the face in the crowd, songs playing in bars and coffee shops, music videos shown on TV. How can one achieve this? Nowadays, the Internet provides outstanding opportunities for everyone to get noticed.

One of the first things that come to mind is to make a music video and upload it on YouTube. This is a great way to promote yourself as an artist, as proven by Justin Bieber, Pentatonix, and Ed Sheeran. Just get yourself a good camera and be ready to get famous.

Making a music video from scratch sounds too difficult? Don’t worry, Movavi’s got you covered! Here’s your step-by-step guide on how to shoot a music video.

What’s the use in filming when you have no inspiration and no idea what to start with? First, you need to decide what you’re going to show the viewers on YouTube. Is it some kind of a story? Then what’s the plot? Or your idea is to record yourself singing the song? Everything’s up to you.

What do you need to film your music video? There are four aspects to consider: the storyboard, the team, the equipment, and the place.

If you decide to make a complicated video with different scenes or even a plot, don’t forget to write the script. One of the methods for this is creating a set of storyboards. A storyboard is a visual map of your video. It has all the shots you need for the future montage. Make up a detailed picture of the entire music video and bring it on paper. Here’s an example of a storyboard for you to take inspiration from.

Image source: Wikipedia

Now let’s discuss the team. Of course, if you haven’t planned anything big, just footage of you singing, you may not need a team. However, if your idea is to tell a story with several characters, you’ll need at least a camera person and one or more actors. Depending on the budget and/or how many friends are ready to help you, your team may grow. It may include a lighting person, a director, a makeup artist – or any other person you need to turn your concept into a video.

Think about the equipment you might need to record a video. It’s great if you have everything necessary, but if you lack something – decide whether you are going to buy it, or maybe you can borrow it from your friends.

Talking about the place, choose the one which fits your idea. You may film at home, or ask your friend for permission to do this at their house. If you choose a public place, make sure that the owners or the managers don’t mind. If there’s a lot of people around (for example, if you’re filming on the street), make it obvious that you’re making a video. This will help the people who don’t want to be on the record get past the filming zone. This is especially important if the scene you’re filming is provocative (for example, a fight). If people are not aware that it’s staged, they may interfere (in case of a fight – try to calm the fighters down or call the police). So, consider inviting a couple more people to your team to explain to the passers-by that everything’s alright.

Gather your team, take your equipment, go to the place of filming. Lights, camera, action! Follow your storyboard as a checklist and make sure that you film every scene from it. Here are a few tricks of the trade you may find useful:

• Don’t limit the filming time to the video length you need according to the storyboard. Even though you may need only 10 seconds, it is worth filming longer sections and recording several trials. Who knows, which shot will look the best during the editing?

• If you’re not happy with a shot you’ve made, don’t hesitate to re-take it. Sometimes one sloppy shot may ruin the whole impression.

• Things don’t always go according to plan. Some shots keep failing, others may be taken by accident, but they fit the atmosphere and the plot. Don’t restrict yourself to just the storyboard. Think on the fly! If you feel that you need something else, that’s not listed in the plan – try this out. You can always cut the excess while editing.

With your footage in-hand, it’s time to get creative. Here’s how you can edit your music video and give it that professional feel using Movavi Video Editor.

Below, you’ll find two lists with all the equipment you need for recording your music video, whether you’re a beginner or a professional.

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Camera

You can shoot most basic level music videos on a smartphone, like an iPhone 11.

Microphone

1. Shotgun microphone – Movo VXR10-PRO External Video Microphone

2. Lapel microphone – PoP Voice 16 Feet Omnidirectional Mic

Tripod

Joby JB01503 GorillaPod

Lighting

1. RALENO Softbox Photography Lighting Kit

2. Neewer 10-inch LED Ring Light Selfie Ring Light – comes with a tripod

Camera

Canon M50 Mark II

Microphone

1. Shotgun Microphone – Rode VideoMic Pro+ Camera-Mount Shotgun Microphone

2. Lapel Microphone – Sennheiser Professional ME 2 Small Omni-directional Lavalier Microphone (purchase clips separately)

Tripod

3 Legged Thing Pro Range 2.0 Winston 2.0 Kit Carbon Fiber Tripod System

Lighting

GVM 3 Pack LED Video Lighting Kits with APP Control

Stabilizer

DJI RS 3 Pro Combo - 3-Axis Gimbal Stabilizer for DSLR and Cinema Cameras