AO - The Process of Making a Music Video

Shooting
Preparation for a shoot usually takes about 5 days, and then 1 or 2 days of camera time is needed. A shoot on a set is more complicated than on a location, as the set would have to built and then pre-lit. A shoot can often take up a whole day, from early on in the morning late at night. The whole crew, artist and other supporting cast will all be needed for the duration of the shoot.

The directors job is to make the video look as good as possible, whatever the budget he has available, this is a hard job as shooting costs are high. This includes any overtime costs that will have to be paid for the cast and crew if the shoot is not finished in time.

For a day or 2 after the shoot, the producer and production assistant wrap up the whole video, which involves getting invoices from unit members and cast, so everyone can be paid.


Editing
The product is still not finished after the shoot, it is only the raw material. The first stage of editing is for the video to be sent off to a lab for processing, as most music videos are made on film. The process turns the film into to digital tape and the film is graded so it looks good for the client.

The basic edit is put together for the next stage, so edit facilities are required as well as an offline editor (freelance). Most directors use trusted editors who don’t need supervision. The director will the give the editor a clear idea of what they want from the material. A rough cut is sent to the client after about 4 days for any comments. This may mean another day is needed to address the comments.

The next stage is where the effects are added and the tape is produced to broadcast standard, which is called the online edit. The time taken for this all depends on the effects that are needed for the video. A video with straight cuts and minimal transitions will take a significantly shorter time than one with 3D animation or CGI effects. A specialist company may be employed for this sort of task. However they are not always needed, thanks to systems like Flame and Inferno, which make post-production effects a lot easier.