how to shoot a music video here we go what's up everyone
my name is Cracka Lack welcome back to Cracka Lack TV in today's video we're
gonna go over the long awaited tutorial how to shoot a music video my goal for
you is by the end of this video I want you to feel confident enough to either
go out and shoot your first music video or just shoot your next video but a
better video with the knowledge that I'm gonna share with you today so I've been
shooting music videos for over 10 years now I've shot over 300 music videos
majority of those videos being low to no budget in the very beginning and over
the years I've worked my way up to more of the mid and sometimes even like the
higher budget music videos now to keep this video under 4 hours I'm gonna
briefly touch on each topic that goes into shooting a music video and if you
guys want me to go more in depth on each topic in the future let me know in the
comments below what questions you have and I'd be more than happy to answer
those questions in future videos if you're new to the channel make sure you
subscribe and hit the bell to be notified for future uploads more good
content just like this right here now we're gonna talk about gear first then
planning the video pricing a little bit and then actually shooting the video so
first let's talk about cameras I always recommend just use the best camera that
you can afford in the beginning if you don't have a camera use your phone it's
not about the camera that you use but more so how you use it so when I first
started doing music videos I actually used my mom's old Sony Handycam
camcorder and with that camera I learned how to kind of piece together a project
and then I also learned how to do basic video editing from editing that footage
now today I use a sony a7s ii which is a 4k camera but before this the camera
that really changed the game for me was the canon t3i
shoots in 1080 and that was the camera that forced me to learn how to use the
camera and i'm telling you right now learning how to use a camera and adjust
the settings to get the correct exposure is gonna be the most important thing
that you can learn with photography or videography I have a video on this
channel where I go from start to finish over every single camera setting and
what each setting does I'm put a link to that on the screen right
here and also in the description I do plan on doing future videos where I show
you what level of videos that you can get with using just very cheap cameras
and even like shooting with a phone I'm gonna do some of those challenges in the
future so make sure you subscribe to stick around for that
just make sure that you conquer the camera that you currently have before
you even think about investing your money into a better camera now but
lenses one tip that I got from more advanced shooters when I was coming up
was invest in the best glasses as you can so when you're looking up cameras
you can have a nice camera but if you have a lens for it you're not gonna
reach the full potential of what that camera is capable of so with every lens
I've noticed that there's a cheap version and there's a more expensive
version the cheap version it's gonna be plastic the glasses and has a good I
remember going to a camera store one time and I said hey this fifty
millimeter lens is one hundred and thirty dollars but then there's also the
same brand fifty millimeter lens that's twelve hundred dollars what's the
difference and then the salesman pretty much said
is you know a night and day difference and if I'm not happy with the sharpness
that I'm getting with one hundred and thirty dollar lens when you upgrade
you'll see the difference so my takeaway was you really do get what you pay for
with lenses so invest in the best glass that you can if all you have is the
money to invest in one lens I would try to get a zoom lens so that way you can
cover a decent range of focal length so let's say you have a 16 to 35 you know
at 16 you can get a wider shot and with 35 you can get a closer shot a nifty 50
is a beast so when I got my Canon t3i I was told that you know the stock lenses
that they come with aren't very good and you know it's not gonna give you that
sharp image and I remember I bought a 50 millimeter 1.8 130 dollar lens from Best
Buy and actually use that lens for every single video that I shot for two years
so I really got a lot of practice in with that one lens right there I
probably did over a hundred music videos using just one lens and I was a fifty
millimeter one thing to remember with lenses is the higher the millimeter
the more close-up it is and then the lower the millimeter the more far away
and wide it is in the future if you start having multiple lenses you're
gonna have a wide-angle lens which is gonna be a lower millimeter you can have
something in the middle like a 50 or 85 and then maybe like a really close-up
zoom lens that can go past 100 200 millimeter next is gonna be lighting
they said lighting is key and it is true in the beginning if you don't have
lights just shoot a lot of daytime stuff and then even if you have to shoot at
nighttime you don't have lights use free lighting resources that you can find
like street lights or headlights on the cars or I used to have a $30 light that
would screw onto the top of the camera and I use that in the beginning for all
of my like nighttime music videos now I actually have a tutorial where I show
you guys I think five different examples of how to shoot nighttime music videos
I'll also put a link to that somewhere on the screen and also in the
description now when you do have a budget for lights I would honestly just
look on Amazon for under $200 you can get some nice light search even right
here we have a softbox white LED right here and I think this came in a three
pack for around 150 to 250 dollars so it doesn't cost you that much now as far as
stabilizers tripods drones those can help out quite a bit actually but in the
beginning you know everyone starts somewhere I didn't actually have a drone
for my first seven years of filming I didn't have a stabilizer for my first
six or seven years of filming so everything was all handheld and then I
did have a tripod but I barely used it so once you've done enough videos and
you run into the problem where man I need a stabilizer that's when I would
honestly say it's time to go get a stabilizer
when I got my DJI Ronin em which is the thing with the handles that balances the
camera it really did take my videos to the next level I when I watched him I'm
like wow they look so professional now they're so smooth and it was about a
thousand dollars so a stabilizer can help a lot I did a full length review
tutorial side-by-side comparison where I showed you guys before and after footage
when I was using the running and then when I was just trying to walk smooth my
elbow stuck heel toe walking really smooth
and there was no comparison like the running was way better drones are cool
because they give you that aerial shot again the first seven years I had no
drone and I had no problem honestly it's a really cool thing to add like a dope
shot to the video you know if you have a drone and you got a car driving down the
road or things like that drones can give you that extra seasoning on your food or
that you sprinkle on the top I currently have a DJI maverick air which it does
shoot in 4k it's the slo-mo and all that it's about a thousand dollars all right
now that the gear and all that's out of the way let's talk about actually
planning the video kind of pricing the video so in the beginning just remember
you got to get those reps and you got to get those shots in the gym if you're
just getting started I would honestly not even think about charging at this
time I would be focused more on shooting videos to get better videos so that way
you can draw more people in to actually start getting paid to do the music
videos as far as the pricing and payment process what I currently do is I require
a deposit from there the artisans made a song after they sent me the song I asked
them about what the budget is and then another thing to consider is remember
it's their video and they're more invested into the song like this is your
first time hearing the song but actually sat there wrote the songs and they
recorded the song they've listened to the song several times before they even
reached out to you about doing the video so I like to ask the artist hey do you
have any ideas right now or anything is in mind that you want in the video and
usually if I have a couple ideas and I'll say okay I'll take those couple
ideas and I'll turn that into a real music video and I also have this idea
this idea this idea and sometimes the artist will give me the freedom where
hey I don't have any ideas I don't wanna hold you back there's anything you come
up with and those are honestly my favorite videos to shoot obviously but
some artists do have their own vision that they want for the video and it's
our job as music video directors to capture their vision and deliver that to
them because it's their video so we got to make them happy so now once we've
agreed on a price we'll set a time and day to shoot the video I'll let them
know any other things that I may need like I'm picturing certain items like
hey do you have a car like this or can you get access to a car like this I'm
picturing a location like this can you get that location or can we rent that
location any specific things that you for the video that's all plain and
talked about right there I'll always recommend the artist to bring at least
one trend of clothes if it's a 2 verse song like to two different outfits the
most important tip for planning your videos is I always like to picture how
the videos gonna start what's gonna happen throughout the video and then how
does the video end so back in the day a lot of videos were very literal so if
it's a hustling song about drug dealing or whatever it is the videos would show
literally all the things that they're talking about but I've noticed nowadays
it's kind of the opposite so the song could be about big booty girls but it's
gonna show you know the artist dressed up in a suit and tie in a cubicle
working in the office and a pet lion comes in like very random things are
becoming more and more normal in music videos that I'm seeing nowadays but a
lot of that follows back on the actual director so it's kind of like what is
your style are you a off-the-wall creative type person try to make that
stand out in all of your videos so you have like a similar theme or style my
style I really like to do more of like the cinematic stuff so as far as they
animated After Effects things popping up here and there that's not actually my
style of videos I like those but usually what I told artists is if that's the
type of video you want you're kind of in the wrong spot and my style is more of
that cinematic look and very movie like all right guys now it's time to shoot
the video how should you prepare yourself first make sure you have some
extra batteries with you I always have three to four batteries you can buy
spare batteries really cheap on Amazon they usually come in like a pack of two
or three for anywhere from like fifteen to twenty dollars one make sure you have
your memory card there's been times where I showed up to shoot a video and
I'm like oh shit I don't have a memory card hey man I'll be right back I gotta
run to the store real quick and I had to go to Walmart and buy a memory card
my memory card was full this first time whatever happened in my life
so I had to stop get this go right back so since then what I've learned is one
make sure you have your memory card to make sure your memory card has open
space like at least 32 gigs or so and then three you can go above and beyond
and actually have a spare memory card on top of that I keep a spare memory card
in my wallet at all times just in case something's wrong with the other memory
card I always be prepared don't get caught off guard now for playback on the
song I just have a Bluetooth speaker I got a 30 to $40 Bluetooth speaker off
Amazon make sure your speakers charged and make sure you have everything ready
to go before the video even the night before if you want to be super good now
as far as having a shot list if you want to you can but what I found is a lot of
times when I'm shooting videos what I'm preparing for versus when I'm showing up
and actually seeing a lot of different things so sometimes we're kind of
walking in blind as far as like the location scouting if
you have access to the location like if it's somewhere close by you go to the
location kind of look around find the coolest spots they're like ok I like the
look over there I really like this wall right here and then I like these poles
over there so you pick out the coolest spots in the location always make the
artist feel comfortable that's that's major key right there because a lot of
times it's gonna be the artist his first time shooting a video and they may be
nervous or scared or you know you could tell sometimes when they're shy and
they're not that into it like hype the artists up make them feel confident make
them feel good make them comfortable take the lead you're the director a
mistake that I made in the beginning I was very shy like I'm still a shy person
but I would be the shy director so I'm kind of just they're quiet with the
camera letting the artist take the lead and one thing I've learned over the
years is the artist is way more comfortable if you are there you're
confident and you're calling out the shots like someone has to take the lead
in the music video is your baby so you should take the lead with that be
confident and um even if you don't know what you're doing act like you know what
you're doing like confidence is key fake it till you make it my dad told me a
story because one of my biggest problems to this day
is a hiding my motion so sometimes what I'm showing up there and I don't have
what I need or I was picturing one thing and another time at the location and I'm
seeing this like man this isn't what I'm picturing and I have to readjust cuz how
I am I have to see the video in my head before I actually turn the camera on and
start shooting so as far as showing at your confidence and you know what you're
doing and you're you have things under control that's security for the artist
to feel comfortable like oh yeah man this the cameraman he's got it under
control he knows what he's doing because if you aren't able to hide that my dad
said imagine if you went to the dentist and you open your mouth and the dentist
was like holy Sh in panic right you'd be like oh what's wrong what's wrong what's
wrong but instead anytime you open your mouth no matter how the be teeth are the
dentist is cool calm and collected you got to be the same way while you're on
set music videos consist of two things one is gonna be performance shots and
two is gonna be be raw performance shots is anytime the artist is saying the
words to the song b-roll is just everything else so for your performance
shots I recommend filming at the highest quality that you can at 24 frames per
second now when you get more advanced you can do 60 frames per second
performance shots that way you have the ability to slow down the shots like you
know when you see the artist and they're sander wise to the song then all of a
sudden it goes slow motion and then speed ramps and speeds up real quick and
goes back to regular Holmby you can do that if you film at 60 frames per second
but in the beginning for years all I filmed was performance shots at 24
frames per second the highest quality possible now as far as how many scenes
should you do for the music video I'd recommend on average if it's a 2
verse song at least two scenes and if it's a bigger budget you can do three to
four scenes or go above and beyond that but the main thing is to keep the video
interesting so you're not seeing everything that happens in the video in
like the first 30 seconds so now at each scene I would recommend to get at least
three performance shots so let's say this is the scene right here and you're
and you've got the camera on a tripod for all three takes of me doing the
performance shot you got to change something up to give it more of a
variety with the look so one shot could be right here on the tripod the second
shot could be handheld moving the camera kind of like this the third shot
could be you know closer to my face farther away you just got to change the
angle change the look change the camera movement change something about the shot
for each take and then get three of those in one spot they need to move to
location two now you don't actually have to get in the car drive to a whole
nother location if you want sometimes it's just utilize the resources you have
and there might be a really cool wall that you guys don't see that's right
there and I can get up and move right there
change my clothes and boom let's do it again now we do three tapes where I do
the whole song you do a close-up you do a far-out you do a low angle or high
angle around you know a steady shot whatever you do just change the look
each take that you do get at least three takes and that's your performance shots
now for b-roll what's important to do is show the surroundings or any type of
scenery shots if I'm sitting right here you might want to get some b-roll
slow-motion of the table or the texture the texture texture of the table
close-up of the ceiling around here show the surroundings and tell a story with
it too some songs are different and maybe they don't have a storyline going
on but with rap videos a common thing to do is just show them vibing to the song
I'll always tell the artist hey on this tag don't say any other words and on the
side note no matter how many times you say don't say the words they're still
gonna move your mouth a little bit it's like they can't help it but get a shot
at them vibe into the song any type of movement they're doing as long as you're
filming like 60 frames or 120 frames as long as you can slow down that looks
really cool now for be well you don't have to film slow motion sometimes I'll
switch it up and shoot a video and I might not film anything in slow motion
there is no rule for B roll that it has to be in slow motion you can film it and
whatever you want but if you are gonna film the world and you want to be slow
motion that's where you would change your camera settings to 60 frames or 120
frames and make sure your shutter speed matches that so if you're filming at 60
frames per second you want your shutter speed to be at least 120 usually cameras
don't have 120 so it would be 125 and then if you're filming at 120 frames per second
your shutter speed would be at least at 240
most cameras don't have 240 as an option so it'd be 250 now how long should the
video should take it can really vary average I would say most videos that I
shoot take about four hours anywhere from four to five hours the fastest
video I Bashar was only 25 minutes but it was a short minute and a half song it
was one location and we just got alright take 1 take 2 take 3 take 4 all right
let me get some slow-motion all right guys we're good it was like the police
we're gonna show so we had to leave but it was still a good video we had
everything we needed in an hour 25 minutes this remember don't be too hard
on yourself everyone starts somewhere so in the beginning everyone's videos
that's like the starting point and then you're I promise you your second video
is going to be better than your first video and then so on and so forth it
should continue that way you're gonna learn every time you shoot a new music
video once you're editing your fifth video you're gonna learn something new
that you apply to that one and when you go shoot your sixth one it's like you
should keep getting better and better as you progress and do more videos the next
step would be editing the video and that's a whole nother tutorial that
we're gonna talk about another day so again leave comments and let me know
which topics that you want me to go over more in depth in future videos subscribe
to the channel hit the brother be notified for future uploads if you want
more help hit the link in the description and I'll
be happy to help you if you found this video helpful it really does help me out
a lot if you get the video a thumbs up alright you guys I'll see you in the next
video Cracka Lack TV yeah I think we did it oh I think we did it