Tips to Shoot MVs!

 How to shoot a music video? 

When it came to shooting a music video, my team and I were somewhat concerned because our expertise was limited. We knew how to shoot film openings and perhaps different drama scenes. But when we were talking about shooting music videos, we were talking about using different effects, different techniques, using gimbals, operating your cameras in ways that it just moves on random movement, on a lot of dramatic shots, on ups and downs, and fast-paced editing, and there was just so much to think about. It was somewhat terrifying because we felt like it was a lot, it might be executed perfectly if we learn enough, but if we do something wrong, it might just all go to waste. So, we decided to start researching right away, and that is where this began. 😥

This is what I learned after researching and watching numerous YouTube tutorials.

Key Points

Building a narrative: Having a structure, character, and development.

Shot list essentials: Creating a shot list for each scene. It can include establishing shots, close‑ups, and action shots.

Lighting: Lighting is key, so we need to use proper practical lights, make cinematic triangles to capture that cinematic look, use motivated lighting, and then also use filters and fillers.

Editing workflow: Music choice is what your music video is synced with, so if your music is high-key, with beats and creates a rhythm, then your MV will indeed look good if you use beat-matching cuts and sound synchronization.

Besides that, color grading in DaVinci Resolve is what will help a lot. Color grading can take your shot from feeling dead to alive again, so reviewing each shot so that it can be color graded is very important.

Other things I discovered:

• It’s good to have one main shot where the artist sits and sings the song till the end. Use that as a backup; if you don’t like another shot or scene in the music video, you can replace it with the main shot.
• When you visit a location, shoot as many scenes as you can with your subject in focus, including close-ups and wide shots. This gives you plenty of material to work with during editing. It's better to have more shots than to regret not trying enough.
• Experiment with your camera to find the shots that best suit the narrative. Sometimes, the planned shots aren’t as effective as those that come to you in the moment, when you truly know the scenario.