Question about how music videos are made?

[jeena1]

Hi guys,

In music videos where it shows bands playing (greenscreen or not,) do they actually play the song and then dub the recorded version over it, or do they pretend to play and then dub the music over it?

One day when me and my band write a good song, I might want to make my own home-made music video for it.

[Nefertiti]

You go in the recording studio and record the song. You then practice to the recording a tone so you know it well then go in the studio to do the video. During the video they crank the recording and you play to it. I think the hardest part would be to look like you are singing the part. The video on my site of "Let's Get it On" was done like that. I'm pplaying along with the part that I recorded in the studio.

[SuperAction80]

What Neff said. Another way of doing this is by learning how to play a given song exactly, or very close to, as it is on an album and having cameras film you live. You can then use a non-linier editing program to match up the live shots with the studio audio. A good program to do this with is Windows Movie Maker, which comes standard on most XP and Vista loaded computers. All of the videos on my youtube channel, link found in my signature, were created with Movie Maker. I usually lay the audio down first, and then add video clips as I go.

[SaxPlayer1004]

Our a cappella group does it almost exactly the way Neff said. We record in the studio, and we "sing-a-long" with the music while recording the video. Works pretty well.

[musicwriter2001]

all of the above are correct. my rock band in the late eighties did a music video for a major music conferrence in new york. we recorded the song, got the mix just right, then did several different camera angles on the band playing along on a stage with an audience, then did the location shots with the song blasting with us also playing along. we then took the raw footage which was 16mm film and edited it with the soundtrack. 12 hours of footage for a four minute song took us about 10 hours in an editing suite to put it together. but that was before all the computer stuff. it is still quite a process.

[SuperAction80]

it is still quite a process.

It certainly is, but I have a great deal more respect for anyone who has ever had to use analogue video editing technology. With digital, if you find a shot that you do not like, you can replace the shot with a few clicks of the mouse. With analogue...well...it's probably best to get it right the first time. ;) I'm still amazed with Special Effects movies that were made before the "digital revolution". Just thinking about the act of "roto-scoping" is enough to make your head spin. I don't know how they did it.

BTW, does anyone remember the "Sledgehammer" video? In a world of CG effects, that video still makes you go "WOW".