Today, we had a session with a freelance music video director called Ben, he spent the whole lesson explaining what the title's all about. First, he showed us a few clips from multiple videos that he signed on to direct. Artists include Nicole Scherzinger,Loick Essien and many more. He then explained the appropriate duration of songs, so he mentioned that songs should be at least three minutes long due to leaving room for other videos to be uploaded onto Youtube. He also introduced us to several crucial jobs in the making of a music video: these jobs include Producer, production assistant etc.. we took notes down as he was talking which ended up being useful as we have increased knowledge of the music industry, it's also encouraging for us as we know what to apply for our music videos.
Overall the session was interactive as he asked open questions and we were even able to ask him some questions.
Director Visit- Ben Peters
Mohombi ft Nicole Scherzinger- Coconut tree
Here is one of the several videos Ben has directed. Worldwide phemomenon Nicole Scherzinger featured in this tropical themed extended clip.
There are a range of shots included: Extreme close ups&close ups, mid-shots, establishing as well as long/extreme long shots.
It will usually take an entire day (12-14hrs) to shoot everything for a professional music video. Although, this varies. Good directors won't take as long because they'll take less shots as they already know what they need. He also said how he attempts to film everything in one take as this shows continuity of events which makes the video flow and look efficient.
In terms of a Music Video's storyline - you don't have to use stereotypical ideas to express the video's genre, it's all about authenticity and delivering good content to the audience.