Music Video Production

What the unit covers

This unit follows a music video project from first idea to finished edit. Most of the resources are mind maps made by students, so you see real planning rather than theory. The resources are all secondary level, and one mentions A-level Media Studies.

Research and genre

Start with the genre maps. Electropop Genre Characteristics picks out bright colours and coloured lighting, with examples such as the Calvin Harris video for How Deep Is Your Love. Group 5 - Genre Characteristics looks at beauty shots and black and white editing, using FKA twigs, BANKS and AlunaGeorge. Then read the notes on the director Jamie Thraves, who used award-winning short films as a calling card to get a foot in the door. The map Michel Gondry Processes And Techniques covers stop motion, time lapse, framing by foreground elements and surreal imagery.

Ideas and planning

• IMAGE MUSIC TEXT SONG IDEAS links song lyrics to possible visuals.
• Several maps, such as Initial Ideas and Developing Ideas, show how a concept grows.
• Location Planning weighs places such as a beach, forest, barn and house, and asks what each shows about the story.
• Equipment list and the Treatment slide set help you organise a shoot.

Editing and feedback

The map Editing techniques used explains why speed-up shots improve the flow of a video. The Focus Group Analysis flashcards list audience comments, such as images that are too similar or a page that is too vibrant. The map Focus Group Feedback covers the same stage.

Where it fits

This unit sits in the Media Forms and Industries strand of Photography and film. A sensible order is genre research, a director case study, ideas, locations, then editing and feedback. There are no quizzes here yet, so turn a map into your own flashcards and test yourself on the techniques.