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Fan music videos.
We may not have all seen them, but I'd assume the majority have heard of them in one form or another. Collections of video clips set to music. Sometimes they come out brilliantly, most times they fail to do more than cause spastic reactions in fleas.
So. Having seen a few, I present Lyss' Do's and Don't's For Fan Music Videos.
Here's a big one. Don't use wipes. Don't use soft fades, snake-trailery-thingies, bouncing drops, side-swipes, squeegee-wipes, airplane-wipes, or anything even remotely like that. Don't do exploding screen wipes, corner wipes, or diagonal wipes. The reason? They look like shit.
If your video is cut properly, and the music is right, you will hit the clip-changes on the beat perfectly (and, sometimes, this sort of thing just *happens*. There's a rhythm to editing, god-damnit). Check out SciFi's current SG-1 trailer, the one running that covers the whole season. That first ten seconds is so fucking beautiful, I whimper every time I see it. Because the beats, the images, the cuts, ALL MATCH UP so perfectly.
Which, ideally, is what a music video *should* do.
So, for the love of little green sand gods, don't use transitions, wipes, or special effects to switch clips. Just let them cut into each other naturally. (one or two dissolves. Maybe. And even then, I'd use one after the opening titles and one before the closing...)
Tip #2. Figure out what emotion, point of view, idea, or story you're trying to get across. Choose clips accordingly. Just because everyone uses this one clip doesn't mean you have to as well. In fact, not using it could make the difference. The other thing to remember is that not everyone is going to have a fucking clue what's going on. If your ten second clip sits there and is simply a talking head, it might not work well. Action is kind of useful.
Tip #3. The darker a clip, the more likely it is that no one is going to have a fucking clue what's going on. If you have to have it, see if you can lighten it. Or try something creative. Solarise or invert or sepia-tone it. Oh, wait. Then it would be a Debbie Gibson video.
Remember, you are at the mercy of your video. If the picture isn't light, recognisable, and clear, don't even bother using it. Unless you're trying to make something that looks like shit.
Tip #4. Your song. Don't choose the obvious stuff. Go for obscurity, sometimes. Not that a known song is a bad thing. But if I have to hear/see another "I Will Always Love You" video for ANY fandom, I may scream. I'd rather see one set to Blur's "I Love You, I Kill You". Or something even more obscure. (hey, you could do a Knight Rider music video to Elastica's "Car Song".... That would so rock.)
Tip #5. If the finished product isn't getting your message across, you can always re-cut it.
Yes, I know these are all in fun. But some of this is common mistakes I see being made on even professional tv. (SciFi, again. The cut-together of the current Andromeda/SG-1 trailers is too quick, with the logo fade-out-and-switch not quick enough. Sam looks like Beka.)
And, honestly? If it looks like crap, why put it out there for others to see?
Oh. Sorry. My qualifications: Or why I think I know everything about non-linear video editing.
Two years editing experience at school. On average, I could do a half-hour, news-magazine on my own (without even a shot list) in 16 hours. From more than five hours of footage. I redesigned the opening titles on my own as well. I was, in fact, acknowledged as damned good at editing.
Pity it's such a cut-throat field. (and that I have a jonah effect on machines. I think I've crashed more computers without half trying than anyone I know).
And if that was the level of the technology FIVE YEARS AGO, then it's obviously better today. And fan music videos? Should not look like so much crap.
We may not have all seen them, but I'd assume the majority have heard of them in one form or another. Collections of video clips set to music. Sometimes they come out brilliantly, most times they fail to do more than cause spastic reactions in fleas.
So. Having seen a few, I present Lyss' Do's and Don't's For Fan Music Videos.
Here's a big one. Don't use wipes. Don't use soft fades, snake-trailery-thingies, bouncing drops, side-swipes, squeegee-wipes, airplane-wipes, or anything even remotely like that. Don't do exploding screen wipes, corner wipes, or diagonal wipes. The reason? They look like shit.
If your video is cut properly, and the music is right, you will hit the clip-changes on the beat perfectly (and, sometimes, this sort of thing just *happens*. There's a rhythm to editing, god-damnit). Check out SciFi's current SG-1 trailer, the one running that covers the whole season. That first ten seconds is so fucking beautiful, I whimper every time I see it. Because the beats, the images, the cuts, ALL MATCH UP so perfectly.
Which, ideally, is what a music video *should* do.
So, for the love of little green sand gods, don't use transitions, wipes, or special effects to switch clips. Just let them cut into each other naturally. (one or two dissolves. Maybe. And even then, I'd use one after the opening titles and one before the closing...)
Tip #2. Figure out what emotion, point of view, idea, or story you're trying to get across. Choose clips accordingly. Just because everyone uses this one clip doesn't mean you have to as well. In fact, not using it could make the difference. The other thing to remember is that not everyone is going to have a fucking clue what's going on. If your ten second clip sits there and is simply a talking head, it might not work well. Action is kind of useful.
Tip #3. The darker a clip, the more likely it is that no one is going to have a fucking clue what's going on. If you have to have it, see if you can lighten it. Or try something creative. Solarise or invert or sepia-tone it. Oh, wait. Then it would be a Debbie Gibson video.
Remember, you are at the mercy of your video. If the picture isn't light, recognisable, and clear, don't even bother using it. Unless you're trying to make something that looks like shit.
Tip #4. Your song. Don't choose the obvious stuff. Go for obscurity, sometimes. Not that a known song is a bad thing. But if I have to hear/see another "I Will Always Love You" video for ANY fandom, I may scream. I'd rather see one set to Blur's "I Love You, I Kill You". Or something even more obscure. (hey, you could do a Knight Rider music video to Elastica's "Car Song".... That would so rock.)
Tip #5. If the finished product isn't getting your message across, you can always re-cut it.
Yes, I know these are all in fun. But some of this is common mistakes I see being made on even professional tv. (SciFi, again. The cut-together of the current Andromeda/SG-1 trailers is too quick, with the logo fade-out-and-switch not quick enough. Sam looks like Beka.)
And, honestly? If it looks like crap, why put it out there for others to see?
Oh. Sorry. My qualifications: Or why I think I know everything about non-linear video editing.
Two years editing experience at school. On average, I could do a half-hour, news-magazine on my own (without even a shot list) in 16 hours. From more than five hours of footage. I redesigned the opening titles on my own as well. I was, in fact, acknowledged as damned good at editing.
Pity it's such a cut-throat field. (and that I have a jonah effect on machines. I think I've crashed more computers without half trying than anyone I know).
And if that was the level of the technology FIVE YEARS AGO, then it's obviously better today. And fan music videos? Should not look like so much crap.
