Create a music video with iMovie ’11
Perhaps you or a musician friend have a song, and you need a music video to help promote it and your band. Or maybe your son or daughter wants to create a video for a song they wrote and recorded. The good news is, you dont need a mega-budget: just some creativity, a quality camera, friends and family (for potential extras), and iMovie 11 to edit your masterpiece.
Story
There are a multitude of story options when it comes to music videosthis is where you get to let your creativity run wild. Some include live on stage, where you have the band play in front of friends; a solo video of the singer on the beach or in a park; the band performing in a studio; and many more. You can have fun with it and write a short film that plays with the themes of the song, or make it as simple as just hanging out at home playing music.
Camera
For the music videos, producers can use a variety of cameras, including a professional Panasonic AF100, DSLRs that shoot HD video, small GoPro cameras, and even iPhones. If you have access to high-end cameras, thats wonderful, but affordable HD DSLRs sell for as low as $500, if not lower, as new models come out and old ones drop in price.
In addition, many point-and-shoot cameras shoot HD video now, and did I mention the iPhone, plus other camera phones? Many of these cameras shoot in high-quality 720p and 1080p high definition video at 30 frames per second (fps), and the footage is gorgeous.
Shoot
If you opt for the live on stage option, its a great idea to get as many friends and family as possible for the video, so the band has a sell-out crowd. Lighting is important, so ensure youre not shooting in absolute darkness.
If youre shooting outside, ensure the sun is behind you, not the talent, otherwise, theyll appear shadowed and the background too bright. Shooting between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. isnt a good idea, since the sun is directly overhead. Have someone standing by with the song ready for playback, so the singer and band can lipsync and play along, and make sure youre capturing the live sound.
If you have more than one camera, youll be able to do fewer takes of the song, but dont worry if youre limited to one or two cameras. The band may have to play through the song more than a few times, but youll be able to get all sorts of angles of each member, their instruments, and the audience.
In shooting and directing this video on assignment from Macworld, I adopted a hybrid outdoor-studio approach with singer-songwriter Cooper Getschal, who agreed to perform his song, Back to a Perfect World (written by D. Cooper Getschal and Harriet Schock; Silver Beach Productions).
Edit
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