Piano Music Video Tips?

P

Pete

Hello!

I was contacted by a friend tonight, and she wants me to make a music video/cover video of one of her piano songs. I've never made any music videos before (hardly any videos period, for that matter), and I'm looking for any tips/tricks/suggestions on what to do. These can be very broad or very specific -- I don't really care, I just want to get some opinions.

I'm taking inspiration from a few of the videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePianoGuys -- are there any other places I should look to for inspiration?

I obviously want to do as good of a job as possible, so I'm very interested in hearing any and all opinions on what you like to see in this sort of video, any technical pitfalls I should be aware of, any aesthetic choices you would lean toward, etc, etc, etc.

Thank you in advance!

P.S. We'll be shooting this in about a month, so I have a bit of time if there are things I should prepare. Also, I have a Canon T3i (600D), a limited set of lenses, and some DIY camera stabilization equipment, if that's important.
 
Last edited:
Sort by date Sort by votes
I'll leave the visuals the the visuals people, but since it is music the sound quality will be all important. Is she playing live or performing to a prerecorded track? If it's a prerecorded track you just film her sync performing from various angles and edit together like any music video. If it's live then you have to capture the sound of the piano, and that means at least one really good mic, preferably a matched pair to get a nice stereo mix. That also means that your camera movements, if any, will have to be very, very quiet.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Alcove Audio said:
I'll leave the visuals the the visuals people, but since it is music the sound quality will be all important. Is she playing live or performing to a prerecorded track? If it's a prerecorded track you just film her sync performing from various angles and edit together like any music video. If it's live then you have to capture the sound of the piano, and that means at least one really good mic, preferably a matched pair to get a nice stereo mix. That also means that your camera movements, if any, will have to be very, very quiet.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it will be pre-recorded (whew!). We're shooting at her church, so we'll be using the church's mics (I'm assuming they have some way of recording the sound), which are far and away better than what I can produce.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Will she be playing church music or something (just) off the heavenly path?

Who's the audience for the final video product?
Demographic?
Entertainment or instructional?
How much keying and how much performer will they want to see? 80/20? 20/80?
How... much "showmanship" does she display?
Singing as well or just playing?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
rayw said:
Will she be playing church music or something (just) off the heavenly path?

Who's the audience for the final video product?
Demographic?
Entertainment or instructional?
How much keying and how much performer will they want to see? 80/20? 20/80?
How... much "showmanship" does she display?
Singing as well or just playing?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it's her own music. She said it's her "dedication song" to friends/family/etc, so those are the primary audience. Although, I doubt she would mind it being recognized by others. And it will just be piano, no singing. The other factors I'm not sure about because I haven't seen her perform. All I know is that she's crazy-good at piano.

@Alcove, she'll probably be actually playing while I shoot, although I suppose that isn't a requirement. I'll definitely inquire more into how/when she's recording the piece.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Have the pre recorded CD playing as she plays for the video so she can match it.
At some point you'll want to show her fingers hitting the keys, so make sure you're synced. And if you're not synced perfectly, a real musician (her) will know it right away. You'll need to cover it from several angles so be ready for many takes.

A lot of musicians however want a mere static locked down shot. Ask her she wants.

For sure though, don't let her pretend to play, let her bang it out and invest in the piece.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
<Devil's advocate mode>

"Dedication song?" No singing? If she doesn't play like Jerry Lee Lewis, you've got a MAJOR challenge to come up with compelling footage to keep people watching beyond :45 seconds . . . I'm thinking your cutaway footage is your top priority here.

</mode>

:)

Good luck!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Pete said:
I'm taking inspiration from a few of the videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePianoGuys -- are there any other places I should look to for inspiration?
Click to expand...

First thing you need to do is make sure that the music completely neuters an otherwise ballsy pop-rock song. Second thing you need to do is get your hands on a jib, a dolly, a nice light-kit, and more importantly, a crew that knows how to use them.

Sorry, not trying to be a dick, but your video will not look like this one. Nor should it.

Guerrilla is right -- a bunch of footage of somebody playing piano will get boring. Make a story out of it. Shoot a music-video music-video.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Cracker Funk said:
First thing you need to do is make sure that the music completely neuters an otherwise ballsy pop-rock song. Second thing you need to do is get your hands on a jib, a dolly, a nice light-kit, and more importantly, a crew that knows how to use them.

Sorry, not trying to be a dick, but your video will not look like this one. Nor should it.

Guerrilla is right -- a bunch of footage of somebody playing piano will get boring. Make a story out of it. Shoot a music-video music-video.
Click to expand...

It all depends. Sometimes all you need is an iPhone. Check Yujah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1fgo7hp-Ko

<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j1fgo7hp-Ko?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j1fgo7hp-Ko?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
brianluce said:
It all depends. Sometimes all you need is an iPhone. Check Yujah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1fgo7hp-Ko

<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j1fgo7hp-Ko?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j1fgo7hp-Ko?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
Click to expand...

Sometimes, all you need is amateur, talent-less home-video, this is true. Sometimes, all you need is a recording of the amazing events that transpire, no matter how crappy the video coverage. Ahh, youtube, so great and yet so awful.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks everyone, these are great responses!

I think I agree about having a sort of story intermixed with the piano footage. How "involved" of a story should there be? In any random music video, I can imagine anywhere from some shots of the musician walking around town, to the musician leading a revolution. Obviously, I'm pretty limited with the content of the story (this isn't a commercial vid, after all), but how much emphasis should there be on developing one?

Also, if there are any other random tips/suggestions/discussions, I'm more than happy to hear them.

Thanks again!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Does anybody know the musicvideo where the piano is the dashboard of a carand the driver plays piano?
At some point there's a dramatic hook in the song: it starts raining.
Then he picks the rest of the band (drums and guitart: they sit in the back of the car) up to give them a ride.
That was the most original piano-musicvideo I've ever seen, but I have no idea what song by who it was....

As said before: just watching the performance can be boring as hell unless the performance is intense.
As a solo instrumentalist there is no interaction with other bandmembers and no lyrics that can carry one through the song.
There is only interaction with the instrument or maybe with an audience (this can be a crowd, one person or just a cat ;-) ).

My advice: know the song by heart and try to imagine and plan what shots you want. Match the atmosphere and the pace of the footage with the music.

And you can always make it a video about getting to the church to play: practise at home, practise in the park with a portable keyboard, in the bus, in the store, on a painted pianostrip, etc.

Or if you have no inspiration: lots of bikinis ;-)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
WalterB said:
Well, I did search for the musicvideo once more... and I found it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTW4Ltkv2os
Click to expand...

That was very interesting! I won't be going to that extreme, but I like how playing the piano sort of symbolized his journey.

I will be able to have a more informed discussion about some of the specifics in a few days, after I've heard the song and whatnot, but this thread has already piqued my imagination. Thanks again to everyone who has responded!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top