Always take the lens cap off before you begin filming.
What was the hardest lesson you learned?
- Thread starter gorillaonabike
- Start date
Jax, I understand all of that. The point I'm making is that at a certain dollar level, the money just isn't worth it. All I'm advocating is that if you're working for chump-change, and if you're still in the early phase of basically proving your worth, it's better to take a project that will showcase your skills than to take a project that will barely help you pay bills. 
You know, I have a 5-minute piece of dancers footage which inexplicably turned out all black...
For a music video, I think it's very important to establish a relationship with the band in which they simply trust you to do what you do. They make music. You make movies. You don't tell them how to make music. They shouldn't tell you how to make movies. Drawing this boundary is of the utmost importance.
That doesn't mean they should have no say whatsoever. They should be encouraged to take part, offer suggestions, just like actors in a movie would. But at the end of the day, the director of the video is the person with the vision. It is the director's video.
Say, do you think Michel Gondry just gave the client what they wanted? Spike Jonze? David Fincher?
Of course they didn't. The customer is usually wrong. Learn to trust in yourself as a director, and inspire the confidence in those whom you need to trust in you.
Flicker hearts Cracker.
Seriously, you pretty much wrote EXACTLY what I was going to add.
When it comes to music videos, I haven't yet earned a dime -- in fact I've SPENT a lot of my own money to make them happen -- and that's just fine. What matters for ME, is to aim higher with each piece or at least avoid repeating myself and sliding backwards. If someone wanted to pay me to shoot a concert or a kid's soccer game, that's fine, I'd point and shoot and take a check. But when it comes to music videos, I consider them an art form and as well as a form of creative collaboration, which often means eschewing a paycheck to do what *I feel* is best for the piece. Once money exchanges hands... it can turn into "well, we paid you so... you need to do what we want"
A healthy collaboration with the right band (and song) can become a very rewarding experience.
This is a big topic with no "right" answer. It really comes down to what each filmmaker is hoping to achieve with their efforts.
Flicker, you mentioned a couple things that really resonate with me.
First, I think you're right to say there's no right answer. Haha, how's that for an oxymoron of a sentence? Anyway, that was kinda the whole point of my post - to point out that what's good advice for some doesn't work so well for others.
But mostly I really like what you say about aiming higher. For me, that's pretty much the #1 criteria for me currently, when considering potential music video projects. I'm really only interested in making something that will challenge me. I want to feel the fear of not completely knowing that I can pull it off, while having the confidence of a band that believes I can and who are willing to invest themselves in something slightly ambitious.
First, I think you're right to say there's no right answer. Haha, how's that for an oxymoron of a sentence? Anyway, that was kinda the whole point of my post - to point out that what's good advice for some doesn't work so well for others.
But mostly I really like what you say about aiming higher. For me, that's pretty much the #1 criteria for me currently, when considering potential music video projects. I'm really only interested in making something that will challenge me. I want to feel the fear of not completely knowing that I can pull it off, while having the confidence of a band that believes I can and who are willing to invest themselves in something slightly ambitious.
The hardest lesson I've learned so far is that sound is a horrible ever-present beast that is hard to control, and damn Earth is a loud place!