DISCLAIMER: This post has been a bit of a rush (as I forgot to prepare a post this week) so I apologise if the standard is a little shitty.
Music Videos are definitely more of a Pop staple than a Rock one but ever since MTV's birth in the early 80's and the rise of the Hair Metal genre, Rock and Metal bands have been releasing music videos to promote their material for the last three decades. Some are straightforward performance based ones, some are more narrative with a clear story to them and others are purely conceptual with random ideas thrown together to make a fun abstract video to watch.
However, just like anything that requires talent or imagination to make, there are plenty of opportunities to go wrong. In this post, I'll be listing some of the Dos and Don'ts of how to make a decent Rock/Metal music video. As is always the case with Dos & Don'ts posts on this blog, my writing is almost entirely opinion based with a few facts thrown in. If you have any feedback or suggestions regarding the Dos and Don'ts of Music Videos, let me know in the comment section.
DO choreograph it properly
This is the kind of thing 11-year olds whose Youtube accounts consist of hundreds of videos of them playing video games with Linkin Park in the background completely fail to do so bands have no fucking excuse. Regardless of what's happening in your video, make damn sure that it fits in with the music. Cut to a different camera before or after a significant part of the song, slide your explosive special effects in during an explosive part of the song, have some fun with it for Christ's sake.
DO keep most of the song intact
I can understand the need for editing tracks to make them more suitable for promotion but if you have to hack apart a song so much that you're removing more than 90 seconds of it, you've picked a bad song to release as a single. I also can't understand the logic in trimming a track by a few seconds, as it seems like an unnecessary change to make. A song should be something that band has written with meaning, not just as a tool to make shitloads of cash. If a band are comfortable with heavily cutting up something they've created like a slab of donner meat in a kebab shop, chances are they don't give a shit about their own music and are likely only in it for the money/fame, hence the music video.
DO make it impressive
The best music videos are easily the ones that are memorable, that leave you wanting to watch it again regardless of your opinion towards the song. In fact, if a music video is THAT impressive, it might make you enjoy the song purely through positive association. If you're making a performance video, don't just have the band standing about playing like it's an ordinary rehearsal. If you're making a narrative video, tell a great story that's made even better with the song as a soundtrack. If you're making a conceptual video, make it stand out; don't just be weird for the sake of weird, be weird with style.
DON'T interrupt your song
Modern Pop-Rock/Alternative bands have a habit of doing this and it's bloody annoying. You'll be listening to the song, enjoying yourself and the video that you're watching, and the band decide to pause whatever's happening just for a shitty joke or self-indulgent moment. It ruins any kind of pacing in both the music and video, something that younger bands seem more inclined to do as opposed to older Rock/Metal acts that give a bigger shit about the quality of their music.
DON'T let your ego get out of control
Basically any video that has one or more of the band surrounded by women. It's bad enough when the band think "Hey, let's make a video showing a crowd of fans going mental over us", it's even worse when they imply the crowd are so into the show that they're ready to be fucked by whoever puts their instrument down first. This also includes music videos that show the band living out some kind of non-sexual fantasy like being superheroes or something, since being Rock Stars apparently isn't enough for these guys. I want to be entertained, not watch some arseholes entertaining themselves. It's the equivalent of vocalists who get the audience to sing most of the song at gigs.
DON'T underestimate a simple idea
You can throw a huge sum of money at a project without any drive or passion and it'll end up as a soulless piece of shit. Money doesn't automatically make something good, it merely makes a good thing better provided enough care goes into it. There are music videos that cost barely anything to make and are more iconic than any big-budget piece, partly down to the simplicity of it...that and it being amusing or impressive, as I said before. The point is a big expensive video can be cool but so can a cheap yet creative one. Don't overlook this just because you want to swing your dick about with a multi-million dollar advert.
Apologies again for the lateness of this post. If you have any ideas or requests for me, feel free to either use the comment section or Twitter!
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