Music video production job roles

1. TASK 3 – MUSIC VIDEO
PRODUCTION JOB
ROLES
Harry Powell

2. Director
The Director could be considered to be the most important role within the production industry. The Director has to make
sure everything is as is needed such as the script, costume, props, actors, location and many other key features that
are needed to produce a music video.
An important role that the Director may have to pursue is casting, this is where people perform a piece if a script with
the intention of getting to role to play in the production. This is important because they would need the right person
playing the right role or the whole thing could look awful. This links to the fact that any role that is needed in the
production for anything such as film, music video or TV production is highly important to its own degree. For example if
there was terrible costume/makeup the production could be made to look amateur and un-professional as well as if the
location isn't what it is suppose to then it could give the production a whole different feel to what it is suppose to be.
This is why the Director has to be on top of things throughout the entire production and make sure that every different
minor detail that goes into creating a music video is perfect.
The Director will work with every cast/crew member however they will work closer to some than others for example they
will work with the camera operators and actors closer than anyone else. This is where the Director puts his own visions
into place and explains to these people what he wants and makes sure they have a good clear understanding to this. If
they don’t do this then the whole production will look sloppy and not up to the standards that the Director was wanting
them to meet.

3. Camera person
Without a camera team any production would be fairly boring, just a dark screen with sound playing. The camera team
are in charge of the cameras that are on set they have a goal of capturing footage of the actors from various different
angles and locations. They must be specially trained to do so as the equipment can be complicated and fairly high tech.
The camera team may also be given the job to location scout, this is finding the correct place to film scenes that fit with
the genre of music as well as what the scene is about. For example if it was a rap song then they would try and look for
places under a motor way bridge or an ally somewhere, somewhere that shows of the mainstream stereotype for a rap
song. Having to fit with then genre of the song is also a part that the camera team have to play in the production. This is
because different genres have different styles such as a rap music video where it has low angle shots making the stars
seem high and mighty. And other genres such as pop where they may just have wide shots of what's going of if it is
either of the singer or the band.
They will work closely with the Director and try and put into action his ideas have and a good understanding of them, if
they don’t understand what the Director is trying to create then they will have a hard time filming the music video as it
wont be to the standard that is sort after.
There will also be many shots that don’t make the final cut so they will have to keep filming some shots over and over
again to get in perfect. They will use many different cameras and other equipment such as lenses to get the perfect
shot for what is required such as different camera angles or effects.

4. Sound Recordist
The sound recordist is responsible for recording all the sound, whether it being in a studio or
on a set. The main priority for the sound recordist in a music video production is to gather the sound clips of the actual
song, this includes the artists singing/rapping the lyrics as well as ambient noise that could be used within the video to
help develop a tone or further a story. They have to make sure that the sound that they capture is clear and crisp. The
will usually record in coordination with the camera team to make sure that everything is lined up and perfect.
They will monitor the sound quality my instant feedback with headphones that they will be wearing during recording.
They are responsible for producing the final sound mix, so they directly supervise the Sound Assistants and Boom
Operators. Sometimes, they also manage the rest of the sound crew. They may also occasionally operate the boom
themselves. They often have to supervise frontline maintenance in order to keep the production on track.

5. Lighting
The lighting crew are responsible for setting the lighting for a scene as well as choosing what lighting to use. There are
many factors that come into selecting the correct lighting such as what tone are you trying to create as well as what
skin colour the people who are being filmed are so you can use a filter to give the best contrast for them. This is done
by using colour lighting so bring our the colour in people cause people are all different tones and colours.
They will look at the possible health and safety that will effect different shoots, the maid dangers being heavy lights
falling, burns and many more. There are other dangers such s blinding of the light is so bright and people are standing
to close to them.
The lighting crew also have to be fairly comfortable with using the lighting and they have to be able to use their
initiative. This is because sometimes they will have to have a spot light on someone so they have to be a ware and
make sure they are on them at all times, so if they start running they will have to adapt etc. They also have a lot of
lights to deal with and the set ups might not be the same everytime so they will have to get used to using different
equipment.