Video content is having a major moment, and it seems to be more than just a passing fad. This year, it’s estimated that 82 percent of all consumer internet traffic will come from viewing video content, which is 15 times the levels seen in 2017. Your audiences are craving video content—but as they watch more and more video content, they’re also becoming discerning viewers too.
With so much online traffic dedicated to video content, one may feel that it’s harder and harder to stand out and make a meaningful impression with videos.
Your message deserves to be heard—and remembered. Here are some important steps to creating the kind of video content that gets you noticed in a big way. Discover how to make a video with music like the professionals and content creators you admire in just a few steps!
Choose a Song that Speaks to You
So, you want to know how to make a video that’s perfectly matched with just the right music. Maybe you’ve had a specific song stuck in your head for weeks on end. Maybe you just heard a song that blew your mind with its brilliance, or you’re poring over some really stellar lyrics. Maybe your friends wrote a great new song, and they want you to make a music video for them.
There are a ton of ways inspiration could strike and plant the seeds of a music video in your mind. Regardless of what lights your fire, it’s important to choose a song you connect with; something that gives you a spark of inspiration to make one-of-a-kind content your audiences will grab ahold of.
If you’re lacking inspiration, you can always use a platform like Spotify, YouTube Music, or Soundcloud to find songs that fit specific genres, types, and moods. And you can always ask your community what songs they’ve been inspired by lately—maybe one of those songs will inspire you, too!
Don’t be pressured to commit to the first song you hear that you like. You’re going to spend a great deal of time on this music video, so make sure it’s a song you’re excited to hear over and over and over again!
Create a Storyboard and Plan Out Your Shots
Whether or not you’re a visual learner, a storyboard that details each emotional beat of the song and lines up with each shot you’re planning on filming will be critical in the creation of your video. You might be filming the footage yourself, using found footage, or doing a combination of both, but regardless of who’s behind the camera, it’s a good idea to have a plan in place before you start filming. Be very clear about what story you’re telling with this song–you picked it for a reason! Another person might pick a completely different story to tell with the song–that’s what makes a great song. It’s also what makes you unique as a content creator!
Once you’ve picked a story, yes, you may need to edit and revise to convey your message, but don’t worry if you’re telling the right story or if you could be telling a better story. After all, it’s your story, and no one else can tell your story as well as you can! As you storyboard and create a visual map of your film, you’ll want to gather a shot list of what shots you will need to film at what distances, angles, and perspectives. This way, you will have a record of everything you need in advance so you don’t wind up in the editing room missing a key shot.
If you’re using found footage for your video, be very specific about what you’re looking for and check to see that it aligns with your storyboard. This will make adding music to your video much easier. You may decide to peruse footage before making a complete storyboard to get inspiration and then create a story around that particular footage, and that’s okay too. There’s no wrong way to go about the creative process if you find a strategy that works for you.
Film Your Video
Now comes the most difficult (but most exciting) part of making a video with music: Filming your video! Depending on what kind of story you’re filming, it could take days or even weeks to shoot everything you need, especially if you’re shooting on location, at certain times of day, or in certain weather.
What should you know about filming your video? Know that things might go wrong—and that’s okay. Plan for hiccups, for things to break, and to film unusable footage. Give yourself more time than you think you need to get everything filmed, as you may need to go back and film something you thought was great, but the sound wasn’t good or there was a glaring continuity error.
Preparation is key when you’re in the filming stage. At this point, you’ve probably added other people to your team–a camera person, a director, actors. It’s not the time to change your mind about the entire concept for your video three days before shooting ends.
Lock in your concept, your story, your beats, and your shot list before filming so you can focus on all of the aspects of filming that need your attention before you start filming. Things will change and evolve during filming, of course, but the core elements of your story will hopefully remain your guidepost.
Edit Your Footage and Add In Any Necessary Effects or Titles
You might ask someone to help you edit your footage when you make a video with music, or you may do it yourself. There are plenty of free editing engines out there on the web, and plenty of tutorials to make you proficient in them rather quickly, so shop around and see what fits your needs best. Be prepared to make cut after cut after cut until you get it right. Some people may think that once a film is shot the editing is easy as pie, but any experienced editor will tell you otherwise. In fact, most editors will tell you the film is really made in the editing room.
During the editing process, get multiple pairs of eyes on your video, whether they have experience in editing or not. Non-industry people will give great feedback, just like experienced filmmakers—after all, not everyone viewing your video will be a film expert, but everyone who sees it will form an opinion!
A fresh set of eyes is always a good idea when creating a video, as you might not notice certain things that may catch the eye of a friend. And if you are too close to the material, you may not think certain things need explaining, while audiences may need a bit more clarification to understand certain story beats.
This is also the point at which you will add your music and any other visual or audio effects or subtitles to your video. Visual effects can be difficult to get right, so you may want to enlist someone with more experience to help you. Subtitles increase the accessibility of your video to hearing impaired or Deaf viewers.
Since many people view videos on social media with the sound off anyway, having subtitles can be a great way to engage viewers on every platform whether or not they have the volume cranked up. MatchTune lets you add your music to your video while seamlessly editing for cuts and length at the same time. It takes what would usually be hours of work and makes it into just a few minutes. With AI-enabled recommendations for songs to match each clip and the ability to seamlessly shorten or lengthen songs to match the length of a shot, you’ll be creating videos like a pro in no time.
Add the Finishing Touches and Share Your Video
Once you’ve edited everything together, play your video multiple times, stopping and starting to take notes on what needs improvement. You’ll need to do this after each round of fixes, but after a couple of passes through your video, you’ll be putting the finishing touches onto your near-perfect video. (Bonus Tip: Don’t try to make your video too perfect–part of being a good video maker is knowing when to put down the editing software.)
Once your video is finalized, rendered, and exported, it’s time to share your video with the world. For more inspiration, production tips, and tutorials, go check out the MatchTune Studio here. MatchTune is changing the way videos are made. Are you ready to revolutionize the way you create content? Give Studio a try today!