Grade 11 - Music Video
Every semester, especially in Grade 11 and 12, we try to make our own music video. Sometimes the videos are just the class performing the song in our classroom. This time, we tried to vary things a little seeing as it is spring/summer and the weather is warm enough to film outside.
Filming a music video requires a lot of planning. We had to learn the song as a class - decide on how it was going to be performed. With this song, in particular, we wanted some male spotlight and female spotlight. This gets tricky when trying to find a key signature that works for both vocal ranges. Therefore, we decided on changing the key for the chorus and verses as we needed to. The result worked out - although the guys don't like their very first note in the song.
Once the song is learned, we needed to record the song. This meant putting the soloists on the spot and recording their part with headphones in front of other students in the room. This can create a little pressure but our soloists performed wonderfully as you will see.
Lastly, we needed to plan the shoot and actually shoot. We took 2 class periods to do this - the water balloon fight near the end of the song meant having 5-6 students come at lunch time to fill up the balloons. It was fun to film!
The thing that is important to remember that in this day and age, these are things recording artists must do to promote themselves. While they may not shoot the video themselves (depending on their budget), these are things they must plan for and do in order to garner enough interest in their music.
Hope you enjoy! Ask your grade 11 vocal student for the password in order to view this music video: Gone Gone Gone by Phillip Phillips.
NOTE: If you want better full-screen quality, it would be best to click on "Vimeo" at the bottom of the video in order to view it in HD quality.