So, let's face it. You are not aiming to make a video for MTV. Self-produced videos don't get shown on MTV. In fact, hardly any music videos are shown on MTV at all! And that is becomming true for MTV2 as well. That doesn't mean that the age of 24 hour music videos is over. The venue has just changed.

Now days, people watch music videos on YouTube. That is incredibly good news for you, because it costs you nothing to put your video on YouTube.  In theory, you have a level playing field with everyone else, including major artists. If you make something really great, then it could potentially go viral and get you or your band a LOT of attention.The Sick Puppies got famous from their "Free Hugs" YouTube video because they had a great idea that really caught on.

The beautiful thing about a making a music video for YouTube is that it doesn't have to be super duper quality. As opposed to a mainstream, commercial music video, which would be shot on film or with an expensive HD camera, a YouTube music video can be shot with a regular HDV or even a DV camcorder.  The reason is that no matter what quality/resolution you shoot at, the video will still be compressed and shrunk down to fit YouTube's format.

Now, I know that You Tube offers "high quality" now, or I think they even call it "HD," but those are realittive terms. YouTube is NOT HD!  Therefore, there is no reason to spend a fortune on or rent a high end camera.  Just look at the commercial videos put on YouTube by the major record labels. Do they look as good as they do on TV? No way!

Going back to the Sick Puppies exexample, what is it about that video that is "good"?  Certainly not the video resolution.  It's the IDEA! Get it?

Now I'm not saying that you should aim to shoot a crappy looking video. By all means, you should take advantage of all the resources available to you and go for the best possible quality. All I'm saying is to not let that hold you back. Just get out there and make a music video.  The YouTube community will judge it based on your creativity, not how expensive your equipment is. 

The first step in the production of any music video is always writing the treatment. It is very important to have a good concept, but you can't usually make a music video from a concept alone. You have to flesh the idea out on paper.

When developing a treatment, you have to decide what is happening in the video at every moment of the song. That means being very detailed. As a general rule of thumb, you will write one full page for every minute of the song, so if your track is 3 minutes and 50 seconds long, you should be writing a treatment that is about 4 pages long.

The first thing I do when I'm developing a new tratment, is listen to the song over and over and over. I stick the disc in my car and put it on track repeat so that it just plays continuously. I may listen to the song 300 times or more. I'm not even kidding. At first, I just listen, and I let ideas come to me. I may have several different concepts pop into my head so I write them all down as they come. For the first hundred or so plays, I try to begin with a clean slate and think of fresh ideas. After that, I take a good look at my concept list and I pick the best one or try to synthesize some of them together.

In the case of making your own music video, for yourself or your band, you have probably already heard the song hundreds of times. You probably already have an idea about what the song means (if it has any meaning). Try not to let yourselve be limited by those pre-conceived notions. Many times, the best videos are ones that don't literally spell out every word of the song. Instead they offer something completely new.

It may be nessessary to get some outside opinions. Different people will have different interpretations of a song's meaning.

In any case, make sure that you know what happens on the screen at every point in the video. You don't have to declare every edit before you shoot, but you should completely describe the action.

"Guitar player's fingers turn into crablegs. Then we see that he has turned into a giant insect. The lead singer appear in a power ranger outfit and performs some kung fu moves on stage. Meanwhile the rest of the band rock out harder than they have ever rocked before."

If you or someone you know has a talent for illustration, then you may want to storyboard the treatment. A storyboard is a great way to visualize what the shots will look like. If you've ever read a comic book, then you know what a story board looks like, although it doesn't have to have color or even be that detailed.

The more pre-roduction you do, the less time and money you will waste down the line.Throughout this whole process, you need to be mindfull of the costs of producing your treatment. Think about what you will have to spend to get each shot. If a costume is going to cost $500 to design and build (giant lobster alien suit), then you might have to reconcider that part of the treatment. 

There are many roles to play in the creation of a music video. In a low or no-budget scenario, you may find yourself filling many of them. But ideally you should get at least some help. Here are all of the major roles defined for you so that you can decide who is going to wear each hat(s) and who is responsible for what.

1. Talent- The people on camera. The musician/band members and any actors.
2. Director- The person calling the shots. The director usually writes the treatment and directs the action as well as the camera moves. It is extremely difficult to "direct" while operating a camera. 
3. DP- The Director of Photography decides how each shot will be photographed and how it will be lit. Takes direction from the director. In low budget situations the DP actually operates to camera.   
4. Line Producer- figures out how much every item, line by line, is going to cost and how to get it for the absolute cheapest amount.
5. Gaffer- The master electrician, in charge of all the lighting. Takes direction from the DP.
6. Glam Squad- Hair and makeup artists make sure everyone looks good and keeps your face from getting shiny.
7. Editor- Cuts the video footage and puts together the final product.
8. PA- The low man on the totem pole. Makes runs for supplies and fills in gaps wherever needed.

For a major production, there would be many more with 1st assistant this, and second assistant that. But for a low budget music video, this will get you by.

Shooting ALWAYS takes longer than you plan for it to take, and there are always a ton of unexpected problems.  The smaller your budget, the more creative you must be with your problem solving.  Whether you plan on a one day shoot, a two day shoot, or a week long shoot, here are a few tips to help you stay above the confusion.

1. Make a shot list- Break your treatment down into scenes or "set-ups" and then go through and list every shot you need for those setups. Think in terms of wide/medium/closeup/extreme closeup. One shots/two shots/group shots/cutaways. Order the list by priority with your "meat and potatoes", the shots you absolutely have to get, first, and the less important ones (cutaways) last. As you get each shot, tick it off the sheet and don't move to the next set-up until you've got them all.
2. Stay on schedule- You should have all of your locations nailed down as to when you are going to be where. Organize your shooting schedule so you make the most use of the resources available to you.
3. Issue a call sheet- A call sheet tells each person involved in the shoot exactly where they are supposed to be at what time. It's often a good idea to print a map on the back to help them get there on time.
4. Have a backup plan- Murphy has his eye on every music video shoot and something WILL go wrong. You can almost count on it. This is especially true when your budget is tight. Often times you are begging and borrowing equipment, serices, or locations, and people can change their minds at the last minute. Make sure you are prepared with a Plan B. That could mean a secondary location or a second camera.
5. Bring Lunch- When you are trying to make your own music video on a budget, you ask a lot of favors. Even if you can't afford to pay the people who are helping you out, make sure you at least provide lunch. A couple of pizzas or some Subway sandwiches go a long way towards boosting morale on a long shoot.
6. Check your ego- Keep in mind that the goal is to produce a great music video for as little money as possible, so don't cop an attitude with the people who are trying to help you do that. There are no private trailers at this level.
7. Get releases- This can be a real pain in the butt if you have a lot of extras, but you will want to get a release for everyone that appears in the video. The best practice is to take a Polaroid of each person and clip it to their release. This is a job for a PA.

After you wrap production and clean up your mess, the only thing left to do is edit the video. If you already have editing experience, then there is not much need for me to go into how to edit here. If you DON"T know how to edit, and you don't know anyone who does, then an explaination of how to do that is way beond the scope of this hub.

However, I will offer you some tips for music video editing as applies to YouTube.

First, one of the most important characteristics of a YouTube video is the thumbnail image. You have the power to control which image will represent your video. This is your first impression so you have to make it count. How do you do that?

YouTube generates 3 seemingly random thumbnails that you can pick from after you have uploaded your music video. They are not random! You can control them. Here's how. When editing your music video on a Final Cut Pro (or other NLE) system, be aware of the total length. Divide that by two and then put the playhead at that time. That frame will be one of the thumbnails generated. So if you like that frame and think it is a good representative for your homemade YouTube music video, then call it a day. If not, then you should shift clips around so that the halfway mark is a very appealing frame.If it totally disrupts the flow of you edit to do that, then you have two more chances. The other two thumbnails come at the 1/4th and 3/4 marks in the timeline.

Another thing to keep in mind is that YouTube now supports a 16:9 frame ratio, so the final output should be 16:9.

Good luck, and if you want any more advice, please look me up.