Video clips: a gateway to cinematography

On this platform, Jorge Sirvent Cámara, director of photography with experience in fiction, advertising and video clips, addresses this last field from a critical and transversal perspective.

Video clips represent a entrance door very accessible to sector audiovisual, since it is not necessary to have very sophisticated means to provide images and history to the music. Therefore, they are usually the first approach of those people interested in telling stories through the camera. We can meet custom video clips in which the dynamics are usually those conventional in other types of commercial projects: a client orders an idea and it is executed. However, there are also video clips that emerge from a direct proposal between artists and directors as an opportunity to collaborate and nurture each other.

The world of video clips represents a passable opportunity, but it also implies accepting, in general terms, its own internal code of rules. Based on my experience, I have been able to identify some of the keys to accepting the assignment, a scope of work as interesting as it is precarious, except in honorable exceptions.

Inspiration and… remuneration?

Inspiration: The first point to take into account is to identify if the project really motivates you and awakens your interest. If not, I personally think it will be very difficult to defend your work. These stimuli can be given by the song or the group itself, the treatment or the idea, the director and the budget of the project (since a larger budget usually implies greater means of production and therefore a better creative opportunity).
Remuneration?: It is always key that the technical team gets paid, but sometimes this is not the case. With video clips it happens that immediacy and impact of the work It is so tangible that it is used by record labels and artists such as currency of exchange, so the mere opportunity is presented as a value. Taking this into account, it is essential to assess whether it means truly an opportunity or on the contrary it is a unproductive commitment.
In the case of not charging, it is understood that our involvement comes from a higher reason, of artistic commitment, so it is essential to leave the conditions and concept well defined in advance with the artist/record company to avoid misunderstandings and our work being compromised. This is a maxim to take into account in the pre-production of any project, but especially in those in which Our revenue is exclusively the value of our work.

Freedom and opportunity

Freedom: The world of video clips provides processes with greater permissiveness and freedom, which is why they tend to be more fun than other types of proposals. The music provides coherence and homogeneity to the piece by itself, so keep a connection lighting is not so fundamental as it would be in fiction. That is why they are a good opportunity to work with directorxs nuevxs, due to the more relaxed atmosphere that is usually generated.
Chance: On the other hand, video clips are fantastic opportunities to make videos and try new things, since visual spectacularity is sought: to achieve suggestive and attractive images. In this sense, we could affirm that video clips are one of the most appreciated types of pieces for a director of photography, since everything revolves around an aesthetic commitment and there is room for the use of tools that would be more difficult to use in other projects. For example, being able to use extravagant and rare lenses, with more personality and that go beyond the conventional (macro and super-angular, or lenses “vintage” conceived years ago to work in analog photography and that have been readapted to work with video cameras), or make a more radical and outlandish color treatment.
It is also an opportunity for your work reach more people for longer (since video clips, in proportion, are more viewed than a short film or an advertisement), and work with artists you can admire. In short, they represent an opportunity to unite two arts and bring together two worlds that are so autonomous, but, at the same time, so complementary. For me, music is an art that I deeply respect and admire; and I love having the ability to connect it with images and tell stories that transform their meaning or enhance the emotion they contain.

Avant-garde and generational change

Vanguard: An essential key to understanding video clips is that they always seek to generate the greatest possible impact, which is why they represent an constant review of fashions and trends. With the technological democratization, Virtually anyone can access a video camera, so recording a video clip is a very feasible possibility. Relying on a musical production per se of coherence to the piece, in addition to saving on having to record sound. This fact facilitates the creation and enables a exponential increase in the number of proposals, especially from areas where the precariousness of production mechanisms allows for a more casual and unique approach: youth circuit. Precisely, due to this lack of academic or experience, it is possible to find new windows y artistic possibilities.

There are many other tips that could be given to tackle these projects: do not oversize and be realistic with the budget (otherwise, we could be the ones who suffer); less is more; claim the beauty of natural light... But, apart from these considerations techniques and of planningI consider it essential to understand and accept the limitations and benefits of the video clips, an unbeatable means for new creators make known their way of understanding the address of photograph.