Music Video can be one of the most accessible ways that individuals can begin a career in directing. By its very nature, the music video is stylistic, expressive, evocative, and free of many of the constraints of standard narrative filmmaking.

Course Overview and Curriculum

From day one, students are fully immersed in various facets of making a music video. Students work with digital cameras beginning on their first day in school and, by the end of the course, edit their own version of a short music video subject which was conceived, produced, and shot by the class as a group.

The class may make a video for an up-and-coming band or they may shoot highly stylistic footage for an already published song.

Students are taught the most essential elements of what goes into making a music video, including: choosing the right band and the right song, creating the look of the video and its overall aesthetic style, planning the music video in storyboards, learning how to shoot and keep the film in sync with the lyrics and editing, and adding visual special effects.

The workshop begins with an intensive study in music video style, shooting, and editing techniques. During this time there will be an in-class playback demonstration. This will prepare students for the class project that they will shoot in the middle of the week.

The end of the week will be devoted to post-production during which each student will edit his or her own version of the music video using the material shot by the group. There will be a final screening of all the students’ work open to family and friends.