Tell tale signs of Amateurs?

FewFew

I'm planning on making some music videos for my band. We've had a lot of bad experiences in the past working with people that valued equipment above good ideas.
In this day and age it seems music videos are pretty much just for online use (unless you're Lady GaGa etc) so they don't need to be broadcast quality (right?)

Anyhows, sometimes I see amateur music videos and they're great and other times they're so painfully cheap looking.

So my question is : What are your major tell-tale signs for an amateur video? Or maybe amateur is the wrong term... what screams at you as a major "oh no" moment whenever you come across it?

For instance one thing that always gets me is when people try and put in a load of special effects and they just don't work (like suspect use of a green screen etc.)

I was hoping to use a little Sony DV cam and edit it with Final Cut Pro, but if necessary I can get a Sony PD170 in college.

Any advice and things for me to look out for would be greatly appreciated.

Goodshape

Don't have the band members standing about looking lost or, worse, expect them to act when (probably) they can't.

I think that's the biggest tale tale sign for me, and it'd be a tough one to get around, but if your band can't act best not to push them on screen all the time.

also, try to match or at least suit the music. Sounds obvious but amateurs can get carried away with themselves (similar to over use of fx).

Galvasean

Another one is a lack of editing. I worked on a music vid for a relatively famous band last year and there was one shot which lasted over a minute. It really stunted the video. Videos generally work best with 'MTV style' editing. Lots of cutaways to visually interesting stuff, as opposed to lingering on actors in an attempt to progress the story.

Re Cameras: I would strongly recommend renting out that PD170. It is a quality piece of kit. By all means bring the digicam along too. It might prove useful for certain shots.

If you want someone to lend a hand drop me a PM.

Miguel_Sanchez

I'd definitely agree with lack of editing. It's definitely worth getting a good editor on board if possible, you'll see the difference in the end result.

Also - know your budget constraints. What I mean by that is know what you can/can't do successfully with the time and money you have.

There are some things you won't be able to do on a low/no budget video because of money constraints and if you try to replicate them the whole thing can just wind up looking cheap and amatuerish.

Embrace your low budget and come up with things that you know you can make work. Then concentrate on doing them well.

I've finishing my second music video at the moment and can give you a bit more advice on tips I've picked up over the course of the two shoots. Drop me a PM if you'd like.

FewFew

Thanks guys!

On the band front: Most likely the band won't appear in any of the videos. We're very much a "let the music do the talking" kind of setup. We will be doing some live acoustic versions but that'll just be a case of a few simple edits to keep it interesting while we play, so no attempt at acting.

Getting a video to match the music has been one of our major problems in the past, where people approach us or we approach them and they've a good idea for a music video, but just not our music video. So I've done my best to only storyboard videos for songs that have occurred to me while listening to the music, so instead of trying to force an idea for the singles I've just been toying with ideas for some of the subtler tracks etc.

So the PD170 is worth going for then? I know it's a major step up from the digicam but I wasn't sure how much of that would come across on youtube etc... though I guess it's a similar difference between a compact digital camera and an DSLR, the difference in lenses alone shines through.

Yeah, the video is going to serve the music, rather than serve a storyline etc, so hopefully the edits come at the right time. I think I have a decent enough handle on FCP to do what I'm planning, but I'll throw up some links when I'm done and maybe you guys could give me some advice when you have the time.

Yup, I'm conscious of not trying to do anything big budget-esque, we once had people pitch us an idea with zombies but as it went along it was clear that it was just going to look terrible, so no attempts to recreate Godzilla here (Cloverfield maybe :P )

Davy Brown

Speaking from experience get as many different shots from as many different angles as you, helps immensely when your editing the film together I find.