Parker Walbeck is one of YouTube’s finest with his filmmaking tutorials. In this video, he gives us a look at his process for shooting music videos.
Walbeck shoots a lot of instrumental performance videos and this one is no different. He walks us through his process: from arrival to the wrap-up. This video is in some ways a redemption video for Walbeck. He shot at the same location five years ago and he wasn’t too happy with what he made.
Sit back and take in the priceless lessons you can learn from watching Walbeck do his thing:
Plan before you start setting up
Before he starts to set up his lights and compose the scene. Walbeck looks through his camera’s viewfinder to see what looks good. It’s important to know what you are going to use in the shoot before you start setting up. You won’t be wasting time having to adjust lighting when you know what you’ll be shooting.
Also plan you shots. Run through them. At this stage, Walbeck finds out what shots look good in the scene so he can go into the actual shoot with a plan.
Light the scene
Next, Walbeck sets up his lights. He tries out different setups, including using the room’s lights, but he ends up using his own lights for the final shot. As he sets up the lights, he still uses his viewfinder to see how the shots look.
When it comes to lighting a video, it really depends on the video. Lighting brings mood to a scene, and the mood you want to capture will determine your lighting setup.
Shoot the music video!
Walbeck uses a slider with his camera in the music video. This allows him to catch smooth movement shots without having to move the camera himself. In other instances, he does use a Glidecam stabilizer. That allows him to get the shots he wants quicker, but he has to use a lot more energy since he’s the one moving the camera.
We hope this look into how Walbeck shoots his music videos has inspired you to try a few new things during your music video shoots. Happy shooting!
