Objective
For my senior project, I wanted to create a music video for a dance crew performing a cover of BTS’s “Fire.” I’ve filmed music videos before, but I wanted to push myself beyond what my comfort zone has been. My biggest goal was to learn and implement new skills that would be hireable in the professional world, such as DMX light programming and using special effects like fire machines. This project aimed to expand my technical skillset while creating a music video that was explosively and visually exciting and did justice to the dancers’ performance.
Pre-Production
I started with the things that I didn’t know, aka DMX programming. I called a friend of mine from Utah who has a solid understanding of DMX light programming, and he walked me through the basics. After that, I filled in my knowledge gaps with hours of YouTube videos and tutorials to learn the specifics of what I needed for my project. Using a program called ShowXpress, I placed the “fire” soundtrack onto the timeline and programmed the lights to sync with the song.
I also spent a considerable amount of time studying the original music video, analyzing its lighting choices, pacing, and overall vibe. My goal wasn’t to copy the music video, but I did want to do the cover justice by having my version and the original version feel similar. I studied many other cover versions to see how other creators approached the song and to identify what aspects I wanted to apply in my version.
With all that in mind, a lighting plan was created, the location was booked, and the dance crew members were ready to get their dance on!
Production
Production day meant a road trip down to Provo, Utah, where our filming location was. I arrived on set and got to work, setting up lights, positioning the DMX lights as I wanted them, and setting up the fire machines. I didn’t have much of a crew except for one film friend from Utah and my sweet roommate, who has never been on set before. As is normal before shooting, I adjusted the programming of the DMX lights to point towards the set so that I didn’t have bright lights straying away from our location. The fire machines did give me a lot of grief, which delayed shooting by an hour. I was actually pretty close to postponing the shoot because of the issues we were having with getting the fire machines to activate, but right before we called it quits, we figured out the issue and were able to get filming started.
After hitting those few bumps in the road, it was smooth sailing from there! Watching the dancers perform with the programmed lights and fire effects, creating an explosive and energetic atmosphere, made the preparation and struggles worth it. I captured multiple takes, both wides and close-ups, to give myself plenty of options during editing.
Post-Production
Editing can both be the easiest but also most time-consuming part of creating a music video. I started opening up Davinci Resolve and syncing all the video clips to the soundtrack. Because each clip is a full take and I end up cutting them up into lots of smaller clips, I like to start with color grading (a bit backwards, I know).
After color grading, I added marks across the timeline to visually show the beat so that I could cut my clips to the rhythm of the song. After slicing things up and weaving the different takes together, I added key frames to specific clips to enhance the speed of the camera moving forward and backward.
Once my rough cut was finished, I sent it off to the dance crew for feedback and revisions. Their input was helpful and they spotted things that I would’ve missed otherwise. I highly value getting feedback from the dancers because they view the video from the perspective of a dancer, while I see the video from the perspective of an editor. Using their feedback, I made changes, refined transitions, adjusted timing, and finally polished off the video.
Reflection
What I enjoyed most about this project is that I was able to take what I already knew about making music videos, and I learned new skills so that I could add extra exciting elements to my video that I hadn’t been able to do before. Did it stress me out a little bit? Yes, but I think that is a good thing. It’s important to always be at some level of uncomfortable in your work because that means you are growing. I’m excited to work on these skills more and to use them in whatever project comes next!