Sports & Gaming, Arts & Entertainment

How to Develop a Music Video

Parris Goebel

Lesson time 10:34 min

Parris breaks down how she prepares for music video direction. She walks you through her process of designing a visual treatment, casting dancers, and working with artists who may not have a background in dance.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Treatments · How to Work With Artists · How to Cast Dancers · Casting “How Do You Sleep?” by Sam Smith · Social Media Is Your CV

Preview

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING - TWO HIDDEN LABS, "REASON TO STAY'] [00:00:00.50] (SINGING) Oh it's that thing you do. I just want to keep dancing. Oh, when I think about it, staying right is so wrong. Oh, can't you shake your body, I can't stop, it's so strong. I can't stop, it's so strong. Oh, it's that thing you do. I just want to keep dancing. Oh. [00:00:33.27] - When I first got into directing, I was actually kind of so new to it that I didn't really-- I knew what I was doing, but I didn't really know the ins and outs and the logistics of everything. So it was such a learning process for me. And I kind of acted like I knew the game, but I was learning so much every shoot. [00:00:56.12] And the first thing I kind of learned about was treatments, and how to put together a treatment. [00:01:01.19] [MUSIC PLAYING] [00:01:07.74] A treatment is basically your vision on paper. So it's a really great way to show an artist, or a brand, or even just the team you're working with what you see in your head. For me, I like to use pictures. In my treatments, I just try to find the best references that reflect what I see in my head. A lot of the times, you might be competing against other directors with your treatment. So you want to really make sure your treatment reflects you and your point of difference. [00:01:41.20] The treatment for "Yummy," I started my process just like I do with any other project. And I listen to the song on repeat. I usually find, as soon as I hear a song, I see visuals almost immediately. For "Yummy," I saw several things, so I was a little confused which idea to go with. I had so many ideas. And obviously the word "yummy," you can take it quite literal. [00:02:04.93] But I knew I wanted to do something with women, and time back into my message always been about women power. I felt like there was something powerful I could do about women feeling yummy, and what-- explore that, what is that going to us? And I just thought, like, 50 girls dancing in her room, just killing it-- I just thought simple, just a really dope cast with dope choreography, a simple clean room. I just thought there was something about that that just felt yummy. I wanted to kind of create my own little army. So I started finding these really cool interesting photos of army-- armies of women like from fashion campaigns to really old school photos, black and white photos, to like cloned-- cloned images, just really interesting inspiration that I found quite inspiring to me. [00:02:56.86] But the really important part of that video was the casting and making sure every girl that I cast embodied the confidence that I wanted to project to the world. That was so important to me. And I wanted to have girls of all walks of life and all ethnicities and showing that that does-- you know, we're all yummy, we're all beautiful. And I think that transcended through the film. [00:03:23.47] My treatment is my map, and it just keeps me on track. I love to have it on my ...

About the Instructor

The creative force behind Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” video and Jennifer Lopez’s Super Bowl halftime show, Parris Goebel is a dance powerhouse. Now the award-winning choreographer breaks down her approach so you can harness your own creativity. Learn how iconic performances are made—and how to develop and polish routines, direct videos, and exude confidence every step of the way—as Parris opens up like never before.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Parris Goebel

Award-winning choreographer Parris Goebel teaches you her techniques for bringing a vision to life and her approach to owning your creativity.

Explore the Class
Sign Up