During a recent NYC trip, I had the pleasure of getting a peek into what happens during a Music Video shoot. As the San Francisco-based community manager, I get to help with the finished product so it was quite a treat to get to sit in on an actual music video shoot.  I even ended up with a cameo in this week’s Neil Halstead music video, albeit my acting chops clearly sub-par. That coffee barista at 0:37, yup, that’s me. I was trying to look surprised.

During the shoot, it was interesting to read the music video treatment and see how the director and producers went through their list of shots, capuring each in their desired assortment of angles, whether it be a close-up of someones face or a more panoramic shot.  It was also pretty cool seeing how easy some of the special effects, like the ghost walking through walls, were actually rather simple to shoot.  Take video of the ghost walking through the open door. Take more video of just the door, closed. Edit it afterwards. Boom. Impressive effect.

One thing that managed to catch me by surprise was that for every Music Video, there is a second camera filming bits for the Making Of episode. So not only is the director filming for the music video, but he’s also being filmed for the making of, which I believe makes for a very self-aware film shoot!

All in all, a great experience. Next time you see a twitter about Music Videos shooting somewhere in New York, GO! Because you’ll get to watch the magic in the making and who knows, maybe you’ll even get a two second piece of Music Videos history.

And hey, even though I won’t be there, if you’re in the NYC area between May 6-10, you should definitly go to at least one (or all!) of the shows for The Deli’s Best of NYC Festival. I’m more than a little jealous of all the talented bands performing. So go say hi to Jack and Melissa!

(April)