In this episode of our How To Video: Post Production series, Ikey Ajavon, marketing content strategist for SproutVideo, will walk you through the importance of choosing the right music. We’ll explain the importance of licensing, and show you how and where to find music for your project.

Why is Music So Important?

Have you ever been to a party where there was no music? Yeah, it’s very awkward. A video without music, or the wrong music, is essentially the same thing. Without the right soundtrack, you’re not setting the intended mood. The right music strengthens, supports, and doesn’t get in the way of the visuals. Whether it’s an epic blockbuster like “Star Wars” or a simple corporate training video, the soundtrack you choose is incredibly significant.

Music Licensing

It would be great to download and use your favorite Top 40 hit for your next marketing video. However, without proper permission, using that music could get you into some major trouble. The best and safest way to get music is either to license it, or find free music online.

Music licensing is exactly what it sounds like. For each song, you need to obtain a specific license in order to use it in your project. The cost can vary depending on the type of music you are trying to use and how you’re using it. The price can range from free to all the way into the thousands. Below, we’ve listed our favorite sources for finding music on any budget. Short of creating your own music or paying for a composer, these resources (and ones like them) are your best bet. 

Free

For free music, our number-one choice is YouTube’s Audio Library. This collection of music is surprisingly robust and constantly expanding. While some of the tracks might sound low budget, with a bit of searching you should be able to find something that works.

Pay-Per-Song

Pay-per-song purchase options are great for one-off projects. On Premiumbeat you can purchase different licenses starting from $49, while Pond5 you can find music starting as low as $25. With both of these options, it’s important to note what particular usage you’re paying for. Lower-priced licenses usually mean one-time use or non-commercial use; be sure to read the fine print.

Subscription pricing

If you’re constantly making videos and need music on a recurring basis, finding a reliable subscription service is probably your best bet. Soundstripe, Musicvine, Artlist.io, and Epidemic Sound are our top choices. Similar to pay-per-song services, most of these websites have different subscription tiers — one price for content marketing or individual projects, and another higher price for advertising and professional content.

Higher-end

For those working on higher-end productions, Musicbed and Marmoset Music are fantastic options. Musicbed has a wonderful catalog of music but is on the pricier side at $89 per month or $199 per song for businesses, and as low as $9 per month for indie or YouTube filmmakers. Marmoset Music has some of the best search tools and a highly-curated selection of music. However, it will cost you; tracks for small businesses usually start at around $200.

How to Choose the Right Song

Choosing a song for your video is all about feel, and finding that right feel means a lot of trial and error. To help, begin looking for music once you have a rough assembly of your video. Selecting the track at this point in the editing process will ensure that the pace of your video matches the music that you choose.

Searching through the vast library of songs on these sites will take time, but filtering options should help. Genre, beats per minute, mood, instrument, and numerous other filters can help narrow down your search. Listen to a variety of songs and download as many preview tracks as you need. One by one, place them in your project timeline; this will help you pick the track that works best with your video. When you feel like you’ve found the right one, finish your edit and your masterpiece will be complete.

Finding the perfect song takes time and patience, but we guarantee it’s worth it. Which techniques do you use to find the right music for your videos? Let us know in the comments below.

The post How to Find Music and Edit It Into Your Video appeared first on SproutVideo.

Given that many videos play without sound, especially if they are autoplaying, or shared on social media, knowing how to craft a silent story is an especially valuable skill. In this post, we explore the pieces that help your viewers put the picture together without a word.

Our Spooky Story Without Words

It’s the best time of year for cuddling around a campfire and sharing scary stories. So, we made a scary story of our own.

Set deep in the woods, Nick LaClair, creative director for SproutVideo, tries to hide from a blood-thirsty villain. You may also recognize Scott Jansson from our horror lighting tutorial.

Although we don’t know whether Nick made it out alive, we do know a lot about what transpired. And, we learned it all without any dialogue at all.

Let’s break down the different elements that allow for powerful storytelling without words.

You Still Need a Script

The lack of dialogue does not mean that you don’t need a script. In fact, quite the opposite. You almost need more detail in your pre-production planning because all the other elements in your video have to come together just so.

Every sequence was scripted, including the action, the camera angles, and the emotions expressed by our actors. In fact, we originally wrote out a script with dialogue.

The script helped us visualize the story unfolding scene by scene, and clarified what each segment had to convey. As we edited it down, we realized we didn’t actually need any words to tell our story.

Creating a detailed storyboard or script enables you to clearly visualize the end product, and helps eliminate variables that could otherwise derail your video.

Context is Key

We immediately knew the protagonist was isolated and alone because of the drone shot of the moving vehicle in the beginning. There were no other cars or lights, just a pair of headlights in the dark.

Known as an establishing shot, the introductory sequence to your video is key because it orients your viewers. It provides the context in which the action unfolds.

Granted, you might not be filming a dramatic scene like ours, but this type of shot is key for any video. Wide or distant shots of where the action is taking place are typically used to start off nearly any variety of video.

Strong Visual Narrative

From there, we get plenty of clues about what’s happened to Nick. He’s injured, exhausted, scared, and alone.

The visual narrative is built by the set, and the appearance and action of our actors. Without dialogue, you need to spell out the key points of your story in other ways to make sure the message is delivered to your audience.

For instance, Nick isn’t just limping, he’s also spattered with (fake) blood. You know he’s been in a fight, or some kind of trouble, just by looking at him.

Especially for key moments in your video, think about ways you can double down on the takeaways for the viewer. Use more than one visual cue to make sure your message gets across.

Emotive Music

It can be hard to grasp the emotional context of a scene when actors don’t speak out loud. You might be able to tell how they’re feeling, but you might not feel it too. That’s where music comes in.

Music is transportive. It moves us. That’s why it’s so key when you’re working without spoken words.

It’s also one of the hardest pieces to get right, because you have to feel your way through it. Tune into your emotions when listening to your potential soundtracks. Do they speak to you? What do they say?

We went with classic horror movie-style tunes for our video. We were looking for a dramatic climax, with plenty of tension in the build-up.

Consider the genre you’re working with, and above all, the way you want your audience to feel when compiling your soundtrack.

When Wordless Works

Depending on how you’re sharing your videos, you may need to plan for a lack of sound in general. Videos that autoplay, or which are shared on social media, are likely to play without sound.

Shorter videos tend to work best without dialogue. The narrative is condensed, and the action on screen is enough to keep your audience enthralled.

Granted, there are plenty of examples of feature-length films that succeeded without words, like A Quiet Place, or any of these other silent hits.

Still, involved plots or lengthy histories tend to benefit from some dialogue. The more characters you have, the more introductions you’ll need. If there are specific facts you want your audience to remember, they likely need to be reiterated several times.

All that being said, you might need fewer words than you think. Less is often so much more. Cut the fat, and see what’s left.

Questions about crafting your own video without sound? Get expert advice in the comments below.

The post How to Produce a Compelling Video Without Dialogue appeared first on SproutVideo.

You can warm up your tone, take on holiday-related themes, or use seasonal visual and audio elements. Basically, it’s an excuse to change things up!

To help make it easy, we’ve come up with five easy ways you can tap into the general merriment of the holiday season in your videos.

1. Take on holiday topics

As you’re brainstorming ways of framing your offering this month, think about introducing topics that relate to the holiday staples: family, friendships, charity and giving, shopping and gifts, holiday music, and of course, food!

Even if none of these topics sit comfortably with what you offer, the holiday season is the perfect excuse to do something neighborly, like producing a quick clip sharing your favorite holiday recipe as a gift to your audience, or creating and highlighting a promotional holiday offer.

Getting employees in on this can also be fun, and expand your options. For instance, using video to share a cheery message from your company is a great option, and easy to do.

2. Holiday-specific problem-solving

Video is a fantastic medium for a quick chat about holiday-specific challenges that your audience might be facing. Stick to your general area, and try to address things you can help them solve.

Can your product or service be positioned as a gift? Can you offer a primer on dealing with awkward family situations, budgeting during the holidays, what to do with your pets while you’re away visiting family…?

There are a thousand unique challenges people face during the holiday season. Think of one that relates to your area of expertise, and use video to outline some useful solutions. This is a great chance to be lighthearted and humorous too.

3. Add some holiday elements

Whether you go traditional or non-traditional in your own celebrations, there are plenty of classic and iconic holiday elements that will make your videos strike that nostalgic chord for viewers. By integrating these into the filming—they don’t even need to be featured prominently—you can create a holiday mood without ever mentioning the holidays!

Just to name a few: decorations in the background; champagne; scarves, gloves and wool socks; warm fireplaces and candles; cheesy holiday sweaters; hot cocoa; a Christmas hat; and let’s not forget snow!

You don’t even need to use stock footage to capture these elements. You can use an HD videocamera (possibly the phone in your pocket) to record “b-roll” footage throughout the holiday season.

Think slow-panning shots of holiday lights, beautiful Thanksgiving spreads, and any scenes that evoke holiday cheer. These types of clips can be endlessly repurposed for future videos. As a bonus, they are easy to capture because you don’t have to worry about recording the audio since it is likely to be edited out.

4. Post-production: Filters

Another way to visually suggest the holiday mood is to use filters in post-production to either warm up the ambience, or give it that nostalgic feel (or both).

It’s not too difficult to add filters after filming. We’ve gathered some tutorials for After Effects, Final Cut Pro and iMovie for your convenience. If you’re using a different editing suite, have no fear: you can do a quick search online to find tutorials for any reputable software.

5. Post-production: Music

Let’s not forget the key ingredient of any seasonal movie: the music!

It’s absolutely worth adding a bit of holiday music to your videos (even just a few jingles) to keep things merry and bright. Luckily there are plenty of royalty-free holiday tracks around, like here, here and here.

Have something to ask us, add, or suggest? We’d love to hear your ideas! How are you incorporating the holiday spirit into your videos?

The post 5 Tips to Catch the Holiday Spirit with Video appeared first on SproutVideo.

The people behind the videos, the producers and directors, have honed the skill of making great video to a point of near-perfection; in this post we’re looking into the people behind some of the most notable and audience-grabbing music videos of the recent past, because frankly, we could all learn from them. They are, after all, the masters. Read on for the inside scoop on six of your favorite music videos.

1. Sia’s “Chandelier,” “Elastic Heart,” etc.

Sia’s recent videos “Chandelier” and “Elastic Heart” both made a huge splash in 2014 and 2015, partly because of the mad dance skills of virtuoso dancer Maddie Zeigler, and partly because of how weird, interesting and beautiful the videos themselves are.

Minimalist aesthetics and powerful talent—in Zeigler and Shia LeBeouf—came together in an amazing pair of videos with a naked feel to them, bespeaking raw emotion. Sia herself co-directed these videos with Daniel Askill, an Australian filmmaker who is also an artist in other media, including sculpture and video installation. One of his most acclaimed works is the surreal short film We Have Decided Not to Die (2003) which won several festival prizes.

LeBeouf and Zeigler also played huge roles in the success of the videos, with their passion and dedication praised by the directors. (Not surprisingly, “Chandelier” won the 2014 MTV Music Award for Best Choreography in a Video.)

2. Taylor Swift, “Bad Blood”

This video takes the concept of a friendship feud to the next level, casting Taylor Swift as the protagonist and a member of what seems to be space-age training camp for terrifying and beautiful agents including Lena Dubham, Ellie Goulding, Jessica Alba, and “Headmistress” Cindy Crawford—all wielding Matrix-style skills and serious weaponry. (Get the full cameo list here.) Visuals are sleek, dark, and laser-sharp.

The video was directed by Joseph Kahn, who’s also known for such awesomeness as Britney Spears’s “Toxic” and “Womanizer,” Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy is Mine” and—to throw back—Janet Jackson’s “Doesn’t Really Matter.” His signature style has a little bit of Japanese pop culture thrown in, and he has won too many awards to list.

3. Meghan Trainor, “Dear Future Husband”

Meghan Trainor is building a brand on retro, 1960s pastels combined with modern-day sass in her recent videos “All About That Bass” and “Dear Future Husband.” The latter depicts Trainor auditioning overconfident young men for the coveted “future husband” role using what looks like a combination of Tinder and Match.com, having them over for dates, and shooting them down one by one. It’s made less harsh by a brightly-dressed barbershop quartet—dancing, not singing—and the fact that, in a realistic turn, she ultimately goes for the nice guy who just shows up with a pizza.

“Dear Future Husband” (as well as “All About That Bass”) were directed by Fatima Robinson, who has directed and choreographed some amazing stuff including Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time” Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair,” and—get this—the HBO Inauguration event for President Barack Obama. Robinson is known for her intense creativity and artistic eye for movement.

4. Kiesza, “Hideaway”

This video from newcomer to fame Kiesza is really all about the dancing. It’s super low-budget, and by that we mean it was taken in a single shot, placed against the real urban backdrop of Brooklyn in all its graffitoed, gritty glory, and filmed in a total of 90 minutes.

The video is pretty much just Kiesza dancing, ‘80’s street-style to the synth-y song, being joined by various other dancers, and creates what ultimately falls somewhere between flashmob and outdoor club. A little-known fact: Keisza broke her rib just before making the video, so she was pretty much in pain the entire time—and you can’t even tell.

Staying with the low-budget theme, the video was filmed by Kiesza’s brother, Blayre Ellestad, and co-directed/co-produced by Kiesza, Rami Samir Afuni, and choreographer Ljuba Castot. Not too shabby for a video nominated for the MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography AND the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Video.

5. Iggy Azalea, “Fancy”

A re-enactment of scenes from the 1990s hit film Clueless, the video for “Fancy” depicts shiny LA for rich teenagers: upper-echelons high school, entitlement, parties, Cher’s most famous outfits, and of course the two-handed “Whatever” sign. While it’s not exactly inventing the wheel, the video taps into nostalgia and gives us back a little bit of the past—which is sometimes even better. As a result, the video was nominated for four awards at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, showing it definitely struck a chord.

The video was directed by Julien Christian Lutz, better known as Director X, who has a long list of directorial credits for artists including Flo Rida, Jamie Foxx, Drake, Wiz Khalifa, and Busta Rhymes. X is credited with helping to put Canadian hiphop on the map, and has a reputation for helping squeaky-clean young stars (like Justin Beiber) break into new, more grown-up territory. So Clueless is a perfect fit.

6. Maroon 5, “Sugar”

If the last video was all about the dancing, this one’s all about the story: to quote Adam Levine at the start of the video, “We’re going to drive across LA and hit every wedding we possibly can.” And that’s exactly what happens, making for an incredibly feel-good video full of surprise Maroon 5 performances, hugs, dancing, kissing, and a lot of “Hey look I’m a rock star and I’m at your wedding” moments. It’s basically a real version of that film The Wedding Crashers, but less funny and more sweet (and the grooms were in on it).

So maybe you won’t be surprised to find out that it was directed by none other than the director of The Wedding Crashers, David Dobkin. Dobkin and Levine, long-time friends, came together on the project idea. Dobkin is owed a lot of credit for his groom-calming skills as well as his directorial ones: apparently a few days before shooting began, most of the grooms started getting nervous and wanted to cancel the wedding crash, and Dobkin met with each of them and talked them out of canceling.

Have a favorite video that you’d like us to include in the next roundup? Let us know via Twitter or leave a comment!

The post The Unsung Heroes: Who’s Behind Your Favorite Video? appeared first on SproutVideo.

This month’s Video Spotlight is on the epic 2013 music video “Happy” by singer and producer Pharrell Williams. It’s still stuck in our heads, and for good reason.

The song “Happy” hit number 1 in 24 countries around the world in 2013 and 2014, thanks to the simple yet incredibly effective music video campaign that went alongside it (scroll down to watch it). In this post, we’ll run through what worked about the “Happy” video, and look at how you can apply its successful strategies to your own online video campaigns.

The Video

The concept of the music video is simple: people dancing. But the thing that makes this concept really special is the long-form video that was released alongside the more conventional, 4-minute video.

The long-form video, titled “24 Hours of Happy,” was exactly that: the world’s first 24-hour music video. It features 24 hours of people dancing to the “Happy” song. The stars are regular people, famous people, young people, old people, and even a few non-people such as dogs and those minions from Despicable Me.

The latter is another thing that helped this video go far. It was cross-promoted with not only Pharrell’s album, but also the hugely popular Despicable Me 2 film (it’s on the soundtrack).

Breaking it Down

In total, the film consists of 360 segments of 4 minutes each (since the song is 4 minutes long), with each segment a single shot of someone dancing down the street in Los Angeles. In fact, the entire 24-hour film is shot within a 9-mile stretch of LA, with segments often starting up in the spot where the last one ended, which gives a sort of “tour of the neighborhood” feel to watching it.

Pharrell himself is in the video 24 times, but it’s not really about him — it’s more about all the other people who appear, none of whom takes a starring role. Basically, it’s a film of cameos and short appearances. Celebrities that show up in the video are people like Magic Johnson, Jamie Foxx, Kelly Osborne, Steve Carell and Jimmy Kimmel (and the list goes on).

Some of the best moments of the 360 segments were cut down to create the 4-minute music video that shows up in all the usual places. With so much great material to work from, it’s not that surprising the video was nominated for Best Male Video and Video of the Year at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. It also won the Grammy for Best Music Video overall at the 2014 Grammy Awards. Additionally, the 24-hour version was shown at the 2014 Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema. Well done, Pharrell and team.

Why It Works

While the video sounds like it would be monotonous, it’s actually fun to watch. Something about it just makes you want to share it with other people. Maybe not the whole 24 hours, but definitely the 4-minute video.

There are a lot of reasons why, but here are the ones you can take to the bank, in the form of strategies to integrate into your own online videos.

1. Relatability

The fact that there are tons of “real people” in this video makes it a lot more interesting to watch than if it were just celebrities or professional dancers.

2. Personality

The segments of the 24-hour film that were used in the award-winning 4-minute video are those that had the most personality – people who took risks and weren’t afraid to look silly — and it’s great.

3. Cross-promotion

The single of “Happy,” the 24-hour video, the 4-minute video, and the film Despicable Me 2 were all released at around the same time. That level of coordination is hard to do, so plan ahead!

4. Social media integration

The 24-hour music video is presented with a “Share This Moment” button right there on the screen as you watch, encouraging people to share their favorite moments and making it really easy to do so.

5. Crowdsourcing

While the video segments were definitely filmed by a professional crew, a huge amount of the actual dancing was done by regular people who wanted to take part.

6. Humility

There was no star of the show. It’s just a lot of people enjoying themselves, and a theme of passing the torch throughout the video(s).

7. Geography

That sense of neighborhood matters to the video, for people who live in LA and also for people who don’t. You feel more friendly with the area, by the end of even just the 4-minute video.

8. Universal themes

“Happiness” is pretty much the most universal theme out there — just ask Google. Dancing is a universal human activity. It’s surprisingly captivating to watch so many people take on the same song.

9. Legacy

There’s a lesson in each of these strategies for other videographers. You may not be able to join forces with a Hollywood production studio to get your video seen. However, you can join forces with other brands and organizations serving your demographic to see if cross-promotion opportunities are available.

You can also try tapping into major events and holidays when timing your video releases. That way, they’ll coincide with the appropriate zeitgeist. You might not have the resources to hire celebrity cameos, but you can certainly get colorful personalities into your videos. Choose people from your team or area who can really turn it on for the camera.

In my humble opinion, it’s the “no star of the show” aspect of this video that makes it so great. There are many ways that your company or brand can feature the people who make it all possible: the fans, the clients, the customers, or regular people. It shows appreciation, and in many ways, that’s what the “Happy” video is all about.

In case you haven’t seen it enough, here is the 4 minute version of the video:

Note on the Team

“Happy” was written and produced by Pharrell Williams, with backing vocals by Rhea Dummett, Trevon Henderson, Ashley L. Lee, Shamika Hightower, Jasmine Murray and Terrence Rolle. The track was digitally edited and arranged by Andrew Coleman and Mike Larson. It was recorded with assistance from Matthew Desrameaux at Circle House Studios in Miami, Florida. The song was later mixed by Leslie Brathwaite at Music Box Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Yoann Lemoine was the creative director. He also directed the videos for Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” Taylor Swift’s single “Back to December,” and Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die.”

Are your videos making viewers happy? What did you take away from this music video? Share in the comments below!

The post Video Spotlight: “Happy” by Pharrell Williams appeared first on SproutVideo.

Music piracy is a confusing and costly issue for many videographers and you can quickly find yourself between a rock and a very costly hard place. For even the shortest of films, music is an important co-star to the scenes we film, an invaluable link to our audience’s emotions and memories.

As online filmmakers, we usually do not have the budget of a company like Volkswagen that has the resources to license the rights to a song like Bob Marley’s “Come On Get Happy.” Big names pay big dollars for these songs for a reason: they have an impact on consumer habits, including brand loyalty and identification. So, how do you navigate the legalities of using music in your videos?

The Issues

If you find yourself questioning whether or not to use your favorite Journey song in the background of your video, the best rule of thumb is to simply walk away. Consider that nagging internal debate to be your intuition kicking in.

However, on the other thumb, another good rule is to understand fair use and copyright laws. Let’s start with some basic definitions:

Fair use

A legal doctrine that states portions of copyrighted materials can be used without permission of the copyright owner provided the use is fair and reasonable, does not substantially impair the value of the materials, and does not curtail the profits reasonably expected by the owner (Merriam-Webster.com).

Copyright

The exclusive, legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (as a literary, musical, or artistic work) (Merriam-Webster.com)

Synchronization License

License granted by a copyright holder giving an individual permission to “sync” a particular song with a video, film, video game, TV show, or advertisement. Royalties are then paid to copyright holders depending on the specificities of the agreement. To obtain a synchronization license you need permission from the following:

• The writer or party/publisher representing the writer who is responsible for the composition
• The owner of the studio recording, usually a record label, who has rights to the master sound recording

In Practice

These definitions can appear clear, but in the age of the internet, these meanings get blurry quickly. Fair use is a particularly foggy shade of gray.

According to basic fair use practices, songs can be synched with videos if the copyright is expired, or the video is intended for educational purposes. The rationale is that videos intended for educational use will not be used for profit.

Again, the internet complicates this delineation. Once a student or teacher posts their video online, they lose some degree of control over the original educational purposes of that video.

Questions of Ownership

“What about all those songs I downloaded from iTunes,” you might be wondering. Yes, you paid a solid 99 cents to blast that song as loud as you want to. However, those 99 cents bought you the right to private use only. Meaning, that song cannot be duplicated or attached to any visual media that you could potentially profit from.

As soon as that song is used to sell a cheeseburger, promote your organization, or copied in ANY unauthorized way, you are venturing into the land of royalties. Moreover, hosting sites can be penalized for loading videos that illegally use copyrighted music.

Wedding videographers often find themselves in a particularly difficult situation when clients ask for popular songs in their wedding videos. Who could deny a couple their favorite Matchbox 20 song?

Some professionals will agree to use popular songs, but then include a private use clause in their contract. As an alternative, many videographers elect to purchase rights to cover songs, including the costs in their fee.

Even chasing after a song with expired copyrights is tricky. Legal documents tend to have long, jargon-laden paper trails that can easily elude the most thorough filmmaker.

Solutions

The solution to this persistent issue is not to avoid using music in your online videos. Silence is not golden when it comes to online videos. Here are a few ideas to consider:

Go Local

Find a local band in your community in need of some exposure. Featuring the music of artists from your community is a win-win situation. You are getting all the benefits of a well-paired song and they are reaching new audiences. There are a number of bands that became overnight internet darlings because their music was featured in a popular online video.

This is a great route to take, but make sure to cover your bases. Draft and sign a working contract, clearly indicating that you employed the band for this specific purpose.

Royalty Free

Another popular solution is paying for royalty free music libraries or songs. These songs are copyrighted without the need to pay license fees or royalties. The music in these libraries varies in quality quite a bit. You’ll hear poorly produced covers, or songs that sound vaguely like a Beatles song, as well as amazing original stock music.

Make Your Own

Finally, you can fire up the synthesizer and make your own soundtrack. There are many user-friendly sites, free downloads, and apps out there that can turn a sweet little synth rift into a 5-minute electronic experience.

Share your experiences and tips in using music for online videos with us here, on Facebook, and on our Twitter page @sproutvideo!

The post The Legalities of Using Music in Your Online Videos appeared first on SproutVideo.