How To... Make A Music Video in 60 Minutes

1stAveMachine has a theory that the best way to create more innovative ideas is to make creative problems. #makeithard is an interactive session whereby a music track and video are made in collaboration with the audience. In the space of 60 minutes.

Along with music partners - international music agency MassiveMusic to produce the track, and international edit house, Cut+Run to edit the video - 1stAveMachine live edited sounds and images collected from the audience and uploaded the finished track and video to YouTube at the end of the session.

Part of the intention of the session at D&AD was to deliver something different to a standard presentation…and to put our money where our mouth is. Let's #makeithard....

We were working with over 12 people, from three companies, split across two countries which meant that logistical, practical and creative journeys were going to be interesting, fruitful and slightly chaotic (in a good way).

The process was really built with the audience in mind. How can we gather people to have fun, get to know each other better, provide visual and audio entertainment and bring it to life visually?

We knew right from the start that we were going for a fun, engaging and upbeat vibe. A sense of energy was important anyway, but even more so as the session was at the end of the day.

We set about thinking about various props that could give us a unique palette of sounds and were tested in a simplistic way to help us build an audible picture. But, we also wanted to keep elements of the unknown in there too, especially for the live event. This session was really designed and composed with the live element and crowd participation in mind, where anything could happen.

Through rigorous testing, we were able to rule out a lot of crazy ideas for props. Certain props deliver musical notes or sounds that can be used - others, simply do not. In order to maintain authenticity, we didn’t want to process live captured sounds so they became unrecognisable - both visually and sonically.

There were several rehearsals which ran as though it was the live session, brilliantly supported with the technical skill of 1stAveMachine’s James Littlemore. Firstly, we needed to see how we could troubleshoot and also to see how the final result would be, and as it turns out, it was different every time. We needed to be familiar with the different types of sounds and images captured, and to make sure we could work with them.

As well as afore mentioned fun atmosphere, it was important that we made it clear that we weren’t asking people to do things which were beyond their capability or asking them to do things that made them look silly. The playful array of props which created the sounds ranged from balloons, a space hopper, kazoos and even a giant gong.

To ease everyone in gently, and so as not to single anyone out, it was important to start with a crowd-piece sound. We asked the sitting audience to stand up together to create the sound, which connected them as a group right from the start.

In terms of session format, the audience interaction sessions were interspersed with delivering our #makeithard messages from 1stAveMachine’s Isabella Parish and Andrew Geller, followed by MassiveMusic’s Alex Normanton. There was not a lot of time in between, and to keep the energy alive, we kept the content to a minimum to enable the editing and composers to catch up.

Cut+Run editor Matthew Prickett and assistant Aiden Jordan treated it like going on set, they took a live feed from both cameras, imported it straight into Avid, and cut it as quickly as possible. Everything went as expected, and thankfully due to the many rehearsals, they knew the style and tempo MassiveMusic’s Tim Preston and Paul Stroud were moving to, and were able to work seamlessly together.

We wanted a piece for the audience to connect with, and to feel a part of. A piece that is amusing and entertaining, both for those involved in actually making it, and for those who weren’t in the session, as well as imparting the message of #makeithard.

What we got was exactly that (in our humble opinion). Decide for yourself below...