Making Music Videos

When my boys were 2 and 3 years old, we made a short music video to one of their favorite songs. It was so much fun and turned out so cute that we now make one music video a year. This is our fifth year for the music video tradition. When we listen to music, I am always thinking if it would make a good music video. Picking the song is usually the hardest part. The first video was to "Clap Your Hands" by They Might Be Giants. Video #2 was set to "The Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner. Backyardigans songs make for great videos, and we used "A Pirate Says Arrr" and "I Love Being a Princess" for the next two years. This year's video is to "The Eye of the Tiger."

Some tips for making a great music video:

• Get the kids involved in the whole process. The kids help me pick the song, plan costumes, and make scenery (if any.) I also talk to them about what they want to do in the video.
• I make a list of shots I want to get before going out to shoot the video. Depending on their age, you may only have a short window of cooperation.
• Take LOTS of video. For this last video, I uploaded 40 minutes of video, and edited it down to a 2 and a half minute song.
  
• Shoot a variety of shots. Take some up close, some from a distance, and different angles.

I use iMovie to do my editing. I put some video up in the editing window, turn off the video audio and add the song track. Then I can cut the video clips to the right timing in the music.