Ollie Allgrove - Talk from 'Passion Pictures'

Today we were given the opportunity to talk with an executive producer from passion pictures, an independant company who focus mainly on Feature films, music videos and commercials. This talk allowed us to gain a vast amount of insight into the music video production world and who it is done proffesionally in the industry.

The process begins with a commissioner who requests a treatment from different companies and directors who listen to the song and offer their own interpretation, with a music video concept.

Each director will recieve a brief. This includes:

- background on the band

- who the intended audience are

- where will the video be seen

- what the song is/what its about

The treatment is a response to this information which displays how the director/production team respond. They often talk about how the song has effected them personally, and what ideas came from this. The treatment includes all aspects of the video such as art direction, production design, what will we see and why, He recommended that the best treatments contain more pictures and fewer words. This allows the artist and producer to visualise the music video and have a better understanding of the directors intentions. 

He told us that artists are looking for views, controversy and impact with their music videos. The record label will collaborate with a director who they believe can achieve this and create the most suiting video for their artist and song.

Once a company/director has been chosen the pre-production stage begins. Here everything is planned with as much detail as possible so nothing can be left to chance on the day, this allows the production stage to be fluid with no obstacles. In doing so the shoot is efficient and leads to a more effective video.

The next stage is the shoot, which often happens in one day, with long hours, this is the most efficient way in terms of budget, and work.

Editing follows the production stage. This is a crucial part where the editor gets the opportunity to collaborate with the director and artist to dictate the story in whatever way they choose. The way the story is put together defines how the audience feel emotion. Another tip he gave, was to not fix it in post, everything has to be planned so nothing is left to chance.

He informed us that record labels often want to create a video that supports the conventions of the type of music video for their genre. This gives the audience what they know and like. They also want a good piece of story telling where the audience will watch till the end. Therefore in my music video I will try to not stray too far from the work that is already out there for this genre of music, as it is proven that the audience like this.