Ever wonder what fifty people do all day on a music video set?

Mostly they wait, and then everything happens at once

A pop singer was shooting a new video for a music TV network, and they wanted the making of to air too. I produced and directed that behind the scenes film

A subway from the future, built in three days

The concept was sleek, a kind of white futuristic subway, smooth choreography instead of hard hip hop, still upbeat

The set went up in three days on a soundstage, after about a week of building pieces off site, and the dancers rehearsed on a green screen cyc next to it

The singer learned the whole routine in three days. Then she showed up to shoot on four hours of sleep

That's normal, by the way

The crew that got there at six in the morning didn't look much better, and every one of them hit their marks anyway. That's the part viewers never see, and it's exactly the part a making of is for

What a making of really needs

Here is the deal, a behind the scenes film is not the leftovers, it's a second show

So you need the same things the main shoot needs. The choreographer explaining why the moves are softer than you'd expect, the producers laughing about the artist asking "am I supposed to talk now?", a dancer slipping and making it look like part of the routine

Real moments, caught while fifty other people are busy with their own job and nobody is looking at you

You can't stage those, you have to already be there with the camera up

Ask a crew to do something funny again for the camera and you get a crew acting, and nobody wants to watch that twice

Why anybody pays for this

A music video plays, people watch it, then what? a good making of keeps the release alive another week on TV, then on YouTube and social media

Brands figured that out too. Today I shoot behind the scenes on almost every fashion shoot, because buyers want to see the real crew and the real models, not something a computer made

Producer and camera in one

When the producer is the one holding the camera there's no asking permission to move, I see the shot coming and I'm already there, quietly, out of the director's way

See how I do it on my own fashion sets in the Behind The Scenes gallery, and more films in the Fashion Videographer gallery

Fifty people, three days, one song

Length: 5 min 30 s · Producer & director: David Victory, VRSET video production, Los Angeles & Orange County

Key moments

  • 0:00 Artist on set
  • 0:41 Crew and production setup
  • 1:08 Green-screen dance rehearsal
  • 2:03 Choreography on set
  • 2:31 Artist interview
  • 2:58 The white futuristic set
  • 4:20 Team interviews
  • 5:15 Final scenes

See the matching photography in the Behind The Scenes gallery.

More videos

The full video library

Also on our YouTube channel.

Planning a video or a fashion shoot? Contact David Victory or call (310) 988-6575 in Los Angeles, (949) 873-4551 in Orange County. Free consultation and quote for first-time clients.