Project management approaches and principles are extremely effective in evaluating and executing any size project. Film projects are no different, each requiring a dynamic balance between resource utilization and talent allocation. The majority of my recent side work has been related to weddings and events, it hasn't always been this way, but I have found these to be enjoyable. These momentous occasions are usually fast-paced and operational timing is critical. While it’s been fun I've decided to take on a new weekend passion project and shoot a narrative music video for a local artist. To be fair, between planning, shooting, and editing this may take a few weekends. However, it remains a new experience overall.

Perhaps you are a marketer, fellow creative, filmmaker, public relations agent, or are a curious engineer on the weekend and have an interest in how to make a campaign video for a person or brand. Perhaps my approach will help you get a start on developing your script or visual storyline.

Skipping beyond the context of my initial interactions with the artist I was asked to come up with a visual treatment. Here was my thought process.

Listen to the song on repeat for a substantial period of time, close your eyes for this part.
Pausing the repeated song periodically to jot down ideas and concepts that come to mind. Depending on the song you may visualize a few different storylines.
Look for any centralized concepts in your notes to see if a general story emerges. Note: (1) A narrative film must have a beginning, middle, and end, however, they do not have to be in that sequence necessarily. (2) A minimum of one character will engage/connect to the audience through ideas, emotions, and experiences that occur throughout the plot. (3) While the interpretation of art is subjective, a relationship between the music and the content should exist.

Within the music video genre, there are three distinct categories of narratives: illustration, amplification, and disjuncture.

Illustration - Directly connects to the song. Visuals are direct and literal representations of lyrics. One simplistic example would be a character singing about buying a coat while the video shows him doing this activity. One example is Lil NasX - "Old Town Road" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Ov5jzm3j8&ab_channel=LilNasXLilNasXOfficialArtistChannel

Amplification - Uses visual aids to replicate the meanings of lyrics directly and indirectly. Interpretation is fairly easy for the audience to understand. One Example is Taylor Swift’s "Love Story" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xg3vE8Ie_E&ab_channel=TaylorSwiftTaylorSwift

Disjuncture - This is a more abstract and experimental visual aid that has little to no connection to the music. One Example is Childish Gambino's "This Is America" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY&ab_channel=DonaldGloverDonaldGloverOfficialArtistChannel

Performance - This is as simple as it sounds, the artist is performing the song in front of the camera, and the focus is on their singing and musical talents. One example is Masego - "Yebo/Sema" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjpTZwfU8IY&ab_channel=MasegoMasegoOfficialArtistChannel