DIY Music Video Production:
The Global Warming Video
"Little Guy (Make a Start)"

Do you want to make your own music video? The "Little Guy" global warming video was created for an online video contest.

The contest didn't specifically call for a music video, but it seemed like a good way to get the point across, and it was a blast to make. I used a similar approach with the "I Love My SBI" music video, and it worked well there, too. (Check out my latest music video project, for Stephen Webber's "Stylus Symphony".)

Make Your Own Music Video

To make a music video, you need to start with a song. You'll also want to do some music video planning, which you can read more about on my Music Video Planning page.

For the global warming music video, I kind of went crazy and did everything (wrote the words and music, recorded the vocals and the instrumental tracks, and did most of the filming and all of the editing).

For your music video, you could use an existing song. Of course, if you don't own the copyright, then the whole legal thing gets kind of messy, especially if you want to post it online anywhere.

It's true that a lot of people on YouTube and everywhere else ignore the copyright thing and get along fine, and some even become famous. I just think that if you're going to put a lot of effort into making a music video, you should make one that you can use however you want, without worrying about copyright issues.

Keeping It Legal

To keep the copyright lawyers from knocking on your door, your best DIY (do-it-yourself) options are:

• Enter an online music video contest, where a band has given permission for anyone to do a mashup or original video of their stuff. Do an online search for "music video contests," and you'll find plenty to keep you busy. Just look carefully at the rules, since you may lose your rights to the video once you submit it to the contest.
• Get connected with a band or songwriter that has original music.
• Look for "public domain" or "royalty-free" music — either music that is too old for copyright, or music that the creators have "given to the world" for anyone to use. I did this on my Valentines Ecard video. It took a little digging, but the song I eventually chose, by Kevin MacLeod, fits perfectly, I think. Check out Kevin's music. — He's a very talented and generous guy.
• Write your own and record it. If you're not musical, write a poem and rap it, with some beats in the background. If you're not a poet, you could just do some percussion &mdash bang on a bunch of funky-sounding things and put it all together to make a song.

Filming the Music Video

If you watch the video below, you'll see a bunch of shots of my son Mark — some video along with some still shots. Most of it is fairly lo-fi, but it was good enough to impress the judges. (It won first place, and prizes worth $8,000, out of more than 130 entrants. Very cool!)

Once I wrote the song, the basic routine was to try to find or create and shoot scenes that related to the lyrics. It's all about recycling, reusing, etc. around our house, which is the way our family lives anyway, but I wanted a few zany scenes to spice things up a bit.

Some of the best parts, like the trash-can banana dance and the flourescent statue of liberty, were more or less accidents. (You can't give too much direction to a two-year-old — especially not Mark!) It's good to plan ahead of time, but be prepared to shoot a lot and enjoy the unexpected.

Tech Specs for the Global Warming Video

The music for the global warming video was created using Finale (expensive but does everything for music notation — although I've since started using Sibelius, which I like a lot more), Audacity (great freeware) and Sony Acid (free and cheap versions) on a Windows PC. The video was filmed using a Panasonic PV-GS180 camcorder and an external Sony ECM-MS908C microphone.

I fiddled with some of the photos &mdash the exploding roof, Mark hanging on the clothesline — in Paint Shop Pro, which is a decent alternative to the gold standard, Photoshop.

It was all put together with Sony Vegas Movie Studio — a great program, fairly intuitive and a lot of bang for the buck.

The "Little Guy" Global Warming Video

Click To Play

And here are the lyrics:

Little Guy (Make a Start)

A Global Warming Music Video
by Jon Forsyth

Our lamps have compact fluorescent lights,
We got our water heater wrapped up tight,
I turn my thermostat at night to 50 degrees
(We have down comforters)

I put more insulation under my roof,
I sealed my ducts to make them all leak-proof,
When we can, we hang our laundry in the breeze

I'm just a little guy, maybe I can't do much,
But I'm going to do my part,
I can't stop global warming all by myself
But at least I can make a start

We use Freecycle to pass on extra stuff,
Or give to shelters for those who don't have enough,
And I fix things when I can so they will last

Compost gets my crumbs and rinds and peels,
Recycling gets my paper, plastic, glass and steel,
So all that's left is just a very little trash

I'm just a little guy, maybe I can't do much,
But I'm going to do my part,
I can't stop global warming all by myself
But at least I can make a start

I rescue curbside stuff all over town,
My clothes and furniture are hand-me-downs,
When I reuse a thing it always makes me smile

I can't afford a hybrid for when I roam,
But I don't commute because I work at home,
And at least I keep my cars for many miles

I'm just a little guy, maybe I can't do much,
But I'm going to do my part,
I can't stop global warming all by myself
But at least I can make a start