How to Shoot Cinematic Music Videos
When people say they want a music video to look “cinematic,” they usually mean they want it to feel more like a film and less like somebody simply pointed a camera at an artist and hit record.
The good news is that you don’t need a Hollywood budget to get there.
A cinematic music video comes from a combination of lighting, composition, movement, lens choice, frame rate, locations, color, and intentional storytelling. Expensive cameras can help, but they aren’t what makes something cinematic.
I’ve found that the biggest difference comes from having an actual visual idea before you start shooting.
What Does Cinematic Actually Mean?
There isn’t one specific camera setting that makes footage cinematic.
“Cinematic” is more about the overall visual language of the video.
That can include:
- Intentional lighting
- Interesting compositions
- Controlled camera movement
- Depth and separation between subjects and backgrounds
- Consistent color
- Thoughtful locations
- Strong production design
- Different shot sizes
- Motivated camera movement
- Proper exposure
- Good editing
- A visual style that fits the song
You can shoot something on an expensive cinema camera and have it look completely flat and uninteresting.
You can also shoot something on a relatively inexpensive mirrorless camera and make it look incredible.
The camera is only one part of the equation.
Start With the Song
Before I shoot a music video, I think about what the song actually feels like.
Is it dark?
Aggressive?
Sad?
Chaotic?
Minimal?
Dreamlike?
Industrial?
Energetic?
The visuals should have some relationship with the music.
A slow atmospheric song might benefit from longer shots, controlled movement, soft lighting, and wider compositions.
An aggressive electronic or hip-hop song might work better with handheld movement, fast cuts, unusual angles, harsh lighting, and more chaotic compositions.
There aren’t rules saying you have to shoot one particular way.
The important thing is that the camera is doing something for a reason.
Choose Locations That Add Something
A cinematic music video doesn’t need an expensive location.
What matters is finding a location with something visually interesting about it.
Look for:
- Interesting architecture
- Strong lines
- Textures
- Large open spaces
- Interesting lighting
- Shadows
- Industrial environments
- Interesting colors
- Depth
- Practical lights
- Interesting backgrounds
An empty parking garage can be more visually useful than an expensive studio if the song calls for that environment.
Abandoned buildings, alleys, warehouses, forests, rooftops, parking structures, downtown streets, apartments, businesses, and open landscapes can all work.
The location should contribute to the visual identity of the song.
Use Depth in Your Shots
One of the easiest ways to make a shot feel more cinematic is to create depth.
Instead of putting your subject directly against a wall, try to create distance between the subject and the background.
For example:
Camera → Subject → Background
The farther the background is from your subject, the more opportunity you have to separate the subject from it.
This becomes especially noticeable when you’re shooting with a wider aperture.
Foreground elements can also help.
Try shooting through:
- Doorways
- Windows
- Plants
- Fences
- Objects
- Cars
- Shadows
- Other people
You don’t want every shot to be perfectly clean.
Sometimes having something partially obstructing the frame makes the shot feel much more intentional.
Use Your Lens Intentionally
Lens choice has a huge effect on the feeling of a music video.
A wide lens can make an environment feel larger and can exaggerate perspective.
A longer lens can compress the background and isolate the artist.
Neither is automatically better.
For example, a wide lens close to the artist can create an aggressive, distorted perspective.
A longer focal length from farther away can create a more isolated and compressed image.
If you’re shooting an artist in a large environment, you can use both approaches.
Start wide to establish the environment.
Then move closer for performance shots.
Then use a longer lens for details or more intimate moments.
That variation makes the edit much more interesting.
Don’t Shoot Everything at Eye Level
One of the easiest ways to make a music video look ordinary is to shoot everything from the same height.
Move the camera.
Get low.
Get high.
Shoot from the side.
Shoot directly overhead.
Get extremely close.
Back away and let the environment dominate the frame.
Shoot through something.
Put the camera behind the artist.
Try unusual angles.
If the song is aggressive, a low-angle shot can make the artist feel larger and more imposing.
If the song is more vulnerable, a closer and more intimate composition might work better.
Your camera position communicates something.
Camera Movement Should Have a Purpose
Gimbals are great, but you don’t need to put every shot on a gimbal.
Sometimes a completely locked-off tripod shot looks better.
Sometimes handheld is exactly what the song needs.
Sometimes you want a slow push toward the artist.
Sometimes you want to move rapidly around them.
Sometimes you want the camera to feel unstable.
I like thinking about camera movement as another instrument in the production.
If the music is calm, constant aggressive camera movement can work against it.
If the music is chaotic, controlled movement can actually create an interesting contrast.
The important thing is to avoid moving the camera simply because you have a gimbal.
Shoot at 24 FPS When You Want a Cinematic Foundation
For a traditional cinematic look, 24 FPS is still one of the most useful frame rates.
It gives motion a familiar film-like quality and works particularly well when you’re shooting normally at a properly matched shutter speed.
A common starting point is:
24 FPS → 1/48 or 1/50 shutter
You don’t have to follow this perfectly in every situation, but it is a useful starting point.
For slow motion, shoot at a higher frame rate.
For example:
60 FPS → 1/120 shutter
You can then interpret or conform that footage to a 24 FPS timeline and slow it down.
The key is to decide during production which moments should actually be slow motion.
Don’t shoot your entire video at 60 FPS just because you can.
Lighting Is More Important Than the Camera
You can have an incredible camera and still produce flat footage if the lighting isn’t doing anything interesting.
Good lighting gives your subject shape.
Think about where your key light is coming from.
Think about what the background is doing.
Think about shadows.
Think about practical lights in the environment.
Think about contrast.
You don’t necessarily need a giant lighting setup.
A single well-positioned light can completely change a shot.
You can also use available light creatively.
Streetlights, windows, signs, headlights, fluorescent lights, lamps, and sunlight can all become part of the visual design.
Sometimes the best lighting setup is simply finding the right place at the right time of day.
Use Light and Shadow
Don’t be afraid of shadows.
A common mistake is trying to make everything evenly exposed.
Cinematic images often have contrast.
You can allow parts of the frame to become dark while keeping the important parts properly exposed.
Side lighting can create dramatic facial structure.
Backlighting can create silhouettes.
Hard sunlight can create strong shadows.
A small practical light in the background can create separation.
Think about what you want the viewer to look at.
Lighting is one of the ways you control that.
Shoot During the Right Time of Day
Natural light changes dramatically throughout the day.
Golden hour can give you warm, directional sunlight.
Overcast weather can provide soft, even light.
Midday sun can create harsh shadows and a much more aggressive look.
Nighttime can allow practical lights, streetlights, signs, headlights, and artificial lighting to become major parts of the image.
Don’t think of bad weather or unusual lighting as automatically being a problem.
Sometimes the conditions are exactly what give a video its identity.
Don’t Always Shoot With the Aperture Wide Open
A wide aperture can create beautiful background separation, but shooting everything at f/1.4 or f/1.8 isn’t automatically cinematic.
Sometimes you need more of the environment in focus.
Sometimes you need multiple people in focus.
Sometimes the background is important to the shot.
Sometimes your depth of field is simply too shallow to keep the subject consistently sharp.
Choose the aperture based on what you’re trying to communicate.
Depth of field should be a creative decision, not a competition to see who can shoot at the lowest f-number.
Build a Variety of Shots
A music video needs coverage.
Don’t shoot one performance from one angle and expect editing to magically create an entire video.
Get:
- Wide shots
- Medium shots
- Close-ups
- Extreme close-ups
- Low angles
- High angles
- Tracking shots
- Static shots
- Detail shots
- Environmental shots
- Performance shots
- B-roll
You don’t necessarily need all of these in every video.
But having options gives you much more control in the edit.
Shoot Performance More Than Once
If the artist is performing the song, I usually recommend shooting multiple complete performances.
Change something between takes.
For example:
Take 1: Wide performance
Take 2: Medium performance
Take 3: Close handheld performance
Take 4: Gimbal movement
Take 5: Different location
Take 6: Experimental shots
This gives you multiple versions of the same performance that can be cut together.
It also gives you freedom to match specific moments in the song with specific shots.
Shoot B-Roll That Isn’t Just Random B-Roll
B-roll should still have a purpose.
Don’t just film random objects because you think you need filler.
Look for imagery that supports the song.
If the song is about isolation, an empty environment might work.
If the song is aggressive, movement and texture might work better.
If the song is personal, small details can be more effective than huge establishing shots.
The best B-roll helps build the world of the song.
Keep Your Colors Consistent
Color grading can make a huge difference, but the best color grades usually start with consistent footage.
Try to keep your white balance consistent.
Avoid randomly changing exposure between shots.
Pay attention to mixed lighting.
Make sure skin tones aren’t wildly different from shot to shot.
Then you can shape the overall look during color grading.
You can use LUTs as part of the process, but a LUT isn’t a replacement for proper exposure, white balance, and color correction.
A good cinematic grade should support the footage rather than trying to rescue it.
Don’t Overdo the Cinematic Effects
You don’t need:
- Fake film grain everywhere
- Huge amounts of glow
- Excessive lens flares
- Constant slow motion
- Heavy vignettes
- Extreme teal and orange
- Digital camera shake
- Random speed ramps in every shot
These things can work when they’re intentional.
But adding every “cinematic” effect you can find doesn’t automatically make a video cinematic.
The strongest visual style is usually the one that feels intentional.
Use Movement and Editing Together
Camera movement and editing should work together.
If the camera is moving rapidly and the edit is also cutting extremely quickly, the result can become visually overwhelming.
Sometimes a long uninterrupted camera movement followed by a sudden hard cut is much more effective.
You can also use the rhythm of the music to determine when the visual energy changes.
Listen to the drums.
Listen for transitions.
Listen for beat drops.
Listen for changes in instrumentation.
Listen for moments where the artist’s delivery changes.
Those are opportunities to change the visual language.
Don’t Forget the Story
A music video doesn’t necessarily need a complicated narrative.
But it should have some kind of visual idea.
Maybe the artist is moving through different environments.
Maybe the entire video takes place in one strange location.
Maybe the video is built entirely around performance.
Maybe the imagery becomes progressively more chaotic as the song develops.
Maybe the video is intentionally repetitive.
There are endless possibilities.
The important thing is having a reason for what you’re showing.
My Basic Cinematic Music Video Formula
If I needed to build a music video from scratch, I’d start with something like this:
1. Understand the song
Figure out the mood, energy, themes, and important moments.
2. Choose the visual concept
Decide what the video should actually look and feel like.
3. Find locations
Look for environments that naturally fit the concept.
4. Plan your lighting
Determine what light is available and what additional lighting you need.
5. Choose your lenses
Decide where you want wide, normal, and telephoto perspectives.
6. Shoot multiple performances
Get enough coverage to build the edit.
7. Capture intentional B-roll
Look for imagery that adds to the song.
8. Mix camera movement
Use tripod, handheld, gimbal, or whatever makes sense for each shot.
9. Shoot appropriate frame rates
Use 24 FPS for normal cinematic motion and higher frame rates when you specifically want slow motion.
10. Color grade consistently
Correct the footage first, then create the overall look.
11. Edit to the music
Use the rhythm, structure, and emotion of the song to determine the visual pacing.
You Don’t Need an Expensive Camera to Shoot Cinematic Music Videos
The most important thing I’ve learned is that cinematic footage isn’t really about owning the most expensive camera.
It’s about knowing what you’re trying to make.
A good camera with bad lighting and no visual concept can produce boring footage.
A reasonably priced camera with strong composition, good lighting, interesting locations, controlled movement, and a clear idea can produce something that actually feels like a film.
The camera matters.
But the person using the camera matters more.
If you’re an independent artist, you don’t need to recreate a $100,000 music video.
You need to figure out what you can do with the resources you actually have and make those resources part of the aesthetic.
That’s usually where the more interesting ideas come from anyway.
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By Pop Hitchcock
