Music Video Pre-Production Checklist: What to Sort Before the Shoot

The treatment is the document every other decision hangs off. Before you can book a location or brief a stylist, you need to know what the video actually is. A workable treatment answers: what is the concept in one sentence, what is the narrative or visual through-line, what is the mood and colour palette, and roughly how the song maps to the vision across its runtime. Write out the song structure (intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro) with a note against each section on what happens on screen. This becomes the spine of your shot list later.

Work to the final master of the track, not a rough mix. Editing a performance video to a track that changes tempo or arrangement after the shoot is a genuine nightmare, because lip-sync is timed to the exact waveform. Get the mastered file, confirm it is the version being released, and shoot to that. Also decide now whether the video is performance-based (the artist miming to camera), narrative (a story with actors), or a hybrid. That single choice cascades into casting, locations and how many setups you can realistically get through in a day.

Adelaide gives you an unusual range within a short drive, and that is a gift you should use deliberately rather than at random. Warehouse and industrial spaces around Bowden, Kilburn and Wingfield suit gritty or high-contrast looks. The Adelaide Hills and the coast from Henley to Port Willunga give you natural light and landscape. The CBD laneways and West End give you texture without a long travel day. Pick locations that serve the treatment, then de-risk each one.

De-risking means three things. First, permission: council-managed public spaces, the Parklands and many beaches require a permit for a shoot with a crew and gear, and turning up without one can end your day. Sort this weeks ahead, not the night before. Second, power and access: is there mains power, or do you need a generator or battery setup, and can you physically get the gear in? Third, light and noise: visit at the same time of day you plan to shoot so you know where the sun sits and whether a nearby road, flight path or venue will ruin your audio or force constant retakes. Always line up a wet-weather backup. Adelaide can turn on you, and an indoor fallback location saves the whole day when it does.

Wardrobe reads harder on camera than most artists expect, so treat it as a planned element, not an afternoon-of decision. Lock the artist's key looks against the treatment's palette, and prepare a backup for each in case something tears, stains or simply does not sit right under the lights. Avoid tight repeating patterns and fine stripes, which can shimmer and moire on camera, and be careful with pure white and pure black, which can blow out or crush depending on your exposure.

Build a styling kit for the day: steamer, safety pins, gaffer tape, lint roller, spare basics. If you are using hair and makeup, brief them on the concept and the number of looks so they can plan their timing into the schedule. Continuity matters more than people think, especially on a performance video cut from multiple takes: photograph each finished look on your phone before you roll so wardrobe, hair and jewellery match across setups. If a look changes halfway through the day, note exactly which shots belong to which look so the edit does not stitch two versions of the artist into the same chorus.

Even a stripped-back performance video usually needs more people than the artist alone. Decide early whether you need extras, dancers, actors or featured talent, and cast them with enough lead time to confirm availability and get releases signed. Anyone recognisable on camera should sign a talent release before the shoot so you own the right to use their image in the released video. The same goes for any minors, who need a parent or guardian present and consenting.

On the crew side, be honest about what the concept demands. A director of photography, a camera assistant, a gaffer for lighting, someone running playback for lip-sync, and hair and makeup are common roles even on a modest build. Trying to run camera, direct the artist and manage playback yourself is how days fall apart. This is where working with an experienced Adelaide crew pays for itself: JLM Studios has shot for artists including Jessica Mauboy, Taylor Henderson, Nathaniel and Dino Jag, and a crew that has done it before moves through setups quickly instead of learning on your budget. Confirm every person's call time, role and contact number in writing so nobody is guessing on the morning.

The call sheet is the single document that turns a plan into a coordinated day. It is not admin for its own sake: it is what stops 8 people standing around asking what happens next. A proper call sheet lists the shoot date and each person's individual call time (crew usually arrive before talent), the location addresses with parking and load-in notes, and a running schedule blocked out by setup rather than by the clock alone.

Include the essentials people actually reach for: every key contact's mobile number, the nearest hospital and a first-aid point, sunrise and sunset times if you have exterior work, and the weather forecast. Note where the toilets are, whether food and water are provided, and any site-specific rules. Send it to everyone the day before, not on the morning. When the DP, the artist and the makeup artist all open the same document and see the same plan, the day runs on rails. When they do not, you lose the first hour to confusion, and on a paid shoot that first hour is money.

Translate the treatment into a shot list before you touch the gear, because the shot list tells you what gear you actually need. Go section by section through the song and list each shot: framing, camera movement, whether it is performance or narrative, and roughly how long it should run. A realistic shot list also tells you honestly how many setups fit in a day, which is usually fewer than an optimistic plan assumes.

From the shot list, build the gear list: camera bodies and lenses, media cards with enough capacity plus spares, batteries (always more than you think), lighting and stands, any gimbal, slider or drone, and the playback rig for lip-sync. If you are shooting outdoors, add ND filters and something to control or bounce the harsh Adelaide midday sun. Test everything the day before, not on location. Format cards, charge every battery, confirm the mastered track plays cleanly on your playback device, and do a quick lens check. A dead battery or a corrupted card discovered at the coast at 6am is a preventable disaster, and prevention is the entire point of pre-production.