Something I noticed about VK PV's

[Zeus 7997]

Why do so many bands film music videos without plugging the electric guitar into the amp?

 

I guess the immediate answer is because "they're filming the video and they'll put the studio audio track over it later" but in general most bands seem to actually be playing their instrument and not moving fingers randomly. So why no amp or speakers or at the very least wires indicating that it's connected to something? Playing metalcore on what's effectively an acoustic guitar totally kills the authenticity for me. I first noticed it with this clip and I can't unsee it ever since.

At first I thought it was just this band but I looked up a few more to be sure. I then realized how fiendishly difficult it is to find good, unblocked shots of the band members playing their instruments in their videos. Usually it's the top half of the guitar and the bottom half is blocked by clever camera work and nicely placed objects. It's either that or they're zoomed all the way out and these shots don't last for more than a few seconds at a time so you can't really tell.

 

Around ~3:11 in this PV. It's the only real shot of MiA I can get in this PV but it doesn't look like it's plugged in to me.

 

 

There are a couple of shots of the guitarist in this PV (more than in Yokusou anyway) and I can't seem to find the amp in this one either.
 

 

Even Dir en grey does it. And they look like they're playing their hearts out too (or at least Shinya does).

Last one. The guitar is clear as day in this one and I don't see wires plugging into anything at all.

 

So unless I'm blind or everyone has amps in their pocket there's a lack of any type of (neat) wiring indicating that they are hooked up to speakers or amps or anything. So a question and a challenge for the readers who made it this far.

1. Does every band just pretend to play in their PVs?
2. Let's post music videos of bands that actually plugged their instruments in and played at max volume while filming.

[BrenGun 2261]

A guitar also can be played without a cabel....

[beni 2149]

I have always assumed every musician pretends to play when shooting a PV. So plugging in everything necessary would just be a waste of time.

 

If my eyes don't deceive me, this was the first MV that popped into my head where all the equipment is plugged in. I know it's not VK but as I've said above, I think every genre does it.

[Zeus 7997]

A guitar also can be played without a cabel....

You still need a transmitter for a wireless signal. I could always be blind but I don't see any.

[JukaForever 758]

Wires look messy in a shot/scene or just unappealing. There isn't a point to have them for artistic-visual reasons which most VK MVs are all about.

[BrenGun 2261]

You still need a transmitter for a wireless signal. I could always be blind but I don't see any.

In your fantasy they will use it. XD

For videos its not a need to be plugged in. Even big major bands play video unplugged wireless XD

[doombox 4421]

Cables get in the way of the camera men too if they want to get multiple angles and not limit the band's movements, maybe?

 

I don't get Mucc using mics and floor monitors but no guitar cabs? Ooookay. X"D

 

At least they put out their cabinets, but not plugged in here from what I can see.... Besides the mic which makes zero sense at this point.

 

It's also not just VK doing it. Seems to be a theme in a lot of Japanese music videos.

(Again with just a mic cable? XD)

 

EDIT: Oh I should have read the entire post.  I did the opposite haha. Let me see if I can even find some with guitars plugged in...

EDIT 2: I just checked like 15 vk pvs and no guitar cables. NONE. I did find plenty outside of vk plugged in, though.

[vanivani 558]

Interesting topic. Never really thought about it when watching PVs, but now I see it too. 

[LIDL 692]

They're usually not plugged in in music videos.

Even for Western bands.

They have dummy amps and typically use a guitar they don't mind changing the pups in.

It is for both acoustic and safety reasons.

MVs are usually filmed with the music played back from the stereo.

Because the film track and music track are recorded separately during the creation of a music video,

artists usually lip-synch to their songs and often imitate playing musical instruments as well.

Artists also sometimes move their lips at speed faster

than that of the track so as to create videos

with a slow-motion effect in the final clip,

which is widely considered to be complex to achieve.

Also, pretty sure you could get yourself killed if playing pluggged guitars in music video that have water/wet settings involved in it, such as (made up) rains, or on the riverbed, on puddle of water, etc.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I think not having amps and cables there is purely for artistic / visual reasons. They prolly think it wouldn't look that good, and would kill the "fantasy", tho that's just my guess. Take for example this BUCK-TICK video... would those awesome projections and that ethereal otherworldly white place look as nice if they included all the cables (they don't use them live anyway, only transmitters) and amps and effect pedals and Imai's theremin? I don't think so.

 

Anyway, here are some random examples of VK music vids where there actually is some substantial gear. xD

 

MEJIBRAY - A PRIORI (basically their regular live gear as far as I can see)

 

D'espairsRay - DEATH POINT (here, it may have to do with the aesthetics of the vid that they actually have all those amps and wires there)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDnL7s6s07k

 

lynch. - A Gleam In Eye (same as above, it has a gritty & raw feel, so I guess the director felt it would be good to have the live gear there)

[JamesR 119]

Well, that's not a VK-exclusive thing

 

[The Reverend 3566]

Related(?): It bothers me when bands that don't have drummers (common enough in VK) just don't have drums set up for the performance sections of PVs. The drum kit really anchors things for me, it looks so weird to just not have it there.... like there's no central point around which the rest of the action is taking place.

 

I much prefer them to just have a session drummer whose face they don't show.

 

And on topic: I actually really like the look of PVs that go all-in on showing tons and tons of cables and pedals on the floor. I'm with Zeus... of course the guitars don't need to be plugged in for a video shoot, it just looks cooler.

[LIDL 692]

It reminds me with Mana in some of Malice Mizer MVs too tbqh!   

[whitegrey 115]

As somebody who works in the field of movie & TV production (also worked on music-video shoots, but not on that many) all I can say is; there are various reasons... Hope you don't mind reading a longer text now...

Most simple answer tho; music videos - if not on the high class sector - have limited budgets which means most of the time you only have one A-Cam (the main camera, biggest/best quality camera) and no B-Cam (ok, you can throw some GoPros in for action shots e.g. for guitar or drums, but for me that doesn't count as real B-Cam). Which means to achieve different shots and framings for cutting you have to change positions, you have to change the glass (if on primes), you often also have to change the lighting-setup or stage-setup in general. To do so you usually let the band play the full length of the song at least 2-3 times with breaks between the full song-runs to change the camera setup - which needs some time, after that you do so called pick-ups from various short parts which might be needed in addition (e.g. guitar or drum solo only, or maybe close-up of the eyes of the singer and so on - you get the idea). Now we get closer to the fact why playback is used and needed -> PV = promotional video -> means a video to promote and "sell" the band (after all it's a business) - which means you need to show off the best style, the best music quality, maybe the message or the art... That's why like 99% of music videos, especially PV's use the studio track of a song (final mix of a studio-recording) and not a "live-recording" and since it's nearly impossible to nail that a second, third, fourth time just for the video-recording (you need about the same timing, position- and sync-wise to have all the options when cutting) you usually do it with playback - thus it's also easier for the band members to focus more on the expressions, the "style", all the things you basically see in videos but usually not live on stage (e.g. stuff that would just be in the way at a live-setup/stage). It's also to get to the full length, to nail the right playing speed and so on - most musicians are used to performing lip-sync and I guess especially visual artists who care about appearance know how the stuff they do is looking or appearing to others (it's part of the game, you can even call it a 'show' sometimes - not in a bad way tho -> music often is 'entertainment' after all). Now about the cables where there are more options now; sometimes it's just a visual reason - cables don't look pretty pretty ( ) when you don't need it for compositing an image (sometimes you have them as visual part, without another function - e.g. to state chaos, to hang from walls, to 'strangle' ppl as part of the performance and so on) so for "clean" pictures you want to avoid them. Most of the time the cables are just not practical to perform the way the bands perform in PV's - which is - most of the time - over the top compared with a live performance. They have to move more, they usually are on heavier make-up or special costumes, the focus is more on the 'how do I (or stuff I do) look in camera' then on the 'how well do I play my instrument on a technical level' part (one more reason to use playback - you still have to make it look like it's well played but you don't need that exact same focus as on a 'real' performance). When shooting video (in general) it's also about the safety of all the ppl involved - you have big (hot) lamps standing around, you have (somewhat) expensive equipment that can be damaged during action, you have ppl running around doing stuff who shall not trip over cables and so on... Sometimes it's just a case of "no time to do the cabling" because of reasons like limited shooting time (you have to pay for locations, often by hour, you have to pay for personell and so on) or limited resources/budget (who brings or manages the cables - most of the time PV's are not shot at a concert location or recording studio but more like at a TV/Greenscreen-Studio or "on location" where you have to bring and carry all the stuff you need there yourself). Sometimes the stuff used is only a "Prop" without function and not the "real" thing - because real instruments are expensive and you don't want to damage them (again). So even if this stuff has 'real' plugs it might not be able to be turned on so it makes no sense to do so. As mentioned when you use water or rain for visual reasons or e.g. play at really cold or really hot locations you don't want to use electricity because of safety reasons or if not to protect ppl just to protect your equipment. Sometimes you also don't want to have lights and LED-lights of eg. the turned on AMP in you picture because it might cause flares and it might cause reflections and so on. Ever noticed that about all of the professional gear is black or even has a matte finishing -> that's because of reflections (which are a nasty thing, and sometimes mean a lot of work to avoid them - because you don't want to see the whole crew in a mirrored reflection at any time - lot's of fun when you shoot at small/tight places with mirroring stuff in there). After all these PV's should look 'good', and sometimes good doesn't automatically mean 'realistic', film involves lot of tricking the audience or faking stuff but in the end result you might not even notice it... Or only if you focus on it or take a closer look, or have the knowledge to see it...

Edit: one thing I forgot -> often it's also because of the power output/source limitations; on location is often not possible to provide enough output to power all the stuff as most of the power will be needed for lighting the scene (we talk about lamps up to like 2.5 Kilowatt to achieve daylight, even the smaller ones are like 650 to 800 Watt each - if you don't run everything on LED-Stuff which still is more expensive then 'regular' light... And on music video's you are usually on a tighter budget which means you don't have the money for the most expensive, power-saving stuff). So if you need all the power plugs for the film-department (which usually also spans to much more departments then 'camera' only, who will also need power-plugs and power in general) you might not be able to also power the whole 'music'-department (Amps and stuff) without killing the power line.

 

Edit 2: About the "let's post videos (PV's?) where the band plays actually" -> those are performance videos or live-recordings / studio-recordings then and a totally 'different type' of video or attempt actually... As told earlier; a PV is used to sell al single or an EP or an album - so you want to show ppl how the stuff on the album actually sounds, with the actual, finished audio track from the CD. Which also means you want to show them it's a 'good' product with 'good' production and 'good' sound (despite you want to sell is as hard/dirty/grunge sound or with genres that actually have to sound 'bad'). For the CD-versions they achieve(d) this sound at a (maybe home-)Studio, with lots of work and time, with good mixing, with post-production, with separate recorded instruments and vocals and so on (sure, you can also record 'as a band' but even then it's not the same situation in a studio as it is 'live'). There's usually _no way_ to sound like that on a location where you shoot a PV - except you shot while actually recording; which makes the whole thing a studio-recording video (sometimes you get those as 'making of on DVD's or limited editions). So for me a PV is already 'playback' per definition most of the time - if not then it's just not a 'regular' PV... Hope you can follow me here.

 

Edit 3: simple communication - the director often needs to communicate with the cameraman during the shot if he notices e.g. wrong framing or if he wants something different then the cameraman at a moment, usually on at least one of the full-length runs you have hand-camera action with freestyle framing and the camera just moving around on the scene to get (usually dynamic) additional shots. Depends on the production tho - some PV's are only from fixed positions (tripod) or from a circle-track with a dolly and so on - but usually it also involves a dynamic camera, can also be a steadycam or gimbal... For that it's much easier for the camera personell to work in a silent surrounding - you don't want to run around between the playing band members (which is difficult enough) and then in addition be blasted on with loud stuff from the Amps (which also cause vibrations btw, also a thing you don't want to have on video). Video involves focus, involves smooth moves, steady and recall-able movements or shots and so on -> all of that is much easier to achieve when you're not blasted away with loud music. The playback is usually just loud enough for the musicians to follow the timing or to get the starting point (then turned off for the freestyle part) - sometimes it's even through in-ear monitoring only, at least it's never on concert-volume. Just to mention; one of the number-one rules on set is; don't be loud, don't make any noise, don't even move, turn off your phone... at least that's how professionals do it, if you don't obey that rule you won't work in that field for long.

Hmm, I think I got most of it covered - for more specific reasons; just ask

[MaikoMizu 167]

Related(?): It bothers me when bands that don't have drummers (common enough in VK) just don't have drums set up for the performance sections of PVs. The drum kit really anchors things for me, it looks so weird to just not have it there.... like there's no central point around which the rest of the action is taking place.

 

I much prefer them to just have a session drummer whose face they don't show.

 

And on topic: I actually really like the look of PVs that go all-in on showing tons and tons of cables and pedals on the floor. I'm with Zeus... of course the guitars don't need to be plugged in for a video shoot, it just looks cooler.

I agree on this one here. I'd rather have a support/session drummer and that they don't show their face versus having four or three members and random drumming while the others play their instruments.

Let's not forget how vocalists sometimes hide their entire mouth with the mic and we can't see what they're saying which kind of baffles me. I'd much rather have the mic far out in front of them or just have them sing and maybe dance a bit then switch to other members.

[Aion 184]

Most of the times the singers also don't use microphones... So, when you want to go for authenticity, they also have to use a mic...

 

as indicated before, a PV is just for promotional reasons. All they do is act they are playing the song. The actual song is played in the background and the members are just mimicking. 

And whitegrey mentions the most obvious reasons, cost-efficiency and to prevent annoying errors/lighting/refelctions/other screw ups

 

For example, take the BYEE THE ROUND's one take no cut PV's (yeah, no VK though)

 

First off, both are really awesome PV's. But you notice some things during these PV's. Cables get hooked behind the guitarheads, at some point you see the bass-player nearly falling over some cables, you even see the filmcrew in some instances...

If you want to go for clean cut PV's, like most of those VK PV's tend to be, get rid of all likely obstacles. So stationary camera's, no hanging wires, et cetera. VK is for 90% based on visuals so yeah, if you screw that up, you have barely anything left xD

 

And yes, in above PV's of BYEE THE ROUND, the band is mimicking the songs, the only unique thing they are one take no cut-PV's. But to keep the 'we are playing it for real'-vibe, everything is hooked in, and they are actually playing the songs. But for accoustic reasons, the real audio is cut and replaced by studioversions.

[bonsaijodelfisch 328]

i think everyone get's the mimicing-lip-synching aspect of video shoots, so the main reason is of course an aesthetical one (and a bit of health and safety as whitegrey rightfully pointed out)

 

video-directors for some reason really don't like the look of cables, microphones etc. except when going for a reeeally "gritty" practice-room kinda look. which is why we end up with these weird hybrid-like performances with unplugged instruments and unconvincing performances. the weirdest thing to me is when there is the performing artist, with an unplugged instrument, standing in front of an unplugged, turned off marshall stack without even AC-connection.

 

the point is, if the goal is to fake a performance, why not set it up like a performance? everything differing from the actual setup makes it more disconnected. personally i would even go as far as microphoning up the drumkit and amps even if just for the looks sake (or better, Particularly for looks sake). Instead we get singers, that have to act out without their microphones, which is completely uncommon for them and they don't know what to do with their hands, or they get an unplugged micstand, with the plug for the cable clearly visible which is probably just as bad.

 

the overall problem with most of the examples is just a strong disconnect between intention and execution. If the intention is to convey the feeling of the musicians performing (in a promotional, idealised way ofc), use the setup of a performance (but watch your step ). If the intention is a clean image, good look on the artist etc. why use the instruments at all? Plenty of possibilities for pretty clean images without weird poses with unrealistic instrument-setups.

 

 

EDIT: to clarify, i'm not talking about actually blasting the amps, but just setting them up, so they could believably do so...

on a sidenote: as a audio-engineer/producer/recording-artist i really like the look of a fully mic-ed up backline and drumkit and cables in general, so i'm probably biased

[whitegrey 115]

I can't comment on the VK part as it clearly is not my genre (knowledge-wise)... but a good example on how to get the live-performance feeling and part of the aesthetics of a regular PV together are detroit7 in my opinion. They are regarded as a "live band" - which I can totally approve of (seen them live a few times) so for them it makes total sense to show that. Ok, now to get the picture;

 

 

-> You (or at least I) can see that this was taken with at least 2 cameras in a setup that looks like a rehearsal room, pretty intimate, pretty close to the action. I'd say it was shot in 2-3 runs (maybe more, but 2 full runs for sure), maybe with a few pick-up shots later on to use for the VFX parts (visual effects, the smokey parts with the flying birds and stuff), but they might have even managed to get what was needed in only 2 full runs. I can clearly notice staff people (partly hidden or just not moving much - with good angle-blocking to be not seen from the other camera too often) which are shooting details during the single runs - this was probably done to save time (=runs). For me it works and I don't really mind the things mentioned (ok, I have an eye for it - but that's because of my profession. I can ignore it if I want ). Even with this 'rough' sound I'm pretty sure they put a studio track under the pictures. They've played different tracks at this location (you find it on YT with the addition "special studio live") but that one was shaped like this with the PV-esque parts so doesn't look like a 'plain' performance-video anymore.

 

They also have another example where I'm pretty sure they shot it during the actual recording session, so part of what you get here is "real", definitely no playback used. But it's still clearly shot in a manner to be able to produce a PV out of it and not to take it as a final one-shot video, it is put together from more then one run again (3 for sure). A recording session like this takes a few hours to a day so there was time to get what was needed to have enough footage to intercut it;

 

[Kawaii_Minpha 194]

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