Setting the Mood Music

Today we continue speaking of video production.

Photo by Kevin Labianco

In a previous post you were introduced to Casual, a webisode series about the relation of 'a Guy and a Girl' .  We spoke about how impressive the quality of the production was, even more so because of the low budget with which it was done.  Viewers get pulled into a story that has them feeling as though the characters are friends and the situations are their own.  How is this done?  By setting the mood.

The mood is the emotional tone of the video and the emotions conveyed to the audience after watching the video. 

The mood of a video can be influenced by many things including the dialogue, the lighting/ colouring of the video, or the choice of music.  Our emphasis will be on setting the emotional tone of the video using music.


A relatively simple way to set the mood for your video is through use of music.  Carefully chosen 'mood' music takes into consideration:

• lyrics
• beat or rhythm
• mixing down the music with dialogue
• mood of the scene; happy, sad, scared ...

Watch this episode of Casual to hear how much difference well-chosen music can make in a scene.

I know that you are now convinced and will go off to try all you've learned but please ...


Keep it legal!

So let's say you find a song that you think is perfect.  The first thing to do is ensure that you have permission to use it.  Copyright is a serious matter and overlooking your legal responsibilities only proves that you are not very professional.  


This is all I leave you with until next time.

...withShantelleS