When you watch a music video from a top shelf act, nothing is an accident. Nothing. Every little product placement, fetish item, gesture, look etc. is planned and usually has a reason for being there. “Sex sells” is a truism, but that’s not the full story. There’s some off-the-wall, even kinky stuff that just stands out. It’s meant to shock. Lady Gaga videos (and her appearances) might be some of the more obvious examples. Think the fact she is wearing pantyhose (really, all kinds of hosiery) in nearly every appearance is an accident (think ‘Love Game‘) ? No. She (and/ or her producers/PR team) understand the power of fetish.

Pay close attention and you notice some subtle audio ‘easter eggs’. People love easter eggs. And if you do ‘em right they will help you sell better. Remember: your viewer’s subconscious is always on. You have to sell to it, too.

People LOVE pop culture references. This video has tons of them. Do you ever do that?

Notice how her branded earphones make an appearance? How about the ‘Beats Br Dr Dre‘ logo? How about the Virgin Mobile logo? Wonderbread? The product placement in this video is not very subtle, but it can work. Even if you don’t do product placement, there are lots and lots of other aspects you should study. Lady Gaga/Beyonce’s Telephone video isn’t the only video that incorporates symbolism, fetish visuals, product placement, etc of course. It’s just recent example with some obvious stuff happening. So even if you’re not very good at spotting these things yet, this video will be a wonderful training guide for you.

If you are shooting porn you may think this doesn’t apply to you. What does a top act’s music video have to do with your work, right? No, it’s much deeper than that. For right now, forget about anything but ‘getting into the consumer’s head”. Think subtle, even subconscious symbolism. Think about the way you shoot/edit and the way they shoot/edit. Think about how fetish items (in Lady Gaga’s case, pantyhose, piercings, latex etc) are introduced in an almost teasing manner. It certainly draws attention. Think about those barely audible audio easter eggs. Some naughty stuff is going on there. If your conscious mind doesn’t hear it, your sub-conscious mind does.

Think about…well, you get the point. Now think about  your trailers.

How can you make your trailers be more appealing? Stand out? Be remarkable? Entice without giving everything away? I’m not saying every one of your movies or trailers needs to be a overly complicated piece of avantgarde video art. Far from it. Even if the source material isn’t totally off the wall, your editing can make a huge difference. You can take vanilla material and make it sizzle. You can make people click through to the join page after seeing your trailer, and they don’t even know why. Your viewers should have images from your movie/trailer in their head when they’ve already moved on from your site. Which might make them come back. Believe it, I’m doing this every day. It is possible.

Watch Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s Telephone video for some inspiration.

Today I received an email from Brian Baumley announcing several different subscription packages including – get this – a FREE one. He wrote:

(…)   Market7 (www.market7.com) is introducing a variety of subscription packages (including free!) for its online video collaboration services to fit any budget or scale. Today, anyone can visit www.market7.com to get started with free to premium access to a comprehensive suite of collaborative tools that address the entire video production process, from pre to post.

So go check out Market7 right now. If you can’t remember what it is, check out the details about Market 7 here.

The free subscription is really meant for you to try this out to see if it fits your flow. It’s limited in storage allowance and number of Admins but it’ll give you a good idea of its capabilities. Enjoy!

J-SiN and me had a lot of fun so the interview went  a bit long and it’s broken down into two parts. Part one is up right now.

If you’re thinking of starting to shoot naughty stuff, or are already doing that and need some tips or a refresher or two click on over to SiN 2.0.

While you’re there, download and listen to all the other great podcasts and interviews with some of the smartest minds in the industry. Never hurts to learn a new thing or two, does it?

UPDATE: as of 10/20 the second part is available now too on Sin 2.0. The second part of this podcast deals with proper equipment choices and post-production tips.