Hello everyone, Matthew Cherry back with the second installment of my blog that gives you a look at my process of directing a music video.  As you may already know I am submitting a music video for a contest on Current TV to direct Common's latest music video for his next single "Make My Day." Today I am going to be talking about writing a treatment.

What I am about to share is my unique treatment writing process. I do not claim that this is the only way it can be done.  

The other day I spoke on writing out a beat sheet with bullet points that simply describes your vision simply and easily. Well a treatment is the tool you will need to book jobs directing music videos so it has to be an expanded version of your beat sheet. With a treatment you need to be able to fully communicate your vision to the label or artist and show how it can realistically be done within the means and resources that you will have. I try to close my eyes and listen to the song on repeat and see how each part plays out in my head. I then look at the lyrics, which I have already transcribed, then cross reference and align the lyrics with that vision and write it out. I try to keep my treatment between one to three, pages and I always try to include a lot of picture references. 

Here is my treatment for Common's "Make My Day":

The song "Make My Day" is a feel-good record about a man letting a girl he just met know how she makes his day. The song has a very defined narrative in the lyrics that I plan on following pretty accurately. We are going to shoot at a private beach in Malibu and really try to evoke the emotions of the song. We are blessed to have two incredible leads for this video. Playing the female lead is Celestina Aladekoba and playing the male lead is Marcus Howell. I already have footage of Common singing the song in front of a green screen and we will creatively work his performance set ups within the music video.

The picture opens with an all white screen. Camera pulls back and we see the letters C-O-M-M-O-N spelled out in a space like background. We see that one of the O's is actually the planet Earth rotating. Camera zooms into the planet earth through the clouds, and with a series of cool VFX shots we end up in Malibu, California. We see a shot of Celestina walking from her car to the perfect spot on the beach where she sets up camp. Here we will see the title credits for the song "Make My Day." She is in mid set-up as she carries a portable stereo with iPod capability with her towel and suntan lotion.

The chorus comes on. She arrives at the perfect spot and lays down her beach towel next to her cooler, suntan lotion and radio. She hits play on her iPod and sets up shop. We see Common's image on the iPod.  She gets the suntan lotion out and starts putting it on her body. We will shoot this sequence with a series of high frame shots to get it in slow motion and shoot her very seductively. She finishes up, puts her shades on and starts relaxing.

The first verse comes on and we see Marcus jogging down the beach with his shirt off.  He notices Celestina and smiles at her on the line "enjoying the Nile, Whooh, taking the breeze in." We see the top of her cooler blow off and land near his feet. Marcus takes it over to her and gives it to her. She accepts it back. He introduces himself to her and extends his hand. Celestina accepts his hand and takes it in hers and introduces herself. She offers him a beer on the line "she had drinks in the cooler and I had an invitation, if I wanted I could brew up, this is just an indication of how cool she was." He politely declines, as he is working out. They continue to converse and all seems to be going well.  We see Marcus pull his phone out to get Celestina's information. She gives it to him. He then precedes to gives her a flyer. It is advertising a "Make My Day" cookout. 

The chorus comes back on and we see Marcus jog off. Here I am going to have Celestina do a slight yoga like stretch and attempt to capture this in a sexy and seductive way and then I will end it with her getting in the water and frolicking around a little bit. She finishes up and we fade to black.

The second verse comes on, and we see Celestina making her way down the hill on her way to a secluded beachfront barbeque. We see several people walking around and mingling. Marcus spots Celestina and walks up and gives her a hug. They both have changed clothes at this point. She takes off her shoes and lets her feet breathe in the sand. They pass a bar set up with a TV screen and bottles of alcohol everywhere then Marcus brings her over to a table where he was about to play Spades at. We show them interacting and playing cards and having a great time. Celestina takes a book and slams it on the table and she and Marcus celebrate that they have won. We see someone go over to the portable TV and turn it up.  On this TV we see Common performing the record.  On the line "We dance and danced away yo, I showed her how the step is like the tango." We see Marcus grab Celestina's hand and dance with her. They look into each others eyes as they dance and have a great time. After they finish dancing, Marcus whispers in her ear asking her if she wants to leave the party. She agrees to but its not to go and do what everyone is thinking they are about to do.

On the final chorus we see Celestina and Marcus walking hand in hand on the beach.  As the song fades out she put her head on his shoulder and we fade to black.

And that's it!

Thanks for taking the time to check out my process. We shoot tomorrow and I am really excited.  Here goes a final thought:

"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle."

Matthew "Mac" Cherry
Cherry Entertainment
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