Behind the Scenes of the 'American Idol' Ford Music Video

By Chris Kassab

May-06-2008 12:00 AM ET

Click on www.americanidol.com to see "Reverse" and the rest of the Ford Music Videos. (Click on the "Video" page.)

LOS ANGELES -- At 7 a.m. Sunday morning, a production crew bustles through one of the back lots at Paramount Studios in Hollywood strewing garbage onto the street, nailing down graffiti-clad storefronts and erecting barren trees to create the appearance of a desolate, rundown city street for the set of this week s "American Idol" Ford Music Video entitled, Reverse.

From set decorating to scene staging to hair, makeup and wardrobe for the Idols and meticulous detailing for the Ford vehicles, the crew of more than 50 people prove that there s a whole lot more to the making of the 45-second "American Idol" Ford Music Video than meets the eye.

There s a lot of behind-the-scenes action and energy that goes into each video, said John Godsey, creative director. Everything is planned because there s not a lot of room for trial and error.

The ideas for the videos are conceived months in advance, but due to the nature of the show -- an Idol is eliminated each week -- the videos are produced on a very tight schedule.

This week s Reverse video has a green theme. It features the Idols using the Ford Escape Hybrid to magically clean up a neglected town.

The idea is that the Idols along with the Ford vehicle help make the world a better place, said Seana Corcoran, art director. It s an eco-friendly message that if we all come together, we can reverse the damage that s been done.

By 8 a.m. the stage is set. The producers carefully review an artist s storyboard of the video s 25 scenes. One by one, each scene will be shot until all of them are complete.

The director leads all of the activity on the set while the producers who are tucked away behind one of the building facades roughly 20 feet away -- watch the action unfold on a video monitor.

One of the challenges each week is how to balance the camera time between the Idols and the other stars of the video -- the Ford vehicles.

Obviously the purpose of these videos is to make Ford look like the great automobile that it is, but it s also to make the Idols look like America s darlings, said Shane Drake, director. Trying to balance both is definitely a tightrope act.

Both the Idols and the vehicles receive star treatment before being called to the set. For the green Escape Hybrid and the blue Focus featured in this week s video, that means cleaning and polishing. For the five Idols, it means hair, makeup and wardrobe.

The video is being shot outside, and this particular day is unusually hot. The temperature is expected to reach 100 degrees in Southern California, and the sun is blazing. That presents a unique challenge for hair and makeup artist Allison Joyner.

We re going to have to bring blow dryers and hair spray on the set, she said. And to keep the Idols cool all day we ll keep cloths over them and mist them with water.

Joyner shares a Hollywood secret for keeping sweat to a minimum.

I use Milk of Magnesia on their face so that they don t sweat and their makeup stays on, she said. You put it on with a sponge like a sunscreen, and it keeps them from perspiring. It s a beautiful thing.

The Idols -- David Archuleta, Jason Castro, David Cook, Brooke White and Syesha Mercado -- arrive at the studio at 9 a.m.

While Joyner and her staff do hair and makeup magic on the Idols, wardrobe stylist Marco Morante is busy putting together clothing and accessories. Sometimes he makes the clothes himself, but today s items are store-bought.

This video has an eco theme, so we want to keep the Idols in really basic clothing nothing too flashy or too modern, he said. But we want to dress them in colors that are very vibrant so that they will stand out against the backdrop of the brown, sad-looking city.

By 10:40 a.m. the Idols are ready to roll. One by one, they re called to the set to act out their portion of the video. Each scene is shot over and over again until the producers get the performance they are looking for and the multiple camera angles they need. The production crew must move swiftly because the Idols are only available for a limited amount of time.

In addition to capturing the Idols and the vehicles, a lot of time is spent shooting special effects.

The special effects for today s video are really challenging, said Oliver Power, visual effects supervisor and editor. For example, we have a couple of different shots that involve the Escape Hybrid passing in front of a storefront. The storefront is completely dirty and as the car passes through, it will magically transform into a clean and beautiful scene.

Music for the videos is selected weeks in advance. When the Idols are narrowed down to the Top 12, all of the songs are recorded with each Idol singing into a separate microphone. As the weeks progress and various Idols are eliminated, their voices are removed from the tracks.

This week s song is Catch the Wind by Donovan. Each of the Idols is shot singing the song separately in front of a green screen that will be transformed into colorful animation during the editing process.

After 13 hours of nonstop action, shooting is finally complete.

We shoot the videos on Sunday, edit them on Monday and deliver them to Fox by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, said Corcoran. You can t get any faster than that.

That s Hollywood magic.