john

No worries. When creating stock based videos I try to build a narrative based around one or more of the models and tying up that narrative with the lyrics gives pretty satisfactory results. It’s not always easy to find sufficient clips. I noticed you use still along with movement of the camera to keep it interesting. What companies have you used for stock footage?

Hey Gerson! Welcome to the Songstuff community!

Ouch. While I appreciate songwriters need paid, this just isn’t the right solution. It’s a knee jerk reaction. What about donation based streams? What about streams with an audience outside the U.K., played by a U.K. artist, but the stream company is based in the USA? There just seem too many ifs and buts.

Hey Wilson, Welcome to Songstuff! Glad to have you with us. Nice intro. We have a few critique boards, organised according to stage of development. Critique boards work by members posting more critiques than they post works for critique. As critique is a discussion and not simply an opinion, conversations can become quite involved. There are a load of benefits to offering critique, so I would encourage any and all members to be involved in the critique process, with the aim of exploring and finding workable solutions for the writer. I’m looking forward to hearing your music! Cheers John

It might be different with COVID. Here in the U.K. departments tend to be quite interested in real world projects. Official projects aside, students tend to build portfolios etc. They tend to be more engage if their ideas are to be used, so it can be a fine balance. Better if you think of it as a collaboration. Faculty notice boards and student unions can work, also in bars where arts students hang out. Targeting key personnel works best because if you can get one student on side, they are often better at herding other students. I totally take your point on dependability though. Infind the same with music art, video.... whatever it is, a small core will be regular doers... then there are layer up on layer of talkers, get step by step further away from ever doing anything. I used to find that in my old job. I would be going home spending hours in the studio, hours coding and generating content for Songstuff, while my work colleagues spent their days complaining about working and their pay, etc, but went home and spent most nights watching TV, or pursuing fun only. Rarely did anyone actually do anything constructive. Perhaps it is simply a universal truth as a default state. Transforming in to an active group takes incentive and inspiration and a lot of effort to build momentum.... and just like mechanics, it takes a lot to overcome inertia within the group. With student groups, getting a director and choreographer on board are the two key roles, with you acting as the producer. That way you can more easily find people who really want to see their ideas become reality, ie they have their own motivation to see the video completed. It’s not perfect or foolproof, but hey. It’s great that you are resourceful and skilled enough to do the whole thing yourself.

Good post. Recruiting at local universities and colleges is a great way to put together a crew. Everything from actors, dancers, choreographers, directors, editors, lighting, sound and camera people can all be recruited, even to the point of having your song being one of their college projects. Stock footage is a great gap filler, and you can compile pretty impressive complete videos, yet it is still a compromise. If you can find a way to work in some of your own footage it can really help sell it.

Hi and welcome to Songstuff nardobrown! I’d be interested in talking over how you released your album and how the release is going?