… for Random Weirdness

Tip #843: Free Guide to Music Licensing

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Licensing music requires thought. The law favors the creator, and penalties are high.

The folks at Ritual Music have written a free Guide to “How Music Licensing Works.” (Ritual Music is a subscription-based music licensing firm.)

Their blurb reads:

Video content of all kinds is being made cheaper, faster and better every day. The music in it better keep up. By 2020, it’s expected that 30 million videos will be uploaded every single day, almost all requiring legally procured music to comply with strong digital copyright enforcement on every major platform from YouTube and Vimeo to Facebook and Instagram. This explosive growth will open up billions of new music licensing opportunities in music over the next decade.

Smaller budgets and shorter production timelines will freeze out traditional licensing models, but the demand for world-class music will still be paramount. Because of the speed, budgets and quality of digital video content creation, affordable instant-licensing solutions with world-class content will dominate this new market.

Here’s the link to their free Guide.

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #846: 8 Reasons Why You’ll Fail in Media

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The road to success starts with lots of hard work.

As if life wasn’t stressful enough, the folks at MotionArray.com have compiled a list of eight reasons why you’ll fail as a filmmaker. See how many of these apply to you. (This is an excerpt of the original article.)

Becoming a filmmaker is a dream for many people. But… Here are some reasons why you might fail in the film industry and ways to overcome them so you can become the next big shot in Hollywood.

1. You’ve got a cool camera. While it’s true that a good camera can “allow” you to get better shots, it doesn’t matter at all if you don’t know what you are doing with it.
2. You memorized the shortcuts. Editing skills run much deeper than button mashing and speed. You have to learn about pacing, rhythm, and storytelling. Spend your energy focusing on the art of the edit.
3. You saw the tutorial. Look, tutorials are great educational tools. We watch them all the time. Go ahead and watch those tutorials, but then take what you learned and expand on it. Experiment with new ideas.
4. What does music have to do with filmmaking? You are a “visual” storyteller, not a musician. Think again on this one. Unless you are making a silent film, and we mean totally silent, the music and audio you use will be just as important as your visuals. Try thinking about music earlier in the process. Think about the emotions that you want to get.
5. Your friends are great actors. Your friends might be great friends, but they probably aren’t great actors. If they are, lucky you, but let’s not kid ourselves. You aren’t going to ask your friend to mend your broken leg just because you don’t know any doctors off hand. Think about actors in the same way.
6. You went to school for this stuff. Getting through film school will definitely give you a leg up over the competition, and education is never bad. But just remember that it’s a first step, not a straight shot to the top.
7. Practice. What’s practice? Many of the best filmmakers of our time started with shorts. It’s a good way to get your feet wet before putting on your big boy pants. And remember, they give out Oscars for shorts too.
8. You’ve got big dreams. Dreams are what lead us to create great things. Without big dreams, we run the risk of selling ourselves short. But… it’s not just about dreaming it into existence. Success comes from hard work.

Here’s the link to the full article.

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #826: Capture Stunts Better with a Long Lens

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The key to stunts is to imply danger while keeping everyone on set safe.

This article, written by Rubidium Wu, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is an excerpt.

Shooting on long lenses is an easy way to capture normal actions and make them appear as dangerous stunts. It’s a good technique to learn and practice, because, ultimately, a director’s first duty is making sure everyone — stunt performers, actors, and camera crew — gets home safely at the end of the day.

However, the history of stunts in movies has been marred by injuries and deaths of stunt performers (and sometimes even camera crews). Lloyd himself suffered numerous injuries and burns throughout his career, even with the primitive camera tricks they used to distance him from danger.

As cameras and optics evolved, filmmakers found innovative ways to make stunts safer and sell better. The most used and useful of these is via a long lens, which continues to be a cheap and effective way for filmmakers — of all levels and budgets — to sell stunts right up to present day.

In the article linked above, Rubidium provides examples, tips and links on the best ways to shoot stunt work.

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #807: Create Looped Video for Live Streams

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Loops fill time or background when you don’t have anything else to show.

This article, written by Charles Yeager, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.

You’ve probably seen video loops on so many live streams that you don’t even give them a second thought. Here are some common loop examples:

• Pre-Roll Loops: These video loops play before a live stream begins to give viewers a chance to settle in.
• Live Radio/Podcast: These loops provide viewers with something of visual interest when people/subjects aren’t on screen.
• Animation Scene Loops: These are looping animation scenes, frequently used on lo-fi music channels and other music broadcast channels.

The link (above) has a step-by-step tutorial on how to create a looped video, including the software you’ll need, and look at some common video loop examples.