I enjoyed the pellow thread which had allot of talk about better days and music videos current depression, yet there was no discussion on how we can help rekindle the industry? We can sit and blame internet or reality tv, when we should be embracing change as good creatives do, and what better place to discuss and embrace this change than here on antville. Please give some ideas/feedback and or let others know of other artists initiative to adapt to the changing landscape

         

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think that creativity in videos is at an all-tme high. Despite dropping budgets, and whatever boohoo sob story you want to throw out, people have been able to pump out some really compelling stuff. The problem? MTV doesn't play videos any more.

Videos are used as promotional tools for bands. The better the chance that people will see them, the more it's a viable means of talking to the kids.

Actually it's not MTV's fault, it's the fault of other networks for not picking up the slack. The good thing about the niche-i-fied (i just made up a word) entertainment industry is that soon enough it'll be quite feasible to have an entire channel dedicated just for antville/pitchfork indie snobs such as ourselves.

So I have high hopes that something will happen, whether it's the internet, Fuse TV, or whatever. Something will rise to fill the hole that MTV has left.

But in the meanwhile, what do we do?

We have to work as efficiently as possible. Which means you either need to be a one man army like Robert Rodriguez or form your own.

The reason that the Refused TV crew can kick so much ass (from my vantage point) is that a lot of their directors also edit and do FX. A lot of their stuff is dependant not on hard costs but time and talent spent at a computer.

Which is great for people who do effects. I don't do effects. So what do I do? First I have assembled a really kickass crew of people who are in the same boat as myself: really talented folks that want to build a reel. There are alot of people that fall into that category: DPs, ACs, Gaffers, makeup artists, costumers, actors, producers, etc. It all comes down to finding people who have as much to gain by making a good video as you do.

Another huge concern is format. There are a lot of really great things being made on 24P. Also if you have some money, shooting on 16mm is a really great way to go. With the quality of stocks right now there's really no reason to shoot 35 if you're only going to live on the Internet or TV sets.

I think another huge factor is finding a communty to support you. This can mean a house full of guys that you live with or even the other folks here at Antville. That's a big area that could use some improving, and maybe Antville can lead the way. We need our own underground Craigslist or something.

okay, I've written a lot of words now. I'm going to let other people talk.

thanks for opening this topic. Much more constructive than a witchhunt and a bitchfest.

         

Yes MTV not playing clips is a huge issue.

Another one is the amount of directors. Way too many and not enough clips to go round.

         

You might recall, in America, MTV2 started out in 1996 as exactly the kind of network we antvilleans envision.

Today there are niche channels already on digital cable (The MTV/VH1 Suite has VH1 Classic, MTV Hits, etc..), sometimes with zero commercials.

I would argue that creativity has decreased a small bit, particularly since 2005. Check out some of my playlists through the years. I got out of the "cool mv" promotion biz at exactly the right time. I'm not surprised we're no longer seeing vids from Shynola, Romanek, Sednaoui (planned retirement), Fleischer, Tim Hope, Sam Arthur, to name a very few.

I would also argue that creativity has become more concentrated. ;) The quantity of videos, I think, has also gone down, except for on a global scale. Feel free to correct me.

         

Well, this is the sort of thing I write about all the time. I beleieve there is plenty of creativity out there. What is undeniable is that budgets are down. That doesn't mean that videos are worse or need to be less interesting. Look at that Waverly joint from a few days ago. That is great fun.

In my opinion, the biggest cause for that, in the US, is that MTV stopped playing videos. Other channels do, but by spreading out the videos to a dozen cable outlets and millions of websites - each single video became a less valuable promotional tool. When the audiences get smaller, the labels spend less on the videos. I wrote about this almost a year ago in one of my first posts on 30frames.

Less money does NOT mean less creativity. There will always be exciting young directors and other visual artists who are doing great work. What you definitely see is people with talent deciding to get out of music videos. I think more and more of the real talents will never even get into the field or leave as soon as possible, when they see how the fun you can have is limited by five-figure budgets.

winch wrote above about getting at eam together that wants to build a reel. When your reel, no matter how great it is, can only get you 25k jobs - does anyone want to build a reel? We are not there yet, but the genie is not going back into the bottle. MTV is not gonna start playing just videos again - not enough people wanna see that.

The most creative artists have always worked in the newest art form. When oil paints were invented (15th century?), the great talents dropped freizes and went into oils. When new bronze casting tecnology came around - suddenly more sculpture. Music video is on that cutting edge.

I think most people in the MV world wanna express themselves and get recognized. Future MV fame won't be like Dave Meyers on MTV Cribs - but more like a local graffiti artist who is up on all the new construction fences. The work will be seen by the few that have heard of it or seek it out, but it probably won't be a way to make an actual food-eating, rent-paying living.

Moving images, shot most likely on digital and not film formats, will still be that cool, creative leading edge in the future. I'm just not sure if record labels will be paying for that work in five or ten years. Like the Catholic church or the Medicis - the patrons may go away but the creativity will be there. People will be doing coiol stuff, we just won't call it music video.

And on that note, I am all out of metaphors.

         

I really don't see music videos disappearing any time soon. Not only is it too ingrained in our culture, it's an inevitable partner to pop music, and pop music isn't going anywhere. People were making videos before there was video shown in Scopitones or compiled as movies.

But yeah, I don't see people achieving Dave Meyers success any time soon. Just like the dwindling number of superstar pop monsters, so goes their budgets. Which is fine by me. It means that the wealth is being distributed. Maybe your band won't achieve VH1 Behind the Music, coke snorting off a hooker's ass, success, but at least you'll be able to eat and pay for a roof over your head. The same goes for video directors. They just have to eat less.

What chaps my hide (not like there's anything I can do about it) is what I call the Death Cab Effect. I feel that while the Death Cab Directions DVD was super awesome and turned a decent album into a masterpiece, it also had the record industry saying, "hey, we can make ten videos for the price of one!" Which is and isn't true. You can pull that off by pulling favors. And favors don't last forever.

That's the boat I've been in for a while. The favors pulling boat. Like I said, most people are excited to work with me and the projects we've had have been fulfilling and fun, but at some point they and I need to eat.

I guess time will tell if the endless supply of film students can sustain the appetite of the indie record industry or what.

I still feel like videos are where a director can really play around. Features cost way too much and commercials are so micromanaged before you even get on board they almost direct themselves. With a video, you're the writer, director and often shooter, editor and FX supervisor.

So while I see your point 30f about the brightest minds moving from medium to medium but I'm not sure if that'll happen with videos. Or maybe it already has. Maybe our would be MV heroes are now designing video games or something.

         

until mtv or some other player really emerges as the foremost outlet for people (mostly teens) to watch and remember music videos (then go buy albums because of it), budgets will stay low. it's a literal thread, and we're caught between a 2nd and 3rd renaissance i feel. there are still big videos being made, and when jay-z starts putting out singles from his upcoming album, we'll see the proof. maybe it will take an artist to rekindle? my money's on the networks trying to find a way to spoon feed the mv's to kids who watch mtv for their sitcoms (yuck).

there will always be good directors with good visions to make good music videos. it's the medium that will fluctuate and evolve. it's the job of the artists to stay amorphous and move along with it. unfortunately the days of art for commerce serving as a leader of the medium are over in the commercial (esp. broadcast) world. labels and corporations (from sony to apple) have things in a creative stranglehold for the forseeable future.

         

Let's put a stop to these depressing posts. Less talk about dwindling budgets, more talk about hard work, straight hustling.

         

That's what I was trying to do. I think. Let's kick some ass.

         

Not calling anyone out in particular, but it seems like people are all of a sudden complaining that making music videos takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice with little pay-off. This is silly. The world of music videos isn't, and never has been, a good place to make easy money. Neither will it ever be a good industry for people seeking instant success or eternal job security. Let's be realistic, there are a few people making a good living out there working on music videos, and they aren't there by accident. There is also a small group who have catapulted to bigger and better things (commercial, features, etc), and they also didn't get there as a result of dumb luck. I may still be younger than most in this field, but I've been doing this long enough to know that asking for favors, investing your own money, and hustling after tiny bands and budgets is all part of the game.