So, you're wondering how to make a music video? It's an art form that's embedded into our popular culture, as musicians have been using music videos to promote their songs and further their artistic vision for decades. With the ever-increasing democratisation of tools and software, CG and VFX are becoming more and more prevalent in the art form. We've gathered music video pioneers to discuss their craft and provide a backstage pass to some of the most innovative VFX in music videos.
With all that in mind, let's see how CG and VFX can enhance a music video. You can also check out our pick of the best animated music videos .
“Music and visuals have always complemented each other and been closely connected,” says multi-disciplinary artist Polygon . “I have a strong impression that today, we’ve finally come to this realisation that the visual aspect has become as important as the music itself, if not more. There’s a real symbiosis between these mediums now.”
He adds that in today’s world it would be inconceivable for an artist to promote their latest release without any visual support. “Music videos prevail as a promotional tool,” he continues, “they are the most-viewed type of video on YouTube and superstars have no trouble exceeding a hundred million views or even a billion.”
Music videos are often experimental in their visuals, meaning creative briefs aren’t always geared towards photorealism. “Motion graphics and design tend to become a much larger focus versus the more traditional approaches of VFX or animated features,” adds Warom. With these considerations in mind, The Mill has to assess the creative value of every potential project. “This can come down to the idea, a director we’re keen to work with and support, a track or performer who we feel is going to get a lot of exposure, or a project which enables us to push one of our up and coming artists,” adds Jonathan ‘Wes’ Westley, executive creative director at The Mill in London.
“One of the main differences is the amount of creative involvement the team of artists have on music videos,” explains Westley. “On all projects we push to work closely with the directors from pre-production, through the shoot, up until the end of the post process. But on music videos, given that there tend to be fewer people involved in the approval process, we often find that they offer more opportunity for collaboration.”
Wes and the team at The Mill embraced this collaborative nature when they worked with film directing partnership Dom&Nic on a video for The Chemical Brothers’ single Free Yourself. “We were involved in that project from the very beginning,” recalls Westley. “The initial conversation we had with Dom and Nic was about doing a music video full of robots who just want to dance.”
The Mill’s concept team dreamt up numerous designs for the robots, while testing began on the Xsens motion-capture suit , a crucial part of the project’s success. “We were keen to use new motion-capture technology,” explains Westley. “As well as enabling us to easily capture performance on set, it also allowed us to capture additional performances at The Mill once the video had been shot and the VFX process was underway.”
Warom and the team at The Mill in Los Angeles were recently approached by the directors to work on the video for Ooh La La by hip-hop duo Run The Jewels . “We discussed ideas that the artists themselves had suggested and then explored those over several meetings,” Warom explains, “essentially providing technological oversight to evaluate what would be possible, what would look awesome and what, if anything, could be something nobody had ever seen before.”
New York City's Influence On Latin Music : Alt.Latino : NPR
Ben Lapidus discusses his novel New York and the International Sound of Latin Music, 1940-1990. Renee Klahr/NPR Illustration hide caption
2021 is turning out to be a good year for books about Latin music. Just last month, we featured books by Leila Cobo and Betto Arcos about Latin pop music and the communities built through these musicians .
On this episode, I speak with Ben Lapidus, author of New York and the International Sound of Latin Music, 1940-1990 . The deeply researched and resourced page-tuner puts the music we hear today into historical context. In the book, the scholar and Grammy-nominated musician posits that New York City and its Latin musicians have actually influenced in other countries across Latin America.
'Parasitic' ticket touts 'undermining music festivals' Covid tracing' | Music festivals | The
A Guardian investigation found that dozens of professional touts have snapped up tickets for eagerly awaited festivals and are demanding massively inflated prices from fans desperate to see artists such as Stormzy, Nile Rodgers and Fatboy Slim.
Event organisers and music industry figures condemned a practice they said not only exploited pent-up appetite for the first festival season since 2019 but would also impede the tracing of fans in the event of coronavirus outbreaks.
Festival firms are required to retain attendees' details for 21 days as part of government efforts to prevent coronavirus outbreaks but industry figures warned the greed of resale firms and touts would make it much harder to comply.
Festival Republic, the firm behind events such as Leeds, Reading, Wireless and Latitude, agreed with the assessment.
Despite accusations of being at fault for the difficulty faced by event organisers, StubHub said it was "the venue's obligation and responsibility" to record attendees' details. Viagogo said it would "always work closely and comply with authorities to assist in their efforts to identify potential exposure to the coronavirus."
More than 100, likely to be a small fraction of the true supply cornered by touts, were on sale for a combined value of nearly £65,000.
Events targeted by touts include Creamfields, where one was asking for more than £800 for a ticket with a face value of £100.
Other sellers included unknown companies based in Canada, Australia, the US and Spain, many with just a PO Box address for contact.
The Guardian made contact with one seller in Germany whose details were published on Viagogo but who claimed to have no knowledge of ticket trading.
Field Music: Flat White Moon review – cerebral crew soften their sharp edges | Field Music | The
Virginia's Heritage Music Trail: The Crooked Road announces new artist-in-residence program |
The new artist-in-residence program will give local musicians a way to become an ambassador for heritage music through participating in events and educational workshops.
The new artist-in-residence program will give local musicians a way to become an ambassador for heritage music through participating in events and educational workshops. The initiative will be a year-long commitment, with a financial stipend, for the selected artist. The artist would attend various events, participate in educational opportunities and be required to produce an original piece of music or new performance of an existing traditional piece of music for The Crooked Road use.
"The Crooked Road is excited to expand our programming to support local heritage musicians. We know that the past year has been challenging for performers and this new program will provide the opportunity to partner with a heritage musician to promote The Crooked Road as well as the music. This is one of several programming expansions that the organization is starting that will provide musicians visibility in the region's communities," says Larry Yates, president of The Crooked Road's board of directors.
The application can be found on The Crooked Road's website under "About Us-Jobs & RFPs." Interested parties can also contact The Crooked Road office directly for a copy of the application.
"Heritage music is the main focus of The Crooked Road, so any new program or project that directly supports the musicians of the region is positive," said TCR Executive Director Carrie Beck. "This will provide benefits to both the organization and to the selected artist-in-residence."
Artist of the Year 2021: Instrumental music semifinalists – Orange County Register
From a list of 107 nominees, the following 16 students have been named as semifinalists for the 2021 Artist of the Year in instrumental music. The students were chosen by a panel of teachers based on written statements, performance videos and artistic résumés.
Instrumental musicians have been nominated in the specialties of piano and strings, winds and percussion, jazz music, and commercial and world/cultural music.
During the final round of adjudication, students participate in a virtual interview this year to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. They submitted additional samples of their work and recorded answers to interview questions which were viewed and evaluated by a panel of distinguished artistic professionals and faculty members from Southern California universities as well as a few representative high school teachers.
One finalist in each specialty will be named and from those finalists, one Artist of the Year in each of the seven disciplines – theater, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, film, handcrafted visual arts and computer-assisted visual arts – will then be named a 2021 Artist of the Year.
This program is generously sponsored by the Chapman University College of Performing Arts. Additional support is provided by the Laguna College of Art + Design and the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University.
If you would like to become a sponsor for the Artist of the Year program, contact Heide Janssen at ocartistoftheyear@gmail.com.
“My ultimate goal as an artist and an individual is to bring therapy and healing for the mental wellness of the world. Through my experience working as an assistant art therapist for the past four years at my local health clinic, I realized and witnessed the therapeutic power of art. Teaching violin to students with non-communicative autism and Down syndrome, I witnessed their growth in expressing by seeing their smiles and laughing while playing the violin."
“Art is a mirror that reflects the soul of an artist. An artist portrays himself in a manner in which dry, perfunctory academics simply cannot. I am a student as much as I am an artist. Yet, academics do not — and cannot — allow me to express my soul; music does. Through the oboe, I craft my own sound, texture, and story. Through the oboe, I have a voice that reaches out to a crowd."
“My work in instrumental music has significantly impacted my journey in the fine arts. In addition to playing the oboe, I am an artist and designer who specializes in dry media and graphic designs. My curiosity to discover new composers sparked my commitment to experiment with a variety of media."
Letter to the editor: Value of music education | TribLIVE.com
Instead of reducing, educators should consider the potential within reinstating and/or increasing arts (in particular music) education programs.
• unparalleled social and emotional learning opportunities through self-expression and self-reflection inherent and unique to music performance.
• unique curricula for students of varying ability to collaborate within the music-making process.
• a primary means for pro-social identity development for students as music classes often are considered a “home away from home.”
These are possible with consistent, equitable access to subject-specific preK-12 certified music teachers. These educators alone have the expertise to cater music curricula to meet the varied needs of their students and community at large. Educators should consider this before cuts.
Those who need help advocating for their music programs are welcome to join the Seton Hill University music education faculty for a free advocacy webinar at www.setonhill.edu/academics/undergraduate-
programs/music-education-bm/ .
The writers are music faculty members at Seton Hill University. This letter was also signed by faculty members Mark A. Boyle, Kathleen Campbell, Ted DiSanti, Laurie Fox, Edward M. Kuhn Jr., Sarah McMeekin and Kellee Van Aken.
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