Cooperation, as in a band ?
Might The Radio Film company be a bandname after all ? Is it just as difficut for stage directors to cooperate as it is for a band keeping it together for years? We likely thought being a stage director was tough competition. How come that the best in Norway is cooperating ?
“No, there is no problem according to the cooperation among us”, Alex explains. “We have a pretty similar plan making the music videos as good as possible. Yes, it’s substantial competition, but since all directors have their own style ane experience, there is no problem. It might seem a bit strange that those who make most videos in Norway are working under the same roof, but its not. We are a group respecting each others work and styles, and aiming at the same goal, it’s very good cooperation. The directors are not working together like a band. We are working alone with the producer in each project.”
The Story, who makes it ?
When you are making a music video, who makes the story ? Sometimes it seems like the text and the film doesn’t match.
“Once in a while the record company and the artist presents an idea or a story for the video. The most common is sending it to the director for him to interpret at a free basis…hopefully according to the customers preference J. When it comes to the story an the text , you shouldn’t always interpret a tune matching the text. There are a lot of instruments, vocals, and notes to consider when thinking about the idea. Other times the story is so obvious making it easy to be drawn I that direction. The idea depends on the tune.”
Who is really a star ?
Being a director for the best must be lucerative. Who is really the biggest stars, the artist in front of the camera, or the artist behind tha camera ?
“That’s easy to answer, he-h”e, Alex smiles. “That is always the artist in front of the camera. There is rarely a good video without a good artist. Since you build the hole idea around the artist and the tune, the artist is as much in focus as being on the stage. If it’s lucerative ? It depends on the budget, and in Norway there is rather narrow frames hence we’re a small country, but since we appreciate what we are doing, money doesn’t count."
What sells, music or video ?
It seem like you need a musicvideo to sell your music. Should amateur artists also go in for a music video rather than recording their music in an audio studio ? Is it in such a way that a good video can sell bad music, and that a bad video can be devastating for the artist ?
“That is the chance you have to take, hence you’re uncertain about the response. Sometimes a cheap video based upon a good idea can get a lot of attention. Other times it will be shown only a few times. I think a good idea is to obtain feedback from people working in the music business. Normally, by doing so, you will get an idea of the status before you spend money on a video. What is bad music ? I think that a video can contribute to increase the feeling for a tune, or being a visual remindre when hearing it or have seing it. And yes, I thing a really bad video can be devastating for an artist or a tune, but it takes a great deal to mess it up. On the other side (he-he)…If the musical career doesn’t work, you’ll have a great video for the grandchildren ;-)”
“Look, there is grandfather cutting the head of a chicken”
(We’ll take the hint, Alex. We’ll await a video…..)
On the Internet
A few artists have taken the advantage of the Internet, but many has done little, and some don’t even have control according to this matter at all. What about the Radio Film Company ? Whay the Internet, and why putting out mucicvideos to download for free ? The record companies are complaining about copying, but you are putting out whole videos ?
”We’re on the net thus the customers can have free access to our videos. It’s being updated every time something new is published. By doing so we don’t have to distribute a new DVD every time, and they know what we’re doing. I really don’t thing you can compare dowloading a tune from the Internet to videos. Most production companies have free access to the videos they produce, and also commercial films."
Time
How long does it take to make a video ?
”It takes about 3 weeks from the finished idea until the video is filmed, cut and approved. If it’s a hasty matter, and the idea is not to complicated, it takes much less."
Price
Finally, for those who wonder; How much does it really cost to make an ok video ?
”That is the mots common question, and the answer is really simple. It depends on the tune, what you want to film, and where to show the video afterwards. It’s something like making a tune. It depends on what you want and how much you can afford. There is no minimum price and no maximum price.”
The Radio Film Company
Besides Axel Herron, the Radio Film Company concist of Magnus Martens, Hallgrim Haug, Howie Arnstad and Glenn Mæland. Steve St Peter is the manager and the contact for the Internet site.
Making the visual expression for the music is by our opinion under estimated. To SmsMp3 it’s an honour to cooperate with the best which quite obviously are doing a job bringing the music out. To the Radio Film Company it’s important to be available, hence established and new artists know where to address when they want the best.
Please find more information at their website.
