Song Choice in Vidding

[tinturtle]

So, almost eight months after my last vid, I've finally posted another. I'm currently in the phase where I think it is terrible and can't stand to look at it, which happens after I post anything. Yet I really enjoy making vids, so I'd like to begin another sooner than months from now. The obstacle, as always, is that I have a lot of trouble finding songs.

Part of that is my very lyric-focused approach to vidding. Songs with long instrumental sections are hard for me to work with (because there are no lyrics to match the clips to), as are songs with a lot of repetition in the lyrics (because I run out of clips to match them). This makes me hesitant to use quite a few songs that would be suitable otherwise.

Another factor is harder to articulate, but has to do with meaning. I want songs where the lyrics can be matched with clips that not only work visually, but have the same meaning in their original context (or at least a meaning that the lyrics can serve to comment upon). I also want the song as a whole to have something coherent to say about the show or characters, even if it's something fairly basic and obvious like "Ray is sometimes distressed by all the violence he witnesses."

Possibly these add up to too high a standard to be sustainable, or at least too high a standard to support more than a couple of vids per year. In my last vid, I reinterpreted the song in a way that seemed to me to fit an aspect of the show (viewers must be the judges of how well that actually worked), and I suppose I did something similar with We Are the Champions. Perhaps looking for songs that admit of that treatment is the way to deal with the shortage.

Any thoughts on song-hunting from folks who have made vids? Any song suggestions from others? Is there a song that you feel fits Pros and have always thought someone should use in a vid? (Also, any tips on dealing with posting distress?)

Addendum: See also my post on point of view in vidding. What I discuss there may also play a role in the my difficulties.

Comments

[restorick.livejournal.com]

Interesting.

I often hear a song on the radio and think 'That would make a great Pros vid'. I wouldn't have the first idea how to even start, but I do understand how much time and skill it must take to put one together. I also appreciate any fic writer, vidder, or artist who takes the care and effort to match the Lads and the visuals, sentiments, lyrics and vibe to make a great Pros production.

Two songs spring immediately to mind: 'Hammer to Fall' by Queen, although I would be unsurprised if someone has not used this track already; and an early Noughties UK favourite: 'Good Souls' by Starsailor.

Any good?

[tinturtle]

Ooh. "Hammer to Fall" is a good thought. I have four other Queen songs on my list of ideas, but not that one, for some reason. It has definite possibilities. I had never heard "Good Souls" before. I looked it up and listened to it on loop for quite a while, but I think I will need more time to digest it before I can decide whether I could relate it to Pros. (It belongs to the cryptic school of songwriting, at least as far as its verses go.)

It's not easy to determine with certainty whether a song has been used in a Pros vid before, but neither "Hammer to Fall" nor "Good Souls" appears in my giant YouTube compendium, among the works of Media Cannibals or kat-byrd on the Internet Archive, in the title of an Archive of Our Own post, or hosted on the Circuit Archive. *g*

[restorick.livejournal.com]

Another has just occurred while listening to the radio: Iris by Goo Goo Dolls.

It *is* a ballad (albeit by a late 90's alt. rock band) and the main lyrical sentiment is repeated, but the imagery sounds right, to me...?

[tinturtle]

Thanks for keeping an ear out for viddible songs. I will add this one to my list of possibilities. I'm planning to start sometime soon on a vid that uses "Hammer to Fall". I have Big Bang illos to finish first, though.

[restorick.livejournal.com]

Oh that's great, will look out for the vid in future.

And good luck with your BB endeavours!