Music Videos:
Vanity or Necessity?
Last month we discussed with Hip Music Video Promo the importance of promoting your music videos and the secrets behind a successful video campaign. This month we get the inside scoop from 3 artists with successful music videos in the marketplace. Are videos really necessary?
Interview with Dony West, Guitarist for Sink to See
Spin Magazine recently hosted a release party for the Los Angeles
based band Sink to See at The Key Club that featured a live
performance and screening of the band’s new music video for their
single “Speakers.”
Collaborating with Independent Music Awards Judge
Tim Pagnotta
from Sugarcult, the song appears on
the band’s self-titled EP, on MTV's The Hills, and
on
Capcom’s MOTO GP 2007, out now on a XBox 360 near you.
Here, guitarist Dony West and the gang share their thoughts on
successfully making and using music videos as well as some on set
“Spinal Tap” moments. Click here for more.
Interview with
Maya Von Doll,
vocalist for
Sohodolls
Provocative Filthy Pretty Records act, Sohodolls has created quite a
stir that extends beyond the band’s hometown of London. The first
two singles off their debut album, Ribbed Music For the Numb
Generation, reached #7 and #'12 on the UK indie charts, followed by
last year's classic, 'Stripper,' which earned critical acclaim from
tastemakers like The Fly, Clash and NME. Now, vocalist Maya von Doll
and her band mates are winning over American audiences.
With assist by HIP Video Promo, the band’s video for “Right and Right
Again,” has been added to over 45 outlets thus far, including Yahoo!,
Billboard.com, Google Videos, AOL and Mania TV. This month, the
campaign for the Sohodolls’ upcoming American single, “Stripper,”
begins hitting programmers. Here, the singer speaks about the
importance of music videos and how they have advanced her band’s
career. Click here for more.
An Interview With Val Emmich
Acclaimed New Jersey born-and-bred singer-songwriter, Val Emmich,
is no stranger to the screen. He remains the only unsigned artist to
ever appear on MTV’s Total Request Live (TRL), on which he promoted
his first music video, “Privacy Attracts a Crowd.” The video was also
featured on the MTV show Advance Warning. One major record (Epic
released Slow Down Kid) deal, two full-length self-released albums (Sunlight
Search Party, SONGS Volume 1: Woodstock), and multiple network television
show (Hope and Faith, 30 Rock, Cashmere Mafia) appearances later, Emmich
has enjoyed indie success.
Emmich’s star continues to rise and this year he nabbed top honors in
the Independent Music Award’s new music video category with “The
Only One Lonely.” Below, he discusses experimenting with stop motion
photography, the importance of planning and his decision to stick with
the one director.
AP: Is a music video a necessity or is it a vanity expense?
Val Emmich: A music video is by no means a necessity. Ten years
ago it was a pivotal part of a band's marketing plan, but I believe it's
pretty marginal now. Vanity? Maybe.
For me, it's just another avenue to explore the depths of your own
creativity.
AP: At what point in your career did you decide to bite the bullet &
plunk down money for a video?
Val Emmich: Pretty early on. As soon as my first full-length was
released in 2003, I wanted to make a video. But I didn't even know it
was possible until my friend Matt Schuman suggested it to me. He was
already in the film world and if he wasn't, I'm not sure I would have
even thought of the idea.
AP: How did you know that it was time to take the plunge?
Val Emmich: It just felt exciting. It's a new place to take your art and
you're always looking for ways to push your art. Also, I've been acting
on screen since around 1999,
so the idea of taking my music to a visual place wasn't so scary to me.
I was already introduced to that world.
AP: How much did it cost to produce your first video?
Val Emmich: It was done mostly through favors but we did shoot it
on 16mm film. That ended up being the biggest expense. I would say
around 5k.
AP: Was it hard to come up with the financing?
Val Emmich: I honestly don't remember. I believe Matt and I shared
the expense. I had some money from doing TV commercials and I was
young enough to not care what happened to that money. Why not
make a video?
AP: Aside from funding, what's the hardest part of making a video?
Val Emmich: I would say planning. The more you plan, the better it
turns out. In most cases you have limited time and limited funds and
so the more things you have planned out, the more gets done. That's
not to say that there is no room for spontaneity. There should be lots
of that. But it's hard to get lost if you're not organized. Especially if
your concept is complex and story driven.
The other thing that is hard for the performer is the repetition. You
play the song so many times that it's hard to keep up the passion in
your performance. It's like doing 100 shows in one night only there's
no crowd. It's hard to find the motivation sometimes. Actually, it ends
up being a good mental test.
AP: How did you choose your director?
Val Emmich: All my videos save for one were shot by my friend
Matt
Schuman. He got his start as a gaffer in film and TV and always
wanted to direct. My video for "Shock" in 2003 was his first video as
well and we've grown together over the years.
AP: Who creates the videos vision & storyline? Is it your idea or a
collaborative effort?
Val Emmich: It's always collaborative. You each bring different
things to the table. For example, I'll often have a visual idea but have
no concept of how to execute it and Matt will then take that idea and
translate it in order to make it work. The video for "This Ship's Going
Down" was directed by Steve Birnbaum and that was the only time
that I really had nothing to do with the concept. It was all in his head
and rather than fight that, I just let him do his thing. It's really all
about trust. If you have a good relationship with the director, you can
do that. All things being equal, I prefer to be involved with the end
result as much as possible.
AP: You've made several videos – are they vastly different from each
other or do they share a certain look & feel?
Val Emmich: The first two were very similar (“Shock” and “Privacy
Attracts A Crowd”). Perhaps that's because they were my first. Those
were very story driven. The later ones are more abstract and less
linear and logical as far as narrative. More about just raw feelings. As
far as look, I think they all look quite different.
AP: What have you learned not to do?
Val Emmich: Don't spend a lot of money. The first two videos cost a
lot relatively. The second one (“Privacy Attracts A Crowd”) cost nearly
twice as much as the first because it had multiple locations and a large
cast of people in it. As I got older and more experienced, I realized
that a really solid idea makes up for a low budget. Plus video is
ubiquitous now and is significantly lower than the cost of film. I don't
think it makes sense to spend a lot of money on a video.
AP: Where are your videos being played?
Val Emmich: They've been played all over. MTV, MTVu, the old
MuchMusic, regional video programs, retail stores, even Disney World.
My friend was in Disney World recently and said he saw the video for
"The Only One Lonely" on a giant screen followed by Nick Lachey.
Crazy.
AP: How have your videos supported your releases or helped your
career?
Val Emmich: It's hard to gauge but I think it's helped. The more
people talking about you and your art the better. Whether it's word of
mouth on the Internet or awards like the IMA's or on a screen in Foot
Locker when someone's buying a new pair of shoes. Besides
marketing, it's one more way for the listener to get to know an artist.
It's a visual to add to the music and I think, when done right, it adds
overall depth to the artist.
AP: What was the most elaborate video you made and what are some
of the challenges you faced along the way?
Val Emmich: "The Only One Lonely" was the most elaborate video I
ever made. It's weird because "Privacy Attracts A Crowd" was the
most involved with multiple locations, a crowd of people, cameras
attached to moving cars. But it was also very standard filming so it
was nothing that new to the people shooting it. With "Lonely," it
took place in basically one room of my drummer's house and cost
almost nothing to make but Matt and I knew nothing about how to
shoot it. We learned as we went. It took about a month to complete.
It was very tedious work because we had to keep these stuffed
animals completely still as we took still shots of them and then move
them one or two centimeters at a time. The whole process of
creating their movements was painstaking. Also, we had no
equipment so we would have to just make do with what we had. For a
dolly, we carved a hole in a skateboard and attached the camera to it.
The reason it was the most elaborate video I've ever made was
because of the concept. It was a brave concept that we weren't exactly
sure would work. But in the end, because of that, it was the most
rewarding.
AP: Are animated videos, like "The Only One Lonely," more expensive
to make?
Val Emmich: I can only speak from personal experience. For me, no.
"The Only One Lonely" cost basically nothing to make. All it took was
time. It took literally 10 times longer to make than the other videos
I've done. You need a lotof patience and like I mentioned before, a lot
of planning. Then of course, the most important thing is the idea
itself.
AP: How long did it take to finish all the special effects in the editing
process?
Val Emmich: The editing took quite a long time. It was important to
us for the stop-motion to look fluid but not too fluid. We wanted it to
be slightly choppy so that it looked kind of childlike. It was part of the
idea of the video that this guy was like a child playing with his toys.
We were creating an imaginary world where there was none so it took
some time. Plus Matt and I were really dedicated to making something
special that we could be proud of so we went through several edits in
order to make it just right.
AP: How did you actually make it happen?
Val Emmich: I assume you mean technically. Some of it was done
with a video camera and the stop-motion was done with a digital
camera. We'd shoot thirty still shots in order to create one second of
video. We took thousands and thousands of photographs. To create
realistic movements, we first shot video of me and my drummer, Eric,
performing the animal's movements and would then try to recreate
those movements with our animals. We sewed armature wire into the
backs of the animals so they would remain stiff and posed them in the
exact spots we were in on the test videos. We would take photograph
after photograph, moving the animal just slightly after every one. The
problem is that you don't know if you're successful until you've shot a
thousand photographs. It's not like video where you can just rewind
and see. We would sometimes have to go back and start again
because the movement we created was too drastic or unrealistic. It
was extremely tedious.
AP: When you use extras in your videos (take "This Ship's Going
Down" for example) how do you go about casting them? Are they
paid?
Val Emmich: For that video we took out an ad in Backstage
magazine and also on Craigslist. We got nearly 100 responses and
auditioned about 80 people before choosing the cast.
AP: You've been loyal to one director (Matt Schuman of Freshhead)
for most of your videos. Do you prefer to just work with one director
or do you solicit other directors and just end up liking Matt's
treatments the best?
Val Emmich: I don't solicit directors. Matt and I just work well
together. We'll be hanging out and just all of sudden come up with an
idea and want to work on it then and there. Since we are both willing
to take chances and push the art to new places, it's been a good
working relationship. If we were churning out the same product each
time, it would be cause for alarm in my mind. Like I said before, trust
is a big thing. An artist is putting him or herself out there and they
have to trust their director. Same thing for an actor. The
trust Matt and I have in each other is very valuable and hard to find.
AP: What's the longest shoot you've done?
Val Emmich: The one for "The Only One Lonely." I would say a
month for actual shooting and a month of editing.
AP: Would you ever release a live performance video?
Val Emmich: Yes.
AP: How do you gage if your video is successful?
Val Emmich: If I'm excited about it and proud of it then it is
successful.
WATCH Val Emmich talk about the making of “The Only One
Lonely” and “This Ship’s Going Down”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haxbevbQLT4
LEARN more about Val Emmich:
www.valemmich.com, www.myspace.com/valemmich
Click for our interviews with Dony West, guitarist for Sink to See, and
Maya von Doll, frontwoman for Sohodolls.
When she’s not working hard at MRG, Joelle Caputa is helping promote indie
artists through Planet Verge magazine and Audio Crush PR.
Her dog, a
Siberian Husky/German Shepard mix, Skye, is often at her side.
