September 13, 2004

• One of my friends is a composer who has written music around the theme of women during wartime. I can hook you up with him. Maybe he'd be interested in working on your project. Email me through my profile or the contact page on shrednow.com.
• Keep Young and Beautiful comes to mind (list of recordings), but may not have the right tone. Too infotainment-ey? Hmmm... /ponders mp3 collection
• "causing discomfort for traditionalists by breaking old taboos about women's rolls" There's nothing wrong with women who have some chubs. Damn traditionalists.
• I guess that should have been "roles" I never do enough proof reading...
• "daughter's"? squiddy - please tell us this typo won't make the final cut! ;)
• I'm a traditionalist, and I have no problem with women in the military. In fact, studies have shown that women excel in certain areas of the military far in excess of men (the ones I remember off the top of my head are fighter piloting, as women's bodies are better able to handle the G-forces pilots are subjected to, and submarine crewing, as women are better able to get along with each other in close quarters for extended periods of time). It's not like women are having a lot of trouble busting the Khaki Line - I don't think there is any unit in any branch of the military that doesn't currently accept women, including the more masochistic units among the special forces. I suppose there are some ancients to tweak, but I think anyone under Vietnam-era age has pretty much accepted the idea of women in the armed forces. That said: Dancepunk, dude! But definitely stay away from signed bands. Once the suits (and I speak as one, albeit from another industry) get hold of you, there's no checkbook in the world big enough.
• Yep, quidnunc, I never do enought proof reading.
• the ones I remember off the top of my head are fighter piloting, as women's bodies are better able to handle the G-forces pilots are subjected to Its also because women, on average, are much better at multitasking than men. Despite this, the RAF still don't allow women to become pilots. Stupid buggers.
• Seriously folks, rather than letting this thread devolve into how stupid the military is or was, I want to head this off at the pass and see if we can keep to the topic which is music suggestions for the promotional video. Thanks.
• Del Rey - Dust Huntress (mp3 link) springs instantly to mind. Rousing, rocking, and with a suitable name to boot.
• Sorry about that, squidranch. Won't happen again.
• My grandmother served as a SPAR for the Coast Guard during WW2. One of the best pictures I have ever seen of her was in her uniform. She was actually beaming with pride. Here's a link to the words and music for their anthem.
• I would have to see the piece before coming up with any ideas for music. The quickest way to ruin any piece of video is by using the wrong soundtrack. That being said, I was able to soundtrack a play once, and only once, without seeing it, because the director knew pretty much what he wanted.
• Actually DMN, I like to cut to a piece of music even if it isn't the one in the final cut. It helps with the rythym and influences the tone even if it isn't used in the final edit.
• are you planning to spend money on this, or use music without permission?
• It's a promotional piece to only be seen by possible donors and grant funding organizations. I will be using it without permission for the promo and if we get funded and the music works ok for the documentary, I of course will pay licencing fees.
• I'm thinking militaristic but jaunty. Perhaps old movie music from the WWII era kinda stuff. But I'm not married to that.
• so you believe that whoever provides the music that acts as your stepping stone to $$$$ doesn't deserve compensation?
• sutureself, can we keep this on topic? We've had multiple discussions in the past about using or listening to music and the legal issues therewith. I for one don't want to see another "Oooh, narc!" thread. And besides, if it does become a "stepping stone to $$$$", squid has said he will be paying for the music's use. At the moment the documentary isn't getting a profit. I don't know how licensing works, but it seems reasonable to me.
• sorry... i just felt like stirring it up.
• sutureself: It's not that uncommon that people will work on indie films (and even features) for little or no compensation as a way of getting some notice and kickstarting their careers. I've worked on four indies this year alone, often putting in 12-hour days, just because they'll feed me. Composers are often the same way, starting out. That being said, I am not a composer, as such, but I have some experience putting together soundtracks for plays and whatnot and would like to see a video sample, if you can post it somewhere, squidranch.
• squidranch, plenty of the type of music you're looking for is widely available in the public domain. Continuing with what I posted above, each branch of the military has websites with links to their anthems. If you're thinking of tunes along the lines of Movietone News, I found a site here that has plenty of public domain newsreels (use that as your search term). Including the famous one about what kids should do in the event of a nuclear blast.
• i am both a composer and a filmmaker, so i know it from both side... and i'm consistently frustrated by how little people are willing to pay for music, and how much some people demand for the use of their music. it's a two edged blade of frustration.
• I can dig it sutureself, but for a self financed promotional piece of 2-3 minutes long that will be seen by thirty people tops, I simply can't afford to pay for the cues. I'm not "scoring" the piece, per se, but am looking for music that might be out of my range of knowledge, from industrial metal to swing. I posted a Curious George query regarding music for a video that I did a few months ago with wonderful response of all kinds music that I didn't know about, so I thought I'd give it another shot. Thanks again everyone for any help you have given or might give.
• Wow. All these comments, yet just 1 or 2 on-point responses to squidranch's question. (BTW it's common practice to use place-filler music when you're in the looking-for-funding stage of making a film.) One idea: there's plenty on P.J. Harvey's "Rid of Me" album that fits the bill if you're looking for powerful-woman music; try '50 Ft. Queenie.' Other artists to consider include Patti Smith, the Breeders, and the Pretenders.
• I haven't started cutting yet drivingmenuts. If you like, as soon as I come up with something I will send you a compressed quicktime at the at the address on your profile.
• squid: sounds good. I don't have a limit on email attachment size, but, well, you know. I'll take a look and see if I can come up with some ideas. I have a decent collection of avant-wierdness of varying types.
• If you're interested in WWII-era jaunty military type music, I can suggest a couple of movies that have good soundtracks/scores. Both are widely available on VHS. The first is So Proudly We Hail!, a Paulette Goddard/Veronica Lake drama about Army nurses in Bataan. The second is Here Come the WAVES, a musical starring Betty Hutton and Bing Crosby. You probably already know these films, but I thought I'd post them on the off-chance you didn't. Good luck on your film!