Austin Improv

Here's the problem.

I'm going over the recordings right now. They're visually fine. The audio is fine.

The problem is that we're using RIAA music in the theatre. Did we really need to have Austin Powers' theme playing during Ka-Baam? It doesn't add a whole lot to the show, but because of that, we can't use it online at all.

Sorry, I'm just cranky. I'm on hour 18 right now, it's a big job, and I'm just not thinking that at the end, it's worth it.

Couldn't you just not charge for viewing it?

if you are going to sell it, you'll need to obtain a license for each song at the Harry Fox Agency :: http://www.harryfox.com/index.jsp

if the song is not in their catalog, you'll need to contact the publisher directly

there are special rules for video releases, and understanding music licensing has always been a kind of a Castle-like, bureaucratic calculus to me. if there were more than five or ten songs to license, i would give the DVD away for free and not worry about it. however, boyko, you're much smarter than me, so check it out.

cody, you'd better stay out of this.

dirty baby wrote:if you are going to sell it, you'll need to obtain a license for each song at the Harry Fox Agency :: http://www.harryfox.com/index.jsp

if the song is not in their catalog, you'll need to contact the publisher directly

there are special rules for video releases, and understanding music licensing has always been a kind of a Castle-like, bureaucratic calculus to me. if there were more than five or ten songs to license, i would give the DVD away for free and not worry about it. however, boyko, you're much smarter than me, so check it out.

cody, you'd better stay out of this.

Honestly, I think that it would cost more to licence the music than we'd get from revenue.

I don't know. the good thing is that it's never a whole song, it's not like a movie soundtrack, and maybe people just won't care. i wrote the post when I was tired and cranky. I hate to sound bitchy but it's just very frustrating doing video for Improv because of a couple of things.

First, I always feel like I'm -not- part of the show's crew when I do video - like I'm always unimportant - ancillary. In fact, I know I am. I also feel like you guys don't think video, at all, is important, because of some of the choices you make - like for example, varying the stage lighting so much that you end up with either total grain or blown-out video.

Okay, let me back up a bit.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that before you guys go on and perform a show, you rehearse, you know your scene partners, and you spend a lot of time and care doing it because you want it to be the best that it can be.

That's how I feel about video, but I often get the feeling that video is something that you really don't care about. No one's rehearsed with me on how to set up Improv for video, they just think that I point the camera at the stage and go, no setup, no nothing.

In fact, the feeling that I've always had is that the stage show is always more important - that it's more important to get the stage lights right, and that anything that gets in the way of the stage show is detrimental.

Maybe this is how it should be with improv, but I still get frustrated over it... which is why I think I'm charging from now on. Not cause I need the money, but because if I'm going to spend the time doing it, I want to make sure I spend the time doing it right for people who will appreciate it.

I mean, I joke about putting this out in DVD format to sell, but no one's going to buy the damn things. Not really. Not enough to really make this worthwhile.

I suppose I just feel depressed by it because while y'all can back each other up on stage, I almost always feel like the video work, I always do alone.

Seriously, this is more me venting and being bitchy than anything else.

Brian, I think people do appreciate you and your hard work. Why not set up an Improv for the Camera workshop, where you can discuss what works and what doesn't, things for improvisers to keep in mind for when their show is being recorded, and anything else you feel would make the cameraman's job easier? This is probably another case of people not knowing how improv-on-video works rather than people being dicks on purpose.

Brian Boyko wrote: Seriously, this is more me venting and being bitchy than anything else.

On the other hand, this is also a polite indictment of an Austin video/improv programme that lacks structure and warrants development. All of my experiences with shooting relatively-simple improv shows have been marked by disorganization and sloppiness. A community (and city) as able-minded and tech-savvy as ours (read: nerds) should work toward a more knowledgeable and goal-oriented theater base (interns/students/staff) and strive to make improv look amazing in the video sphere. I'm sure we all recognize that improv is better live. Fine. But if we're gonna shoot it --for learning, for festivals, for marketing, for touring, whatever-- let's shoot it right.

Seriously this is more me venting and being bitchy than anything else.

dirty baby wrote:

Brian Boyko wrote: Seriously, this is more me venting and being bitchy than anything else.

On the other hand, this is also a polite indictment of an Austin video/improv programme that lacks structure and warrants development. All of my experiences with shooting relatively-simple improv shows have been marked by disorganization and sloppiness. A community (and city) as able-minded and tech-savvy as ours (read: nerds) should work toward a more knowledgeable and goal-oriented theater base (interns/students/staff) and strive to make improv look amazing in the video sphere. I'm sure we all recognize that improv is better live. Fine. But if we're gonna shoot it --for learning, for festivals, for marketing, for touring, whatever-- let's shoot it right.

Seriously this is more me venting and being bitchy than anything else.

This is a very apt point.

dirty baby wrote:A community (and city) as able-minded and tech-savvy as ours (read: nerds) should work toward a more knowledgeable and goal-oriented theater base (interns/students/staff) and strive to make improv look amazing in the video sphere. I'm sure we all recognize that improv is better live. Fine. But if we're gonna shoot it --for learning, for festivals, for marketing, for touring, whatever-- let's shoot it right.

Yes, there are a lot of tech people doing improv, but they're doing improv when they aren't doing work or being in front of a computer, a corporate grunt.

It's a hobby, it's supposed to be fun. And yes, once in a while they dedicate the time and effort to making awesome websites and video happen, but it shouldn't be expected. If it happens, we're grateful that it was done for $0, but don't guilt people into it.

In the burning man community, they have a policy: if you suggest an idea -- do it. If you really want professional video-shooting to occur, make a workshop happen. Get volunteers. I for one, am happy that all videos of me in youtube are grainy, no thanks to HD and body-image issues.

It's pretty awesome that Brian is doing it and making it happen. Hearing him vent about it may be a small price to pay when he produces the awesome videos he is working on.