|
|
Post by legoline on Nov 19, 2011 17:57:18 GMT -5
Then I'm going to ask the obvious question: how do you know when lyrics don't really match the vid enough and will put the viewer off? (What I mean is, and it's late and I'm tired, how specific can lyrics get before not sticking to them becomes impossible? )
|
|
|
|
Post by littleheaven on Nov 20, 2011 6:01:56 GMT -5
Well, I can only give you my own interpretation, and it's fairly broad. I think as long as the overall message of the song suits what you're trying to say, you don't need a lyrical tie-in with every line. A few strong ones here and there would be enough. Direct clashes of lyric and visuals would probably be a struggle for the viewer (eg. the lyric is talking about climbing when the clip is showing someone falling). Or if the overall story of the song is totally disparate from the images.
|
|
|
|
Post by obsessive24 on Nov 20, 2011 6:18:03 GMT -5
What littleheaven says. I think I represent only a small minority of total viewership anyway, because I hardly hear lyrics, but for what it's worth, lyrics not connecting to visuals are not usually problematic for me. What's much more problematic, I find, is when they're overly literal. I have such a low tolerance for literal lyric matches that any literal interpretation is likely to throw me out of the vid. I remember saying to a friend once it's as though the vidder ripped a hole in the vid, poked their head out and was all like "oh hai, see wut I did thar?" ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by thedothatgirl on Nov 20, 2011 9:33:49 GMT -5
I'm with Littleheaven there doing the literal with lyrics when I first started vidding. I think I have improved a little but every now and then I lapse on a phrase or two. It's fine in my book for comedy vids though - and I'm sticking with that.
I'm always seeing lyrics used in fan art or quoted in fan mixes that seem 'perfect' for a vid idea/pairing etc but once you actually hear the tone and mood of the song itself, it feels completely wrong and so it's mentally binned. So no matter what the lyrics are, if the tone of the song isn't right for me it's left alone.
There are times when a mumbled lyric is a vidders friend though. That way it can say whatever you want it to.
|
|
nos
Pub Regular
Posts: 95
|
Post by nos on Nov 20, 2011 12:44:47 GMT -5
I am completely lyric obsessed. I choose songs based on them, and make the feel of the Vid fit the music afterward. This can be my undoing, as I tend to like songs for their lyrical merit. I also love songs with dark themed lyrics, but happy music. Which is why I chose Three Evils for my Spike gets tortured Vid. The song sounds completely light hearted, but the lyrics are actually about being tortured (thank you Coheed). So I tried to make the video in the same vein; these dark and disturbing scenes interlaced with a bit of light heartedness. It only works for me cause I am a bit crazy, but we really Vid for ourselves anyhow hee.
|
|
|
|
Post by astarte on Nov 20, 2011 14:49:59 GMT -5
But the Scully one is structured so that even if you couldn't hear the lyrics, you could get a sense of the story the vidder was telling. I did the Scully one, voodoochild and yeah, this narrative was easy: Scully being skilled enough to play with fire and not get burned. I really loved the moth metaphor for Mulder and how he's drawn to her fire. And it tied nicely into this crazy dangerous powder-keg conspiracy surrounding them in which a little spark at the wrong moment could blow it all to hell. I think this is a pretty straight forward example how I approach tone and lyrics. They are poetry for me and that leaves a lot of room to interpret them in a way that adds another layer and ties the source to the song in a way that isn't completely obvious. If I learned anything in advanced German literary class, it's that you can talk out of your ass, as long as your arguments are sound, you will always get an A. So I focus on the mood of a song first and then I love to dig out these lyrical connections. About mishearing lyrics, this happens to me in German too and there were five versions of a line in 'Jesus Christ' that all made sense, I figured out what was actually said, 'Cause my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark.' I first heard, 'My pride is too sly' and that had still an influence on my clip choice in a way. I think you can make a lot of lyrics work in your favour, that don't make sense at first, because you think harder about them than the obvious ones and so your choice has often a better reasoning behind it. So sticking to them is more about opening up to possibilities and interpretations. |
|
nos
Pub Regular
Posts: 95
|
Post by nos on Nov 20, 2011 15:08:26 GMT -5
Wait, you vidded Jesus Christ? I must see this. As a lyrics whore, that is one of my favorite songs  |
|
|
|
Post by astarte on Nov 20, 2011 15:27:30 GMT -5
|
|
nos
Pub Regular
Posts: 95
|
Post by nos on Nov 20, 2011 15:41:15 GMT -5
Thank you for linking that, I really enjoyed it. Well done  Also, to let you know, I also thought the lyrics were 'My pride is too sly to hold back all my dark.' when I first heard the song. |
|
|
|
Post by astarte on Nov 21, 2011 15:01:05 GMT -5
Aw thank you, nos and I think a lot of people misheard this, because a third of the lyrics sites have it as 'My pride...'
Another thing that influences Music vs Lyrics for me is if I listen via loudspeakers or earbuds. I concentrate much more on lyrics if I listen with earbuds to music and this is usually the way I watch vids and how I vid.
|
|
|
|
Post by franzeska on Nov 22, 2011 15:37:29 GMT -5
That's why I always look for the lyrics on the internet, when I like the song and feel the desire to make a video for it. And that's why I like to vid at instrumental music, too. No lyrics, no problem. ;D One problem I've had is that internet lyrics aren't always correct. I had the worst trouble with this one song in Spanish that I am planning to use. It's very political and full of mumbled place names, and I wanted to make sure I knew what it really meant, and the lyrics I found written down were... not helpful. I basically had to go on a language-learning site and get a whole crowd of native speakers to weigh in and then do a lot of research myself to see if the result made sense. I'd love to vid some Nogu Svelo, but I can't find translations of most of their lyrics into English anywhere. |
|
|
|
Post by voodoochild on Nov 22, 2011 16:01:36 GMT -5
ASKGJ;LFKGJS;LDGJKF astarte, let me flail for a minute. What a brilliant, gorgeous vid. I've been watching it again as I'm learning to vid, to try and figure out how you constructed your narrative and theme. I loved the moth metaphor for Mulder, and I'm still in love with that perfect shot of BAMF!Scully striding out of the church right to the beat.
I like that interpretation. I know I've been trying to balance the need for metaphor and layer within a narrative, but still echoing and utilizing the lyrics.
|
|
|
|
Post by legoline on Nov 24, 2011 3:23:12 GMT -5
I like that interpretation. Me, too I guess it's probably what I do as well and what I meant by "figuring out the overall theme" -- I interpret lyrics like I would a poem first, then I start vidding. |
|
|
|
Post by astarte on Nov 24, 2011 16:53:08 GMT -5
First of all thanks, voodoochild, I love to make people flail. Heh.
Second I think what I love about this open approach to lyrics is the way I often end up in unexpected places for the character's head space. Not necessarily a complete u-turn, but latching onto a set of different emotions and manipulating them into a atmosphere, I didn't anticipate. This mostly happens when I listen intensely to a song before I start vidding, but it can also occur two minutes into the timeline. I'm bad at explaining this, but it boils down to frequently not using the first shot that did come to mind. Instead I end up with a clip that is for example still the same scene only earlier or later. I think the only danger of this move is that you become too removed and your audience is at a loss, when you don't 'argue' your point clear enough.
|
|
|
|
Post by nataliemich on Nov 27, 2011 13:04:08 GMT -5
I'm loving reading this discussion and seeing all the different angles people approach lyrics. The vid I'm working on (my first vid) was inspired by a couple very specific lyrics in the song, and now I'm struggling with spots in the lyrics that don't match exactly what I'm trying to do, and then, with not being so married to the idea that the lyrics that do work perfectly must be matched up with a specific clip, rest of the narrative and music be damned.
Do any of you who struggle with being overly literal use any tricks to "turn off" the lyrics in your head when you watch something back?
|
|
Also, to let you know, I also thought the lyrics were 'My pride is too sly to hold back all my dark.' when I first heard the song. 
