What I Learned's blog

Submit your music for our movies

I make a video a week. And while most of the movies have the audio taken care of already, there are some that need background music.

Basically, I feel bad using www.Incompetech.com all the time.

This video will detail my basic needs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkLn7pzqAAM

Some of my videos have received thousands of views. Wouldn't it be nice to expand your audience that much? I need free music and you need free promotion, so let's work together.

I need professional-sounding recordings in these formats: .aif, .aifc, .aiff .asf, .au, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .snd, .wav, and .wma.

The recordings can't be live. And they have to be something that sounds like it would be the background to a scene in a movie. It has to convey an emotion without being distracting.

In submitting work, you agree to have your work used in a video that will only appear on the Internet. You understand that you will not be compensated for the work.

I can't promise I'll use it, or even contact you, so please don't send any follow-up messages. If I don't respond, I'm too busy with real life stuff. I'll definitely respond if I'm going to use your work.

Keep in mind, most of the time I'm only going to use a shortened version of the work, so viewers wouldn't be getting the whole thing for free.

So leave a comment here, or on my video if you want to share your songs. Leave a link to your work. Also, list your website if you have one. Provide whatever contact information you want to be public. Because other people will be viewing this link or watching my video. So, even if I don't use your work, someone else might.

Lady Gaga is a nerd

Looking at her face during American Idol, I imagined that without all the make-up she'd look just like Marilyn Manson without all the make-up.

She was an art student, reportedly, and it seems that she's got a Warholian gift for transforming her performances into talking points.

But deep down, beneath the meat dresses and the music, she's a nerd. She's a student of art, and a student of how to draw attention to herself. She puts the same amount of work into creating her "Lady Gaga" character as I would creating a half-elf paladin.

 

What I Learned: Maybe the word calculating has too strong a negative connotation, but if I was writing a character based on that kind of a media-savvy performing/performance artist, I would make her a very calm, very focused thinker. The outlandish performance artist is an act, and it's origin is an Annie Lennox-styled contemplation on how to reinvent yourself and how to challenge people's perceptions.

PS: I really like the idea of her donating $1 million to charity, and having people choose where it goes.

 

 

 

Disclaimer/background: I'm a traditionalist. I don't think people should break rules of storytelling unless there's a good reason. I write comic books, short fiction and children's books. Just to put my comments in perspective, these are my interests and favorites: My favorite superhero is Spider-Man, and I also like Justice League and Batman. My favorite comic writers lately have been Kurt Busiek, Peter David, and Geoff Johns. I am a huge Transformers fan. In children's books, I go either simple or meta: either really simple stories or books about stories. In movies and books, I am more impressed with something small that makes me feel something rather than something I'm told is a "must-read" or a must-see."

I make silly videos and post them here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/verylittleknowledge