What we want to know, is what your thoughts are about music in a WAM video. This music could be very prominent or in the back round. It can have words or none at all. Any type. Think in general.
Well now it all depends on the content being accompanied...a quick -cut series of pie hits, for example, can work very well with a catchy/funny pop tune (see Rich's 'Hit me with your best shot' pie promo) which 'punctuates' the pie hits...Now, a longer slower slime scene (or anything with slow motion sequences, too) or 'concept' sequence works best with background music (and instrumental, usually)...how loud you make it depends on some subtle factors....I chose using a drum and base track on the 'Strawberry Dessert' scene in Splat!TV.
Yes...'hearing the mess' is important for some -- another reason/factor for modulating the music volume; the sound of slime splattering over someone's head, or a thick cream pie going 'piff' as it's pushed in someone's face (or going 'pop' from a thrown hit, crust only) can be preserved AND still have music (if it enhances the screen somehow) simply by adjusting the levels on each track (the beauty of digital music is the ability to compile nearly infinite number of sound tracks (each at tits own volume level).
I think it's fine if it's fitting to the tone of an edited scene and not too loud or obstructive to the actual audio, if we're talking music that is added in post during editing.
If it's music casually playing in the background while filming, I usually think it's better if its just like ambient and not very lyric heavy. And tonally appropriate. Like, I'd have very mixed emotions watching a silly/sexy WAM scene and you hear Slayer or Ministry in the background... that'd be weird.
All this cake, there must be a princess somewhere.
No music for me. I like to hear the mess. The sound of a used pie or a chunk of slime dropping onto a plastic tarp is all part of the experience I like!
Honestly, I used to watch videos muted. I never cared about the audio in them. But very recently somebody (my wife) tapped me on the shoulder while watching a video (The Man. The Wife. The Store; Types of Slime) for research and told me to turn up the audio and it was like an AHA! moment. Now I can't seem to watch them without sound and I have to revisit all the previous videos to see what was going on that I missed. LOL. Inspiration right there.
So I would say no background or dubbed in music unless it has something to do with the act/scene. Like old school Slapstick Stuff videos that were outside and the lawn maintenance workers were just mowing the lawns in the background. I'd consider that natural surroundings and include it until it is louder than the dialogue that is critical to the scene.
I usually watch WAM videos with the sound either off, or turned almost all the way down. Sound (and expecially music) can distract at just the wrong moment. There's also the copyright issue, unless you wrote and recorded your own music, or used copyright free music that is licensed for use in commercial recordings, there would be a copyright problem. I've studied the ToS and Upload Rules and other than the catch-all "you must own the content" can't find any copyright references regarding background music, I've flagged this to MM as something that perhaps needs to be clarified.
Bcause I usually watch with the sound off I assumed everyone else did too, so in the early days we used to have music (chosen by the models) playing in the background while shooting, and then I just removed the soundtrack entirely when mixing the scenes down for release, as I didn't fancy being sued by the RIAA for copyright infringement, plus it made the files slightly smaller. Eventually however someone complained about lack of sound - to them it's not WAM if you can't hear the splats of the mess dripping off the participants onto the floor - so we stopped the background music and included the original soundtrack on the scenes from then on. Since then of course someone complained about the sound of the heaters in the dungeon - we shoot in the cellars of a 600 year old Elizabethan manor house high in North Yorkshire, it's bloody cold down there! - which just goes to prove you'll never satisfy everyone.
I remember reading somewhere that you should always have Disney music playing in the background of any sex tapes you make. That way if it gets stolen and posted anywhere you don't want the Disney copyright bots well get it taken down before any number of complaints!
It occurs to me that the preference for music/no music differs according tot he type of wam material one prefers. For example, if one prefers a SCRIPTED video or highly-produced scene) that is conceptual or parroting commercial TV, then all manner of production details (including music, soud FX, etc.) are fine...but, if one goes in for the UNSCRIPTED or no-story-line-just-give-me-the-wam fetish vid....then music is generally NOT preferred (minus the 'ambient music' effect already noted).
WildThang said: Honestly, I used to watch videos muted. I never cared about the audio in them. But very recently somebody (my wife) tapped me on the shoulder while watching a video (The Man. The Wife. The Store; Types of Slime) for research and told me to turn up the audio and it was like an AHA! moment. Now I can't seem to watch them without sound and I have to revisit all the previous videos to see what was going on that I missed. LOL. Inspiration right there.
So I would say no background or dubbed in music unless it has something to do with the act/scene. Like old school Slapstick Stuff videos that were outside and the lawn maintenance workers were just mowing the lawns in the background. I'd consider that natural surroundings and include it until it is louder than the dialogue that is critical to the scene.
Thank you much for the shout out my dude! That was a spectacular slimey, gooey, messy scene. Having the volume up meant you got to hear the ingredients for each slime in that particular video!
Love you, too
