Add photographs to music

[Marianne]

Hi,

I'm just curious. Has anybody ever turned the working order the other way around? I mean when you have a song you very much like (or instrumental for all that matters), have you ever considered making photographs which complement to the music?

Until now I always had the photographs first and then looked for music to go with the pictures. But I think it would be a challenge to turn this working order. Or would it be too artificial?

What do you think?

Marianne

[Ed Overstreet]

Hi Marianne.

I've certainly started with a piece of music and then searched for photographs I already had that went with the music. I also know people who've taken a song (with recognizeable words) and shot images to fit the words, though that's a LOT harder than starting with purely instrumental music (or vocal music with nonsense syllables or in a language that most of one's audience won't understand anyway).

For some shows, I find this isn't an either/or proposition. Sometimes I have a great piece of music that I'd love to use for an AV show, and a vague idea of a theme or topic from images I've already shot or that I want to shoot. Then I work back and forth between the music and the images. The most successful example of this approach was an analog two-projector show I did about ten years ago, on the theme of Remembrance (i.e. November 11). I chose Aaron Copeland's Fanfare for the Common Man as music I wanted to use, before I started shooting, then went to our local War Museum, Aviation Museum, a nearby military cemetary, and then did a "photojournalistic shoot" at that year's November 11 ceremony at the War Memorial here in Ottawa. The music drove the images that I shot to a large extent; I'm very familiar with the music, so it "played" in my head all the time I was shooting, and I was conscious of shooting short themes or sequences that would fit into particular musical sequences in the score.

Also, when I visited the Grand Canyon on a solo photo holiday, I had with me a tape of a particular Mozart opera aria that I love, which I played over the car radio as I drove around the countryside, and replayed in my head as I was shooting. At some point I realized that the music was probably influencing my photography, decided to use that music for the AV show I produced from that trip, and it was very successful by all reports. The music was an unorthodox choice for a landscape show, but it worked.

I'm sure others have had similar experiences.

Try it some time. If you know of a piece of music that you really like, and find yourself thinking "gee what great AV music, what images would go with it," try setting yourself the assignment of picking a theme or subject that might fit the music, get really familiar with the music, and then go shoot. No need for a formal "storyboard" (I NEVER bother with those), you can invent one in your head as go you along. It's fun.

[dagrace]

Many years ago, I did exactly what you describe. I went out to "photoillustrate" The Boxer, by Simon and Garfunkel. I had some ideas and as I listened to it more, different things would come to me. It worked out very well, in the end, I think.

This was loooong before computers, much less PTE, but I still have the slides bundled, in order. Hmmm, might be cool to scan tme in sometime and bring that show into the 21st century.

[Gérard de Lux]

Yes, this is exactly what I'm doing at the moment!

I've just finished illustrating a song about the closing down of high furnaces, rolling mills, etc.

If you want, you can download this project from this address; the song is in French but I think it is easy to understand at least the main theme (a worker reminiscing about when he was working and feeling useless nowadays; comparing the rusting mills with old battleships; etc.).

Being a "special web" version (images have been reduced to 800x533 px), it is rather light : 10 MB only.

[ronwil]

Gerard

C'est tres bien, mais je ne comprends les mots. I learnt my French 70 years ago in grammar school and haven't used it very much since.

Best wishes

Ron [uK]

[d67]

Hi Ed Overstreet

I agree with all you said about music and slideshow.

In my proper case, I roughly have 3 ways of creating a slideshow :

- in 1/5 cases, I have to compile a slideshow with very short time left. This is often the case for family purposes, after something done in common with friends or for work. In this case, all possibilities are open but I choose in most cases classic music as background with or without synchronisation.

- in an other 1/5 cases, I want put together some photos but time is not a problem. In this case it's most of time the hazard, hearing a convenient piece of music (this can take one month or two !), wich makes me start creating the slideshow.

- in 3/5 cases it's a piece of music wich gives me the inspiration and I try then to find photos matching this music in my personnal library. If I have no, I manage to make new one and here also, photos I'll take are largely inspired by music.

Patrick

Sorry for my approximativ english !

[Alan Lyons]

This thread proves what A/V workers have said for many years. There is no right way to compile a show. I have used all of the above and in some script driven shows I have even gone out with a shooting list which hopefullt gets shorter after each visit to the location. If your visit is a once off then as Ed said you need to have an idea of what you want to do when you get there. The only thing I have found that is constant is the really good ideas will not leave you alone untill you get them on screen.

Alan

[Alan Lyons]

This thread proves what A/V workers have said for many years. There is no right way to compile a show. I have used all of the above and in some script driven shows I have even gone out with a shooting list which hopefullt gets shorter after each visit to the location. If your visit is a once off then as Ed said you need to have an idea of what you want to do when you get there. The only thing I have found that is constant is the really good ideas will not leave you alone untill you get them on screen.

Alan