Well, HERE'S a different kind of post to the user showcase! And it's also a different way to use Band in a Box!
A friend of mine on the Muvizu forum is working on a couple of running series, and he needed a theme song for the beginning of each episode, and an instrumental version for the end when the credits roll. I agreed to make his theme songs, and here's a link to the first video that uses it; but first, a little background:
The series is about a little grey alien who keeps getting sent to earth on abduction missions... but he's an idiot and he always screws up. It is very reminiscent of the old Coyote/Roadrunner cartoons from the 60s. The animator is a VERY good 3D modeller, and an awful lot of his props were his own creation... including the moving cows, which don't exist in Muvizu!
Lyrics: He snuck across the border of space and time... he wants to abduct what's your and mine.. from outer space to Roswell he travelled so fast... but when he got to earth you know we kicked his [*****]... He's an Alien Grey.... and he just won't go away!
His leader out in space will always send him back... he screws up every mission, little grey dude don't know jack! he's often seen by earthlings and is frequently reported but there ain't a chance in hell that he'll ever be deported He's an alien grey... he just won't go away! He's an Alien Grey.. I'm afraid he's here to stay!
the video: (posted with permission from the animator)
Thanks Trev! I'll send the Animator (Clay Triche) a link to this thread as I'm sure he will be greatly encouraged by your kind words! The Muvizu forum is pretty supportive in terms of helping with the software, but they aren't as inclined to comment on peoples' projects.
This is so marvelous, Pat. So clever and funny. You did your friend proud with the music. I would think it would be very difficult writing music for a video as it is so vital that the music match the emotion. You nailed it. The one liners are also funny in the clip. The one by the cows after the dog pees on the bush and electrocutes Grey Alien is priceless. "I've heard of electrical shock treatments, but that looked like it hurt." "Yep." Ha, ha, ha...too funny! I am once again amazed by the versatility of BIAB. Magnificent work. Thanks for sharing this. Enjoy your weekend. -Carolyne
great fun. Great musical theme. Perfectly done. The music in the video is good, too. Who made it? I watched two times and enjoyed it a lot.
Guenter
it's my understanding that he acquired the music that plays during the scenes from a royalty free site online. I agree that it is really good for a cartoon video! Stuff like that is outside my pay grade, but there's an opportunity there for somebody!
The software for making pro quality video has EXPLODED recently, and the ability to make original films with amazing special effects has never been more available to the masses.
As a result, there are LOTS of people making original films, and they all need theme songs, etc. With thousands of people hitting the royalty free sites, it doesn't take long to start hearing the same music in multiple films, so...
The historical way to get music into a project was to submit to a library... but now having a presence on a video forum gives you an edge because other users know you by name.
One such software product is HIT FILM... it's miles ahead of everything else, and a presence on their forum would almost certainly lead to some opportunities for collaboration!
This is so marvelous, Pat. So clever and funny. You did your friend proud with the music. I would think it would be very difficult writing music for a video as it is so vital that the music match the emotion. You nailed it. The one liners are also funny in the clip. The one by the cows after the dog pees on the bush and electrocutes Grey Alien is priceless. "I've heard of electrical shock treatments, but that looked like it hurt." "Yep." Ha, ha, ha...too funny! I am once again amazed by the versatility of BIAB. Magnificent work. Thanks for sharing this. Enjoy your weekend. -Carolyne
Thanks Carolyne! You just reminded me that I also need to send a link to this thread to the young lady who provided her voice for the cows! She will enjoy reading your comments I'm sure!
Regarding the task of matching lyrics and character emotions: we did that backwards. The animator took the song and used his own discretion to create scenes that mirror the lyrics!
Kids could be singing this for the rest of their lives! It could become a Jeopardy question. Or at least a drinking-game dare... "Sing Alien Grey!" HA!
It does just what it needs to do (like all those classics) and is the perfect length...
Well done!
(tell Clay that his text screens go away too soon. I was not finished reading any of them before they moved on...) And tell him to make your credit easy to read!!!! You deserve that...
Pat, I think you've found a great niche. You have a feel for this type of thing. I agree with floyd that the screens moved too quickly. I get the feeling your creative juices are just getting started. Great job. Tom
This is cool stuff to be doing, Pat. You could become famous! Seems like you are "in the right place at the right time" - with the right tools.
my minimal contribution aside, I do think that BIAB is the right tool for the job. You start with a theme and match it up with a style, add a hook (in this case it was the spooky whistle that always played in the 60s sci-fi flicks) and add just enough lyrics to describe the story in a nutshell!
Kids could be singing this for the rest of their lives! It could become a Jeopardy question. Or at least a drinking-game dare... "Sing Alien Grey!" HA!
LOL! I like the way you think! And I hope it works out well for Clay
Quote:
It does just what it needs to do (like all those classics) and is the perfect length...
Well done!
I thought the length was about right, but after watching the first video, I'll be removing a verse... and probably clean it up a bit for kids.
Quote:
(tell Clay that his text screens go away too soon. I was not finished reading any of them before they moved on...) And tell him to make your credit easy to read!!!! You deserve that...
yes, he's heard that from several people already... at the moment he's a talented amateur, and he has a learning curve ahead of him to bump it up a notch. If he's the kind of guy who can take constructive criticism without getting offended, he'll do well. Regarding my credit, I've already told him to ditch it completely or at most make it a small note in the final credits.
Quote:
Fun stuff.
floyd
Thanks for the detailed and interesting review... Clay asked me to thank you and everybody else who responded!
Very cool Pat!! Great song. Perfect feel for such a cartoon. Who did the vocal? It was very well done! Take care. Greg
FWIW, I did the vocal Greg. As a cover song musician I try to adapt my voice to each song, and that was my Tom Petty voice (more or less)
I struggled with style selection... (what does a country style have to do with aliens?)... but Clay lives in Texas, and I hoped his friends, the ones he most hopes will like his series, would latch onto it.
There is also an implied hook to the illegal alien sub theme, which in Texas is a topic about which some people have strong opinions. I hope the C&W style will be a good match for his target audience. Thanks for weighing in... I always enjoy hearing your thoughts.. not just on my songs but on everybody's!
How do you do this ? I´m awed at both animation and that little cute rockabilly !!!
Cheers Dani
Hi Dani, The animator is a young man named Clay Triche from Texas, so any kind words about the story can go to him! It's hard to describe his accomplishments here... an awful lot of what's cool in this video is NOT part of Muvizu at all.. it's stuff he either created or added with post processing special effects.
And regarding the rockabilly theme... any praise should go directly to PGMusic... I pretty much picked a 3 chord progression and hit the GO button. Although I was fairly pleased with the lyrics... that's about all I can claim as original content in the song. Oh, I also played the spooky whistle on my synthesizer. ;-)
Pat, I think you've found a great niche. You have a feel for this type of thing. I agree with floyd that the screens moved too quickly. I get the feeling your creative juices are just getting started. Great job. Tom
Thanks for the encouraging words and helpful observations, Tommy! I like to think that the learning curve for both of us is somewhere along the lines of "90% down, 90% to go" (the last 10% seems to take as long or longer than the first 90%)
Whether or not I make any more themes for Clay remains to be seen.. but I'll be watching for others who are making good films and using stock audio. It is an interesting niche, and I'd like to see more BIAB enthusiasts getting involved.
My son plays in a jazz band. Several of the songs that are most enthusiastically received by the audience at every gig are theme songs from movies and TV shows.
I've been at gigs where there was very little audience interaction going on until the band played a theme song (The Jeffersons, The Pink Panther, etc) and the room filled up instantly with people who were singing along!
STRONG audience identification! And it seems to be predictable and consistent.
Well, first...... the Alien Grey Theme: That sounds really cool! The animation: we love it, loads of fun, it's obvious you really know how to master Muvizu in a very advanced way. (Could we download the moving cows somewhere?) Definitely a great job from the both of you!
We are Rob Meulman and Anne-Marie Bovenkamp from The Netherlands.
Well, first...... the Alien Grey Theme: That sounds really cool!
thank you for the kind words.. I'm hearing them a bit sheepishly since I didn't invest much time in this (yet) Clay actually took my rough draft and ran with it... hopefully I'll get it cleaned up soon..
Quote:
The animation: we love it, loads of fun, it's obvious you really know how to master Muvizu in a very advanced way. (Could we download the moving cows somewhere?) Definitely a great job from the both of you!
Clay (who goes by the name CLAYSTER2012 on the Muvizu forum) has been very generous about sharing his models. But up until now he has done spoofs of other peoples' intellectual property, so he wasn't really invested in what he gave away.
I have a feeling that he might be a bit more protective of his proprietary characters. If you are on the Muvizu forum, you could message him and ask.
If he doesn't want to let them go, I'd be happy to model just about anything you want... provided I can work on it as time allows.
Muvizu doesn't include ANY 4 legged creatures... so Clay modelled his cows in pieces then creates movement with keyframes... (Keyframes are part of an inexpensive add-on pack which I recommend strongly... maybe not yet, but once you've gotten more familiar with the core features, you'll find that keyframes open up a lot of new capability. You would need the Keyframing expansion pack before Clay's cow would be useful)
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