Meant to say $200 MILLION movie.

and don't call your movies stupid. doing what you do at your age is incredible.

Hey, paul, I get you, man. I understand the annoyance that Requiem music brings, it IS everywhere, I was horrified when I saw how many movies used it after making One Shot. Didn't think you were attacking me, if I sounded overdefensive twas unintentional. We're all cool here. Glad you enjoyed One Shot, thanks for watching.

"I understand completely Evan. But you also have to understand that by that movie it cleary says, "Vista Heights MIDDLE SCHOOL". Which means I am only13 and I am only starting out and I don't have any money."

My post didn't say anything about spending money to get music. If you do it yourself, it doesn't cost anything. If you use one of the many composers who advertises on the classified section of this site, it doesn't cost anything.

funny everyone mentions the use of music from requiem for a dream in student films...when i first started film school, one of the first things my directing instructor told us was to NEVER EVER use music from requiem for a dream in our projects!

personally, i LOVE experimenting with sound design, so i very rarely use music in my films...unless i'm working with an introspective montage scene.

I have a question about royalty free music websites.

Have any of you ever been to www.sounddogs.com ?

They say all their music is royalty free and let you download samples. Is it legal to just download the samples and use them?

Do you have to provide some sort of proof that a sound is royalty free in the credits of your film?

I don't know if the samples are provided with the same license agreement as the paid downloads are. You'd technically need to consult them and ask, but I'm willing to bet you're not allowed to use the samples.

when you buy royalty free, it doesn't necessarily mean you have a license to use it wherever you want. Often times stock sound companies will sell different licenses depending on how you're using the sound. And when you download the samples from sounddogs, you don't have any license to use them so it is most definitely not legal

Dont worry gordon, even here at NYU, people use non original music for their 30000 dollar shorts and no one really gives a ****. You can get away with that easily in a short.

Of course its better to have a composer, but if the movie is written for a particular piece you like, use it, especially at your age. Again, no one gives a ****

honestly,
this is one of the dumbest questions i have ever seen on this site.

you cannot use music if you do not have rights.

would you want some band taking your final film product and splicing it up for there music video, without you even knowing?

its art.
stealing art sucks.

I have a band that plays a variety of music and instruments. We are able to make all the music for our movies because of this. I have friends who play strings, and using my recording equipment (which is luckily extensive) we were able to put together an impressive soundtrack for an upcoming movie. Horns, strings, guitar bass and drums make for an impressive array of sounds.

Coming from this angle, I think it is fair to accept your limitations as a young person and use what you have without stealing. I feel like taking someone else's music is cheating, like stealing a panavision for your film. You don't own it, so don't use it.

But I'd also like to quote hoeks:

quote:

no one really gives a ****.

Also, when you download a sounddogs clip, which I do quite often, they give you a document all about copyright notfication, which clearly states:

Purchasing sounds from Sounddogs.com includes a license to synchronize the music as many times as you like, and to present and market your multimedia production with no additional cost.

If you are using the sounds in synchronization, you are using sounds from Sounddogs.com legally.

Considering the sounds are really cheap, I think it's worth it. Sound effects like punches are 2-5 dollars for a bunch, and music is like 20 bucks depending on popularity.

Seriosuly, whats the big deal? You have a short film, use copyrighted music. Really no one cares. I talked to one of the heads of tribeca film festival and she told me not to worry about it. The chance that someone from that music company is attending the screening and wants to sue you is minimal. If you go to sundance, cannes, yes. Buy the rights. Everyone else, just feel free to use whatever you want in my opinion. big films comming out of NYU/USC (even student academy award nominees) used copyrighted music cause they were out of money before

no one gave a ****

The Tribeca festival required paperwork documenting your rights for everything, if I remember correctly. Even model releases were required.

I love all the copyright lawyers who have recently joined the forums.

Three facts in relation to using copyrighted material in student films.

1. No one cares.
2. It will limit your films ability to be screened.
3. No one cares.

Lighten up, people are learning and eventually they will develop into using a composer or original music. But this isn't Graduatestudentfilms.com alot of these kids are in highschool and just trying to get on their feet.

The short I have on the site uses a Doors song because one of the characters was Jim Morrison. Here the music played a character and an original score would have fallen short. All the other music is original by a Digital Audio student at my school. I knew because it was a project and had it's built in limitations that it would be a learning experience and that sites like this one allow your work to be viewed soley for creative merit. I feel student films are their own sub-genre and with that label are allowed to use copyrighted music, bad acting and poor lighting .

You have to look a little harder to find worth, and that's the whole damn point.

Since this topic has been resurrected again, I'll reiterate: it doesn't matter if they will sue you or not. Using music without the copyright is evidence of a total lack of creativity. It's especially annoying because most of the "films" that use copyrighted music are really low quality and trying to use someone else's art to raise the level of their own crappy productions. The music needs to be at a roughly equivalent quality to the image - using the score from "Saving Private Ryan" is not going to elevate your war video shot on miniDV in the backyard with a bunch of 11 year-olds. People do notice when a generally low-budget production has an immediately recognizable big-budget score.

Evan hit the nail on the head.

A composer's experience:

Sometimes in film, quite often in TV, and almost always these days in advertising, we're required to emulate temp tracks.
It puts your craft to test, for many reasons:
-Budget: can you make your sample library sound like a 100+ member orchestra that was recorded, mixed, etc. in studios worth 50-100 times your whole house?
-Technical, but related to the above: can you mix your own work? Or: when working on a no budget film, can you get an engineer (and musicians, for that matter) to give away their work for the sake of experience? (sometimes you can)
-Originality: can you keep some sort of balance that makes your employer/client/buddy happy, while you feel you have actually created something?
-Ethics: When you take those jobs, do you ever stop and think how you would feel if, after working you ass off trying to do something creative, original, and sometimes functional, someone just took it? What if, after spending years practicing whatever it is you do to find your personal voice, style, or something that will make your work unique, you heard/saw someone would rather pay an impersonator than even ask you if you're willing to provide the real thing?

Having said that, I still feel when someone in high school (or older, but just starting out) uses or emulates somebody else's work, it's some sort of a tribute. Most of the things we're passionate about start out as games... Can you relate to a kid shooting some baskets while he says "Jordan, for three...!"?

But, I also feel when someone decides to attend film school, that's going beyond the games. It is (or should be) a decision to make a living off (or at least greatly improve) something you're passionate about. While you should still strive to have fun most of the time, you should also be shooting for something else. To evolve as an artist.

In the professional world, you can be rational and realize imitation works well commercially, and then ethically decide whether or not to play that game again. Though the need for food on your table sometimes gets in the way of ethics. Me, I'd rather write music than drive a cab.

And I reserve the right to read this again after it's posted, disagree with myself, and edit the whole thing.

AND, if you're thinking of quoting this in whole or in part in your reply, ask for my permission first! (jk)

E.

quote:

Can you relate to a kid shooting some baskets while he says "Jordan, for three...!"?

I'm pretty sure what we're talking about would be like what happened in Space Jam. Instead of trying to emulate Jordan, they would just outright steal his ability to shoot.

I know people wouldn't say "Williams, for three" as they apply the Star Wars theme to their cheesy imitation. Rather, they say "that sounds good and fits my movie thematically. Because I don't want to waste time trying to come up with something that would work and still be vastly inferior, I'll just use this."

Nobody's paying a tribute when they steal music. They're just illegally using it for their own advantage. I definately wouldn't be paying tribute to Panasonic if I walked out of Best Buy with a flat screen TV without paying, would I?

FB, I was talking about kids, or people who are just starting out.

Still, paying for what you use shouldn't be the point here, since student filmmakers rarely compensate composers who write original music for their films, either.

E.

True. My bad. You're right, I'm wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by Daniel Meiling:
.
.

They say all their music is royalty free and let you download samples. Is it legal to just download the samples and use them?

Do you have to provide some sort of proof that a sound is royalty free in the credits of your film?

These kind of websites (our italian studio one too) sell licences to use, not the samples.

The audio clips are licenced, not sold, to you, to use in your audio equipment and there are many kind of licences to study and see if fit your project.