The Stagg Do
  • Hyem
    • What's It Aboot Like?
  • STORE
  • What's Gannin On?
  • Reviews
  • TEAM TSD
    • Kickstarter Friends
    • Cast and Crew
  • Contact
    • MAIL LIST

The Soundtrack

28/8/2014

0 Comments

 
CD artwork for the stagg do soundtrack
To commemorate The Stagg Do soundtrack going on (pre) sale - the director of the film - James DeMarco - has written this blog.

During the production of our first short film, Making Tea For The Mob, way back in 2002, I was intent on using Bobby Darin’s classic song, “Beyond The Sea” for the opening credits. As low-budget, indie filmmakers, we have all been warned about the perils of including popular songs in our films, and even a few seconds of a pop song classic such as ‘Beyond The Sea’ which has appeared in TV ads and Hollywood productions such as  ‘Goldmember’ and ‘Finding Nemo’, could command top-dollar - a definite no-no for any low-budget production. 

But I loved the song.  It fit perfectly with what I was trying to do thematically. And it was my first short film. In other words, committed the egregious error of having my heart set on a popular song. Undaunted and naive, I pressured producer Zahra to find out just how much it would cost to use the song in the opening credits.  Part of the problem with using well-known recordings is that not only do you have to obtain clearance the rights of the performance, e.g. Bobby Darin’s version -  you also have to pay for the publishing license from whoever owns the copyright -  in this case some French bloke called Charles Trenet (his version of the song, ‘La Mer’ was a hit in France in the 40s long before Bobby Darin’s version). 

Warner Brothers Music label held the master usage rights for Darin’s performance, and after writing a letter to them explaining our financial situation and plans for the film, they surprisingly granted us a one-year license to use ‘Beyond The Sea’ in festivals for no charge. The synchronization license wasn’t so easy. The songwriter's estate wanted to be paid.  In the end it cost us about £200 for the festival rights for one year. Still not bad. But what about the following year? 

In retrospect it’s rather silly (and cost prohibitive) to fall in love with popular music for your indie film soundtrack, but this can easily happen when you choose temporary music with which to initially edit your film. 

In the case of The Stagg Do, editor David Garbutt and I agreed upon an eclectic array of songs from well-known groups such as The Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, The Kinks, The Stone Roses and a song by a guy whom we later learned wanted to charge us $30,000. 

By the time we had completed our first rough edit of the film, David, Zee and I were all happy with the soundtrack - the soundtrack that we could never hope to afford.  But then something amazing happened. Forced to seek out cost effective alternatives, Zahra discovered a wealth of fantastic, affordable music from unsigned/ unknown local bands and musicians, most of which were in the North East. 

Using Soundcloud, Youtube and ReverbNation, she managed to locate replacements for our original songs from local, unsigned bands, and working with the artists directly, she was able to secure the rights to their songs for a percentage of profits on the movie soundtrack release. So now we have an exciting mix of genres, styles and performances that enhance the film more than any of the well-know tracks ever could.

I would even go as far as saying that I prefer the new songs more than the originals. We are very proud of the soundtrack which will be available online from 1 September 2014 and on CD before Christams. 

Here is a listing of our TSD Soundtrack and the songs they replaced. 

Milk It -- The Palpitations

North & South -- Rick Fury

That 70s Joint -- Configa (feat Slept on Fam)

Drinks Please -- The Click

Destination -- Cypher 7

Dressed Like Lions -- So What Robot

Doctor -- Marriott Lane

A Girl Who Reads - So What Robot

Jam -- Marriott Lane

Key To My Heart -- The Click

Pedal To The Metal -- Configa (feat Slept on Fam)

Destination -- Cypher 7

Sam’s Breakdown -- The Kentucky Cow Tippers

Weight Of An Angel -- Dylan Barnes

Open Your Heart -- Bella Echoes

Cabin Fever -- Mrs Q

Tears In The Rain -- The Palpitations


Thick of it -- Marriott Lane

Just Like The Rain -- Denature

Hotel -- Marriott Lane

Lovely Boy -- The Poor Relations

Mickey’s Bar -- The Poor Relations

I Want Candy -- Bow Wow Wow

Dogs Of Lust -- The The

Bombin The L -- Fun Lovin' Criminals

Ass N Titties -- DJ Assault

Where's My Sex? -- Weezer

One Way Out -- The Allman Brothers

Driving South -- The Stone Roses

N/A

Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan

Low Rider -- War

Back In Black -- AC/DC

Firestarter -- The Prodigy

Run - Velvet Underground

Fancy - The Kinks

Love At The Harbour -- The Bees

N/A

Heroin -- Velvet Underground & 
Je T'Aime -- Serge Gainsbourg

N/A

N/A

Bombin The L (remix) -- Fun Lovin' Criminals

Je T’Aime (reprise) -- Serge Gainsbourg



0 Comments

    Author

    Will try our best to keep this busy during the shoot and post-production.

    Archives

    July 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

    Categories

    All
    Ad
    Ad Actor
    ADR
    Animation
    Aris
    Ashleigh
    Ashleigh Hutchinson
    Ashley
    Assemble
    Audi
    A Year Without Rent
    Aywr
    Badger
    BBFC
    Beatles
    Ben
    Bensham
    Big Jimmy
    Bill Belichick
    Bill Fellows
    Bill Murray
    Bob Dyaln
    Boom
    Broken
    B-roll
    Camp Fire
    Cast
    CAST Theatre
    Catering
    Cerebral Palsy
    Clip
    Clooney
    Cluny
    Competition
    Composite
    Couchsurfing
    Crossbow
    Dalek
    Dave
    David Warner
    Deep
    Derivative
    Director
    Doncaster
    Dop
    Dougie
    Dryden
    DVD
    Dylan
    Edit
    Editor
    Elliott
    Experimental
    Fantomeline
    Film Courage
    Filmmaker Magazine
    Film Threat
    Finger
    Flashback
    Fna4life
    Fubar
    Fuck
    Garbuttelli
    Grade
    Greenscreen
    Green Screen
    Hangover
    In The Loop
    James
    James Demarco
    Jen
    Jennifer
    Jerry
    John
    Judge
    Just Do It
    Kickstarter
    KITT
    Lee Ridley
    Lost Voice Guy
    Lswf
    Lucas
    Lucas Mcnelly
    Making Tea For The Mob
    Malcolm Tucker
    Marty Lang
    Music
    Nic Pringle
    NUFC
    O2 Academy
    Paul
    Picture Canning North
    Pinball Films
    Pissheads
    Pob
    Positive
    PR
    Rabbit
    Recordist
    Red Sox
    Reels
    Reshoot
    Richard Reay
    Rich McCoull
    Richy Reay
    Robert Mckee
    Rollercoaster
    Sarah Tennick
    Schedule
    Screen Con
    Seal
    Seo
    Shoot
    Simon
    Simon Herdman
    Skype
    Sound
    Sound Edit
    Sound Mix
    Staggy
    Steve Hedley
    Steve Wraith
    Supermac
    Swear
    Sydney
    Sydney Sound Brewery
    TARDIS
    Temp Score
    Tent
    Terry Francona
    Test
    Thank You
    The Big Lebowski
    Therase
    The Stag
    The Stone Roses
    Tina Frank
    Tito
    Torin
    Trailer
    Transport
    Victoria Westcott
    Walker
    Whitley Bay Film Festival
    World Premiere
    Writer
    Writing
    Xander
    Zahra Zomorrodian

    RSS Feed

FNA Films | Gateshead | North East England | UK
  • Hyem
    • What's It Aboot Like?
  • STORE
  • What's Gannin On?
  • Reviews
  • TEAM TSD
    • Kickstarter Friends
    • Cast and Crew
  • Contact
    • MAIL LIST