THE VIDEO GAME

Rip It Up, Issue 178, 1 May 1992, Page 4

THE VIDEO GAME

Local film maker / musician Chris Knox describes it as "a Catch 22

situation — if you're not doing commercial stuff, you're not gonna get screened." So why do local

bands struggle through miniscule budgets and impossible traumas to get their beautiful visages on our TV screens?

Video clips not only let you hear a song, they display the musicians in all their glory, giving the public someone to identify the music with. The recognition factor is important; so is a clip's undeniably powerful ability to shift units (sell records). Exponent Brian Jones recited a

their wonderful rock 'n' roll hairobics on TV.

Video clips offer our young kids identifiable heroes that are

accessible. They can go and meet them at their local record store, not just some distant glossy pin-up in a foreign magazine. At retail level, clips have a massive impact on sales. If a video gets screened two or

charming story between shots for the next Exponents clip. The band were playing Hamilton and outside their hotel, a young girl came i x running up excitedly to lead singer Jordan Luck—she didn't recognise him, but she knew she'd seen his shirt and hat somewhere! Another

three times over a weekend on the various chart-based shows, come Monday there'll be hordes of kids charging down to their local music store asking for the video; they

won't even know the name of the song, they just saw this great video.

example is, of course, Push Push and

Music video clips have become the major factor in the success or failure of a record for both local and foreign product, here and overseas. For local bands, getting your video on television has become somewhat easier thanks to the support of New Zealand on Air, provided your record is sufficiently 'commercial' —that is, fits into the restrictive formats of the music shows.

The song subsequently goes racing up the charts.

When planning a video, a deciding factor for a local band and their record company is whether the clip will have sufficient screening possibilities in the current climate. Wellington band Shihad released their debut EP Devolve last year on Pagan. It peaked in the charts at Number 16. The band and Pagan's Trevor Reekie decided against making a clip; unfortunately there weren't enough screening options to justify the effort or expense. One wonders how much higher the record might've climbed in the charts

if there had been a video to support . it and a show to screen it. TS/C Overseas exposure is another reason for making a clip. For musicians like Chris Knox, the current climate here presents few possibilities of getting Tall Dwarfs clips screened, but he can get •i ’ regular coverage from shows in Australia and cable stations in the States. Stuart Page's clips for Snapper's 'Buddy' made in 1986, is still screened quite regularly on , Australian TV, even though it's long i since disappeared from our screens, I A video dip can also help get a bands' record released overseas. It can be the triggering factor in pushing a record company into geting behind an artist: they have the record, the press kit, the photos, but the video is often the key, the thing that brings the band to life. So how do you make a clip? A band with a recording due for release hunt out a willing young film maker, who then runs around madly pulling numerous favours to get the clip shot and edited. Many of the film makers I spoke to work in the film industry on TV commercials and have many contacts available to them for getting equipment and < • crews at special deals. Film crew . people will often happily work on a funky little clip for pleasure rather than money, which usually isn't a lot. The support provided by the film industry here is phenomenal. Crews give of themselves amazingly and you end up with clips that could've easily cost $20,000, but were funded to $5,000. By comparison, dips in Australia cost S2O-30,000 and in America they start at SSO-100,000.

The struggle involved in making videos here has been given a tremendous boost in the last year with the input of NZ On Air, which has set up a music fund drawing on the Broadcasting Fee (have you paid yours?). They have set aside $300,000 to fund shows promoting New Zealand music on radio such as Crash Hot, the New Zealand Music News and Counting the Beat and $250,000 for funding local music

videos. To date, they have funded 33 clips at $5,000 each.

Both film makers and record companies are thrilled at this shot in the arm for the local music industry when there was absolutely nothing like this in place last year. NZ On Air clips are incredibly cheap TV: a four-minute clip that costs $5,000 and gets screened six or seven times (a total of 28 minutes of screen time) compared with $150,000 for a NZ On Air-funded half hour

documentary is great value for money. Previously, only TVNZ has had any input into clip making,, through providing film and transfers in the good old Radio With Pictures and days. Now that TV is a State ‘ Owned Enterprise, such generosity is, of course, ancient history. There is a vast gap between the standard charges in the film industry (for example, SBOO-1,000 per hour for a video tape edit suite) and what the music industry here can afford. The film industry's rates are aimed mainly at TV commercials and movie productions, which have the budgets for such prices and they're incredibly supportive of the music scene, often helping out with cheap deals on production facilities.

Freak Power's Paul ESnake in

Maugeris This Beasf video.

The NZ On Air grants are

required to be met dollar-for-dollar by the record company. In the case of the local independent companies like Pagan or Southside, such a

financial commitment is impossible: that figure is the same price as an album in some cases. Perhaps NZ On Air would be better off tailoring grants individually to what the record company can afford and make fewer grants at, say, SIO,OOO

rather than $5,000. The contradictions of NZ On Air ; funding is that its stated aim is getting more New Zealand music on screen, whereas the bands, record . . companies and retailers see the clips as a slightly different form of exposure, a publicity tool to generate a profile and sales. Brendan Smyth from NZ On Air says that he was aware that clips were - used by record companies for promotional purposes, but "that's not our concern. We're interested in getting more New Zealand music in the public view, on TV and radio." A music video is first and foremost a commercial property, not a culturally worthy document. Film maker Niki Caro (see Profile) suggests that maybe in the case of film production companies like Zee Films, which invest huge amounts of ‘ time into making clips (time is money, remember) should be provided with a contractual agreement with the record company so that In the event of the record becoming a big hit, . they can recoup some of their investment in the artist. Before NZ On Air started its funding, clips were made locally for $2,500-$3,500. Now, it's impossible to get one made for less than . - $5,000. It's almost a disincentive to do it yourself and given some of the great rarely seen or unscreened clips out there, one wonders if TV sees NZ On Air backing for a clip as making it more politically worthy of their highly valuable national screen time than a self-funded clip? > Where do the clips end up? - Screening opportunities for New Zealand bands are at an all time low. TVNZ averages only 3.5 per cent local content in its music shows, . a figure which has sadly remained unaffected in the last year by NZ On Air's generous funding of clips. TV3 - doesn't release data of what it plays on its music shows, perhaps to deflect closer scrutiny of its local' content, or maybe to avoid record companies keeping tabs on whose clips get played. . ' There are nine hours and 10 y minutes of music videos on TV every ►

► week, three and a half hours on TVNZ and five hours and 40 minutes on TV3. Left-of-field videos get about 10 to 15 minutes per week, all on TV3 shows such as Yahoo and Nightline, which actively support local musicians. ; So who decides what does or doesn't get seen? The TVNZ shows are programmed by Dale Wrightson, Robert Rakete and Katie Wrightson, who work for Great Pacific Entertainment, whose • associated company Calypso handles advertising for Sony Music (formerly CBS Records). TV3's TVFM Hits shows are programmed by Jeremy Miller who works as radio programmer for 91FM and .. numerous similar stations nationwide. TV3's TVFM Rocks is co-programmed by the programme . director at Radio Hauraki (which also simulcasts the show); the rumours of TVFM Rocks being an alternative risk-taking show went out the window with the Hauraki link—the station is rarely going to play a clip that's not already on its playlist. TV's use of rotate format programming . (playing clips numerous times until another artist in a particular category, for example a 'female dance artist', releases a new clip) is one of the most disturbing trends in music TV in this country. Unabashed conservatism is now seen as the dominant factor in programming the music shows. At evey level of the music industry there is a strong demand being expressed for a left-of-field music show—from the retailers, the ;- record companies (both the majors and the independents), the video makers and of course from the bands themselves. The frustration within the music industry is perhaps best illustrated by bands who've invested huge amounts of time, energy and money into making clips and find that they're unable to get them screened, such as local grungeniks Freak Power. The term left-of-field covers not only so-called 'alternative' material, but heavy ? 7 metal, reggae, blues, hardcore rap, roots music and so on. Robert Rakete, host and

co-producer of TVNZ's pop shows agrees that there is a demand that isn't being met by TV, but says that TVNZ is tied (read bound, gagged and blinkered) to the ratings and as long as the existing shows continue to rate well, nothing's going to change. He says the ratings are being compiled from 1,000 people in a suburb and are broken down into 15-minute blocks. This means Rakete and co can literally pinpoint when their viewers change channel and what clip made them switch over. Bill Davidson, director of TV3's music shows, feels that the line between alternative and

mainstream is becoming harder to define; he prefers to slip in local stuff between the overseas clips rather than force feeding the viewers local music.

TV's failure to meet the demands of the music industry is only going to change when the people in positions of power are displaced. Thankfully, nobody lasts forever in TV. As Robert Rakete says, TVNZ even conducts research on him and when his

ratings drop he's down the road. The existing lack of support for our own music and our own musicians shouldn't last forever. Remember, in TV a week is a very long time. PETER MCLENNAN Thanks to interviewees — Brendan Smyth (NZ On Air), Rick Jellyman (Polygram), Trevor Reekie (Pagan), Brian Jones (Exponents), Grant Fell (Headless Chickens), Miles Gillett (Truetone Newmarket), Jill (Truetone North Shore), Robert Rakete, Katy Wrightson (RTR Hits / TVNZ), Bill Davidson (TVFM/TV3), Chris Knox, Kerry Brown, Stuart Page, Niki Caro, Matt Palmer, Chris Mauger, Bruce Sheridan.

VIDEO MAKER PROFILES . NAME: MATT PALMER CLIPS: MC OJ and Rhythm Slave's 'Positivity* and 'Money Worries' (the latter funded by NZ On Air), Charlotte Sometimes' 'Red Letter,. BACKGROUND: Worked in film indutry in Wellington for the last seven years, as everything from clapper loader to art director. Currently finishing degree at Elam School of Fine Arts, majoring in film.

NAME: NIKI CARO CLIPS: Straitjacket Fits' 'Bad Note For A Heart', 'Hinewehi Mohi's 'Kia U', Parker Project's 'Looking For The Real Thing' (co-director with Peter Cathro), Merenia's 'When You Leave' (all except SJF were funded by NZ On Air). BACKGROUND: Elam School of Fine Arts majoring in film and video, followed by Swinburne Film School in Melbourne. NAME: CHRIS KNOX CLIPS: "I counted it up recently. I've done 20. There's five Tall Dwarfs clips (I've just got a $5,000 grant from NZ On Air to do four new TD clips for the Fork Songs album). Verlaine's Windsong', the Clean Tally Ho', Children's Hour'Caroline's Dream', couple of solo ones." BACKGROUND: "None really. Just always mucked around with film. Haven't got any better at it." Knox is planning on releasing a video retrospective of Tall Dwarfs' clips in the near future. NAME: KERRY BROWN CLIPS: "Two for Everything That Flies, Dave Dobbyn, When The Cat's Away, Shona Laing, live clip for Crowded House. I stopped for a while and did TV commercials as the industry just died here. It picked up again last year. I did the latest Exponents clips (their next clip 'Sink Like A Stone' is NZ On Air funded). Moana and the

Moahunters' 'AEIOU' and JPS

Experience 'Precious' (both NZ On Air funded). I'm starting to get back into it." Recently completed 'Four Seasons in One Day'for Crowded House. BACKGROUND: Always worked with bands, as a photographer for Rip It Up etc." Brown works with Bruce Sheridan as Stratford Productions. Sheridan has done clips recently for These Wilding Ways and with Rachael Churchward, two Headless Chickens' 'Cruise Control' (with and 'Donde Esta La Polio?' (NZ On Air funded). NAME: CHRIS MAUGER, aka the Mauger Brothers (Chris directs the clips, bro Tim edits, Andrew produces). CLIPS:,Three for Push Push (their latest clip 'What My Baby Likes' was funded by NZ On Air), two for Ngaire, Freak Power's This Beast*. These Wilding Ways' 'Can't Control Her 7 , Nicole Matsuda 'Bluebeaf. BACKGROUND: Worked on film crews, a stills photographer for the last five years. NAME: STUART PAGE CLIPS: Several Axemen clips, including 'Wharf With No Name', Sticky Filth's Weep Woman Weep', Snapper's 'Buddy'. Headless Chickens' 'Donka' (co-directed with Grant Fell), Upper Hutt Posse's 'Do It Like This'

(co-directed with Rongotai Lomas), Skeptic's 'Affco', SPUD's 'Breakdown Town', David Kilgour's You Forgef (NZ

On Air funded). BACKGROUND: "I was in a band (the Axemen, Stu still hits the skins for 'em) and we needed a clip. So I hired a 16mm camera for a day and just went out and did it." Studied at Ham Art School, Christchurch, worked on his own clips and helped on others such as Parker Project, Merenia. Page is working on a video compilation of local alternative bands, available in good record stores soon.

NAME: RICHARD GIBSON CLIPS: Trasch's 'Half Man Crazy' winner of the Flying Fish Video Award 1990. Trasch's 'Reason Rhyme' (NZ On Air Funded).

NAME: ALASTAIR CROMBIE CLIPS: D-Faction's 'Stuck In The Middle', Houseparty's 'Dangerous Love', James Gaylyn's 'Body Fine' (NZ On Air funded).

NAME: PAUL MIDDLEDITCH CLIPS: Rikki Morris' 'Nobody Else', 'Come Back Louise', Tex Pistol's 'Game of Love', Chicago Smokeshop's 'So Glad', Fan Club.

NAME: GRANT FELL CLIPS: Headless Chickens' The Slice', 'Donka' (with Stuart Page), 'Gaskrankenstation', Cake Kitchen's 'Dave the Pimp'.