January 25, 2006

Adding Art Commentary to Videos

Joe at Butts In The Seats has a good post about how artists can use the second audio track (the commentary track) on DVDs to educate viewers about the arts. This is an exploration of a similar idea I wrote about in "Double Your Dance Audiences" earlier this month.

Essentially, the idea is to create dual audio tracks for video programs whether they are distributed in DVD format or online. One track includes the music and the other track includes the commentary.

Joe writes:

A dancer may comment on how their heart soars at a particular place in a ballet even after performing it 50 times or how a piece looks deceptively simple but actually involved hours of practice.

And continues:

If the commentary was designed well, pointing out what people should look for, explaining the process and providing points of reference to which people can relate...it could become a powerful educational and intimidation allaying tool.

I agree. There are many ways that audio commentary can add significant value to all types of arts programs delivered by video.

But making the audio insights of artists available to the public does not have to be an expensive proposition as Joe writes:

It would be an expensive undertaking to pull the video production resources together to produce a DVD. However, I think foundations that support audience building and arts education efforts would probably be happy to underwrite the creation of a tool that could be easily duplicated and distributed to serve large numbers of people.

The least expensive way to proceed is to start by making these types of educational programs available online. It doesn't cost a lot to record an artist and make this audio program available before or after a performance. Or, you can record the voice of an artist and substitute this commentary track for the musical audio track that is part of a video. That way, a visitor to your website or podcast on iTunes could download both videos and enjoy the performance and the commentary.

There are, for example, an increasing number of audio tours available for art shows at different museums. Once you've installed iTunes, go to podcast section and do a search for "museums."

And as part of my audio podcasts, I'm going to soon be interviewing choreographers and dancers specifically about their upcoming performances. That way people who are planning to attend a performance can gain a much better appreciation for a dance work before they reach the theater and will have new tools for thinking about and enjoying the program as it unfolds.

Trackback Pings

Comments

Post a comment