Why am I a Composer?: Score or iPod on Shuffle?

Does your film's score play like a schizophrenic iPod on shuffle? You may have just fallen into another fatal film scoring trap, read on.

So, your film looks great, its beautifully shot on five RED Epic cameras. With various lenses, long shots and close ups - you considered everything, everything that is except the score. According to research 50% of the film directors questioned admitted to finding the music side of film making a little boring ... How could they find the concept of a V7-I chord progression via a secondary dominant (II7) boring ... I'm joking of course. But like the concept of color which can be broken down into simple words such as 'red', 'green' and 'blue', music can also be broken down into 'words', except it's a numerical language.

The iPod on Shuffle Score.

The 'iPod on shuffle' school of film scoring consists of a selection of musically unrelated sound bites jammed back to back, as they attempt to relate directly to what is being seen on screen. Its kinda like having an annoying older relative in the room who insists on explaining what it is you are seeing ... If Paris appears on the screen, then your much loved older relative is compelled to say: "That's in France you know!". You get the idea. Another even more troubling trend is when a film is scored using choices from the limited and dated record collections of its creators.

Subtlety is always the key, or you end up having conversations like this:

"Oh, I'm all for out there suggestions and Fleetwood Mac were, of course, a great band in their time ... But, this film we're making, it's about the trials and tribulations of Jesus Christ and his legacy and influence on the Third Reich during 1942." ;0)

The worst culprits for this sort of thing are documentaries, here is one possible scenario:

Shot 1. - 16 seconds long - intro titles (Music cue: Piano, stuff like Coldplay)
Shot 2. - 4 seconds long set in the Middle East (Music cue: Random wind instrument)
Shot 3. -13 seconds long set in a Nightclub (Music cue: My fave Dance Tune from the 90s)
Shot 4. - 3 seconds long set in a lovely house (Music cue: I dunno, Strings?)
Shot 5. - 0.5 seconds long set at terrorist HQ (Music cue: that Gladiator Music)
Shot 6. - 8 seconds long set in prison (Music cue: Serious Shit)
Shot 7. -11 seconds long transition shot (Music cue: Coldplay Clocks)
Shot 8. - 9 seconds long set in France (Music cue: Dunno ... Accordion.)
Shot 9. - 4 seconds long set in Algeria (Music cue: Fuck knows, just something with Bongos)
Shot 10 - 6 seconds long set in USA (Music cue: A Banjo)
Shot 11 - 8 seconds long set in the Philippines (Music cue: That instrument that goes 'Ping')
Shot 12 - 12 seconds long set in the Congo (Music cue: Fuck knows! Coldplay again)
Shot 13 - 11 seconds long set in a Military installation (Music cue: Snare drum)
Shot 14 - 5 seconds long set in Ireland (Music cue: Titanic theme)
Shot 15 - 1.5 seconds long set in an Aircraft (Music cue: Top Gun theme)
Shot 16 - 9 seconds long set in Uganda (Music cue: Coldplay Clocks)
Shot 17 - 11 seconds long set in a Military installation (Music cue: Coldplay?)
Shot 18 - 6 seconds long set in Istanbul (Music cue: Coldplay Clocks)
Shot 19 - 21 seconds long set in Eritrea (Music cue: Fuck it - Something with an 'E')
Shot 20 - 4 seconds long set in a Rock Club (Music cue: AC/DC)
Shot 21 - 3 seconds long set in 1780 (Music cue: Classical shit)
Shot 22 - 7 seconds long set in 2082 (Music cue: Coldplay Clocks)
Shot 23 - 11 seconds long set on a bus (Music cue: 60s Music)
Shot 24 - 18 seconds long set in a Nuclear Reactor (Music cue: Fuck it! Coldplay)
Shot 25 - 5 seconds long set in a Military installation (Music cue: Coldplay Clocks)
Shot 26 - 29 seconds long interview with Coldplay (Music cue: Can we use Coldplay??)
Shot 27 - 32 seconds long end credits (Music cue: Coldplay?, Classical Shit, Snare Drum, Top Gun, AC/DC, 60s Music, Titanic Theme, Serious Shit and Gladiator. )

This is the musical version of tourette's syndrome and a sure way to fry your audiences brains! Are you really telling the story this way? The next step on from this would be to have a voice over that just shouts out what it sees on the screen ... Imagine that, it just says exactly what it sees, like: "HAMMER" and "INDIA" and "BUS" and "MILITARY".

I am very interested to hear your thoughts. As film makers do you like this style of scoring or is it driving you nuts? And audiences too, are you entertained by all of these random pieces of music? Or do they drive you crazy during a film?

-David.