How To Talk To a Composer.

AFX Industrial (film scores)

'According to research 50% of the directors and producers out there admitted to finding the whole subject of film scoring rather tedious.'






I don't think they find music tedious, I think it's simply because music isn't an immediate, visual medium like film.  Conversely, all the directors I've spoken to agree that a score (and the way a film sounds) contributes to 50% of a film's success.  I feel some sort of paradox has just occurred, although to simplify lets just put it down to a lack of communication between the directors and composers.  He he.

Why is music a difficult subject to discuss?

I think music, especially orchestral or classical music is perceived as something much more high brow than it really is - but, like Spanish or Dutch, music is simply a language.  Are people who speak these languages high brow?  Of course they're not they just learned their language through study and that's exactly how you learn music.  It's a subject available for anyone to learn at any time in their life, that doesn't strike me as particularly high brow.

So, what is the mysticism surrounding music?  At what point does music become this 'anima' this self perpetuating entity that has a life of its own?  Consider this, are you (subconsciously) more in awe of Lady Ga Ga the Black Eyed Peas or Tchaikovsky?  It's usually Tchaikovsky for most, but why?  Well I'm not going to answer that question in this blog, no because today we are simply looking at how to talk to a composer.

Let's talk Music.

There you are in the composer's comfy studio and its time to talk music which, it seems for quite a lot of film makers is a bit like going to the dentist.

And this is how we discuss it ...

We talk about color, we talk about the point the music enters to the frame - because unlike real life your film can be broken down into 24 or 29fps, however in real life there are no simple subdivisions.  Scoring can be so precise that you could have a musical event on every frame if you wished, surely that quantifies the misconception that music is somehow 'random' and 'haphazard'.  It isn't.

We decide where the silence should be and why.  We discuss the overarching storyline.  We talk about the emotion of the scene and the underlying narrative and back story for each character.  We discuss favorite instruments from bongos to bassoons.  We look at suitable pieces to use to emulate music coming from a car radio or a CD player in a diner (known as source music).  We ponder on whether the film is 'big' enough to warrant a large orchestra - or would a more intimate ensemble do?

We discuss every scene in your film and decide when the music enters, what it does and when it leaves - just like an actor.  In fact it's very much like writing a part for a character in your film.  How exciting is that?  To have a brand new character in your film that you didn't even know was going to be in it?  But all this time have we really been discussing music?  Have I mentioned one overt musical utterance?  Well, no because discussing the very mechanics of music itself would only slow the process down.  A bit like me suddenly deciding to spend the rest of the spotting session talking in Dutch.

The Secret to a Great Score.

From a director's point of view the secret to a great score is to care about all of the above, it really is that simple - and as you can see no real knowledge of music is necessary.

The Secret to a Terrible Score.

According to almost every director's response, the way a film sounds and how well the music compliments the imagery contributes to the success of the film by a staggering 50%.  So, by ignoring this you are effectively giving your film 50% less chance of being distributed, sold or even liked ... There are a lot of films out there all vying for the same distribution deals as yours.  In fact there is so much competition to get into festivals and to get onto VOD platforms like Netfilx/Mubi/LoveFilm etc.  You really have to have a great product or it will fail.

I think today there is a tendency to shy away from the importance of great music in a film.  I can only put it down to there being a bit of a phobia about music in general ... Maybe, in the last couple of decades music has not been taught in schools adequately enough - I do know the education system's emphasis has been on science rather than art lately.  Could it be time to tip that balance in favor of the arts again?

'Imagine if you had no knowledge of the color BLUE what impact would that have on your film making?'   

 

 

Music is also one of those arts that is only appreciated to the extent of our own knowledge of it - and sadly an average person's encounter with orchestral or classical music only really takes place when they visit a movie theater.  Would those millions of people have felt the same way about a rubbery ET without John Williams' score?  Of course not.

To put this lack of musical knowledge into perspective just imagine for a moment that you had no knowledge of the color BLUE what impact would that have on your film making?  Similarly without an in depth knowledge of music how could you ever know what musical or orchestral colors were available to you?  You couldn't, but this is what a trained composer brings to your film, a set of sonic colors that you had no idea were available.

Music Only Affects Us in Real Time.

There is also another frustrating aspect of music that faces directors - it has to play back in real time to have the desired effect.  With a Quick Time video you could easily flick through and get the gist of what you see but a 12 minute Mahler movement only really makes sense in the final moments.  You can't just flick to the end of the Mahler and 'get it', no, unfortunately the whole 12 minutes has to be listened to in it's entirety ...

And that is kind of how music works it's cumulative.  The affect only really becomes apparent after a certain amount of time has elapsed ... Think of Ravel's Bolero.

There are certain techniques a composer can use to thrill and move an audience but these techniques can take a good 90 minutes to achieve, which is why better composers tend to chase feature films.  They know they simply cannot achieve these desirable musical effects within a short film.  Trying to prove you are a good composer over the course of a 3 minute film is impossible, this is also true for pitching (scoring a disconnected scene) to show your skills.  Some composers may feel relief that they don't have to focus on one thing for too long, but for a professional composer pitching is a stifling and uncomfortable procedure.

The Personal Aspect of Music - Letting Go.

Undoubtedly music is a very personal thing, I understand how directors feel about this.  In fact to some it's so personal that they want to create the music for their film with their own hands.  I can see the frustration.  I sympathize, I really do.  I often wish I could perform dentistry on myself, but no matter how personal my mouth is to me in the end I have to offer it up to a stranger in the dentist's chair.  And in a similar way you need to give up your film to a trained composer if they are to extract the odd musical tooth and perform fillings.  Letting go of a project that has been dear to your heart for so many years is hard but it's increasingly impossible to wear every hat, especially if you want a finely tuned, salable film at the end of it.

Patience is a Virtue.

Of course it is and if you are a film maker then you'll know that only too well.  But patience isn't just about waiting for things to happen, patience is also about seeing an idea through from start to finish.  Throwing a few pieces of music at your film in the last month of post-production is not exercising patience ... Back in the day composers would score scenes as they were shot, working hand in hand with the director's vision - patience.

Film, like any great art form is all about those wonderful lines and curves and arches, if everybody was in it for the long haul then that will show in the end result.  Film scoring and film making cannot be rushed they need to be practiced with the same people on board over a period of months even years.  More than anything great art needs to communicate with the audience it seeks and that will only happen if its creators have communicated unequivocally during the creative process.


- David.

iTunes

 Click images to Buy David's music from your favorite store!

Amazon

Your comments are always welcome.

Visit my website here: http://dchewitt.com