Writing Film Soundtracks

j$ · Post by j$ » Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:20 am

Well, bizarrely and out of the blue, it looks like I will be doing not one, not two, but three soundtracks for montage-style short promotional films over the summer. woo, and indeed hoo.

Apart from the opportunity to endlessly boast about it a la Rivendale, I am wondering if anyone who has worked on a similiar project has any general dos and don'ts for this kind of music - we're looking at 10 minutes-ish, ebb & flow style instrumentals, so it's not really my usual territory.

Since I haven't seen the films yet, specific points are off the agenda, but if people had some general suggestions, or lessons from their own experience, I would be glad to hear them.

Or not. Ugh.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 4:14 am

Think ... whitespace. Don't cram it full of sound. Score accents and appropriate accompaniment that helps move the film and doesn't overwhelm it. In the best films you often don't really notice the music unless it breaks into song, etc..

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:44 am

Disney movies always seem to use jaunty, whimical little tunes by Randy Newman that make me want to vomit.

I hope that helps.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 7:30 am

I suppose you're also looking for how to sync the score to the film...? Is this a digital movie? Are you getting frame-accurate QuickTime/WindowsMedia to work with? I'd be interested in hearing how this all comes together.

Smalltown Mike · Post by **Smalltown Mike** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:19 am

I did music for a short film once (for not so much as a case beer, which I thought was standard payment when you don't intend to "pay" somone. It is in Canada, anyway.)

When the guy (who I didn't know) dropped the DVD of his film off, I quickly learned it was the worst piece-of-sci-fi-shit I'd ever seen. That, combined with the fact I was bitter about making no actual cash on the deal, made me decide to make the worst electronic-digital-beat soundscape I could, because it somehow made it all better. And he loved it, and asked me to do another film, which I politely declined.

What can be learned from this? Likely little. Except maybe that the effort you put in should match the amount you get paid, or something.

deshead · Post by **deshead** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:22 pm

Smalltown Mike wrote:Except maybe that the effort you put in should match the amount you get paid

Heh, so that explains Songfight.

J$, did the filmmaker ask for you specifically, or just because you're a musician he or she happens to know? If it's the former, you might want to think about making the music sound cashpoint-esque, even if it's not your usual territory.

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:29 pm

Use lots of duck sounds. Mostly normal quacks, but also angry quacks if it gets intense.

Smalltown Mike · Post by **Smalltown Mike** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 7:02 pm

fodroy wrote:Use lots of duck sounds. Mostly normal quacks, but also angry quacks if it gets intense.

Now that made me laugh right aloud. Funny, yet the advice is also sound.

Sober · Post by **Sober** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 1:15 am

Not being able to see even part of the material is weird, even unfair. That'd be like "do a songfighter theme song." "for who?" "i'm not telling"

Less is more, definitely. Film scores also generally have a ridiculously huge dynamic range, even pre-mixing with the film audio.

As for your mix, it sort of depends on how good their equipment is. Better cameras have better built-in microphones, assuming that's what they're using. If they are, better camera mics generally have better high-end response and clarity to them, while poorer ones tend to have mid boosts. So in theory, if you feel confident that they have good equipment, give them a full mix like you normally would. If you think they may have average equipment, cut your mids. Wait, you said a montage? So likely no voice acting? Nevermind.

Cool stuff, let us know how it turns out.

JonPorobil · Post by **JonPorobil** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 8:32 am

The Sober Irishman wrote:Not being able to see even part of the material is weird, even unfair. That'd be like "do a songfighter theme song." "for who?" "i'm not telling"

As I understand it, especially on the amateur level, the score composer doesn't usually get to the the whole film. What, do you think you're going to be the one to decide the exact timecode on the film when that dramatic minor dimished seventh you chose comes up? A script is usually in order, and whatever finished clips the director has on hand, but it's reasonable to expect that the director will be working on the film concurrently with your work on the soundtrack.

I've been on both sides of the gun, however. It can be just as frustrating for a musician to compose based on written lines and minimal mood notes from the director, but it's also very stressful having to finish your film weeks ahead of schedule because your composer demands to see a finished product before even starting on the score (and, in the case of the film I was supposed to be doing sound editing for, taking an additional three weeks to get three crappy songs in that all had lyrics that had nothing to do with the film anyway... how am I supposed to edit that?!).

My advice on scoring, however, would be to supply, depending on the amount of music they want, at least one part up-front melody/emotional mood piece for each part background music you supply. Often directors feel they've failed to capture the proper mood, and so use dynamic and emotional music to speak when it would be lame or unrealistic to have a character do the same. Or if the footage just got lost somewhere along the way. Either way, music plays both roles in films, and a composer would do well to work accordingly.