Music for Film and Television
The first and most important thing you need to realize as a film composer is that your music is there to support the image. Your own ego must be put aside, and you must agree to support the vision of the film as described by the director or producer. This holds true whether you are writing music for the next Spielberg spectacular or for a local business’s first television commercial. Most likely, your input will be valued, but you are not the boss.
Film music must heighten or convey the emotion that the audience needs to feel during a section of the film. In many cases, it creates the emotion entirely. Just imagine the following scene from a movie:
It’s a bright summer day at the beach. Kids frolic in the calm sea with water wings and rafts, kicking and splashing and having a great day! There are underwater shots of the kids swimming above, and it all looks quite pleasant. No music can be heard. Just the sound of laughter.
Now imagine the same piece of film with a certain well known soundtrack¬ - an ominous two note half step motif from the bass section of the orchestra. Suddenly, the pleasant summer scene becomes menacing and frightening. You know something bad is about to happen.
Of course, I’m talking about the famous beach scene in Jaws.
How very important a film score can be! Without that music, there was nothing. There are dozens of examples of sections of films that would be just a collection of disjointed images, had the music not been there to link it all together.
Music for TV spots is a whole different animal. In this case, you may have thirty seconds to set an initial mood, introduce a theme and then build up to a climax for the all important “product reveal”. There is no time here for intro, verse, chorus, bridge, guitar solo…all that helpful stuff that is the stock and trade of the pop songwriter. Commercial producers often ask for three versions of the music - 45 seconds, 30 seconds and 15 seconds. Commercials are often cut to different lengths. And of course they will somehow miraculously want the music to create the same effect in each. And of course, since the music is now identified with the product, it has to be pretty much the same music, only cleverly edited somehow to fit the time constraints.
Not easy! Try it and you’ll see. In fact, a great way to get working on your film composer chops is to record a dozen or so commercials on your DVR, or even short sections of a film, and then create your own music. For added reality and spacing, you may want to record your own voice doing the Voice Over. Try to work up different pieces of music to see how they affect the final package. It’s easy, fun and extremely educational.
But of course, film scoring is a giant topic, but for now, let’s just be aware that there are a number of different and somewhat unusual parameters imposed on the film composer. Then there is the specialized knowledge of the business aspects, like sync rights and residuals and all that good stuff.
If you want to learn more, there are some decent courses out there you can take online. Some of the best education is available from the films themselves. Really tune in to the soundtrack. Ideally, this would not be your first viewing, because if the film is done properly, the soundtrack should not be commanding too much attention. The sum of the parts is what really works, and if you ever can remove the soundtrack from a film, you will see what I mean. For the business side of the equation, keep your eyes peeled for one of my Music Business classes. The next one will be at Norwalk Community College in Norwalk CT. Click here for more information.
Here are a few online resources you might want to explore to start learning the language and concepts of music for film
Film Music JobWire – www.filmmusicmag.com
The Music Report Online – www.breakdownservices.com
InHollywood.com – www.inhollywood.com
Mandy.com – www.mandy.com
IFilmPro Job Board – www.ifilmpro.com
Until next time, keep watching and listening!
Michael Barry
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