The Directors/Producers Guide to Working with a Film Composer

It happens quite often that inexperienced directors want to add music to their movie simply because they like it. For example they try to hire one of their favorite rock bands for their drama just because they think it is cool music that would be cool to have in their movie. However, often this music doesn’t serve the dramatic purpose of the movie. You as a director might be happy if you hear your favorite music in your movie but there might be quite a big chance of your audience reacting quite irritated. Ask yourself whether the music you want to add really fits the movie. If you really want to have your favorite band in your movie, a good spot to feature them would be in the End Credits or a possible montage scene in the movie. We’ll have a look at...

Before you hire a composer, think about what your movie needs. Watch movies in roughly the same genre/style as your own movie, listen to what the music does there and get a basic understanding of the musical stylistics of this genre. Also, know what the task of music in general is. It is NOT to help slow editing or bad acting. It can help there but it is not the task of music in the first place. Also, it is not the main task of music to simply comment. The best job for music is to add another level to the visuals, communicate things that aren’t visible or obvious. There’s a neutral dialogue going on but you want a hint of tension because the dialogue deals about something which later becomes very threatening? That’s a perfect job for the music....

If you have worked with a film composer before and you were happy with the result, the first thing would be to ask him/her again if he/she feels up to it and has time. If – for whatever reason – you need to find a new film composer, there are several ways. Depending on what kind of size your project runs, you can directly contact composers whose music you have heard in other movies which you like. If you’re need someone more affordable, there are several ways. A good way is to ask colleagues whether they can recommend someone whom they trust. Also, using Google to find film composers is quite easy. There are thousands of aspiring composers out there. You might also want to try several music forums which there are plenty. However, be aware that there...

The process of creating music for his/her movie usually is for a director a bit different than working with any other film department and often involves a lot of nervousness. The reason for this is the lacking control over the whole process. Usually, the director has a basic or advanced understanding of how every department in the process of making a movie works. He/she has a specific idea of how the editing of the movie needs to be, how the VFX need to look like etc and can make specific suggestions how to change things he doesn’t like. But when it comes to composing music, most directors can only speak in very basic terms and hardly can point out why they like or dislike certain things. Additionally, it is not possible to see instantaneous results on...