TUTORIALS

The function of music in the movies is a very wide field. Music can serve several purposes that are either important on the emotional side of the movie or help/enhance the…

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…

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…

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…

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…

There often is a misunderstanding about what is part of the film composer’s job and what isn’t which often leads to irritation and arguments and can also torpedo the whole financing concept of a movie if the composer’s job was defined wrong in the calculation…

The worst problem most composers suffer from is the tight schedule on their projects. Many composers sleep not more than 5 hours per night when there is crunch time which of course doesn’t allow to write the most creative music. The main problem often…

Having a basic idea of what your movie needs musically is a very important thing when you enter the dialogue with the composer. There is that common misconception between directors that composers are happy when you just let them do their thing…

The so-called spotting session is the meeting between director and composer where both watch the movie together. Usually, this is a great chance to find a concept and ideas for the film music in a mutual way and to avoid any misunderstandings…

The way a movie is released heavily influences not only its production but also the film music. There needs to be a clear understanding of what the primary release of the movie is going to be as there are still quite different ways of perceiving a movie…

Communication is essential between the director/producer and the film composer and bad communication often leads to misunderstandings and conflicts. As a director/producer, you should have a rather clear vision about what you want the music to…

After the spotting session is done and all details concerning the music are fixed, the most common procedure is for the director/producer to get back to other post-production issues and for the composer to go home/to his/her studio and to start working.

Depending on the budget and size of the production, there will be a scoring session. This could be from having a soloist for an hour in the composer’s studio up to a full symphony orchestra for several days in a big recording studio. Depending…

Before you budget for the music, you should be aware that a music budget always consists of two to three factors. The first is the composition fee, the second the costs that are necessary to produce the score music and the third are the licensing fees…

Even when you are best friends and the project seems too small to bother, you should always set up a contract with your film composer. This does not only protect the composer but also…