. . . of a composer by the filmmaker
Q. Which parts of a film
should have music?
A. Music should only be in the film when
there is a clear dramatic reason for its existence. Don't
feel that you must have wall-to-wall music. Music can
actually be a distraction if not used properly.
Q. How
much time is required to write a score?
A. There is no concrete answer to this question
since there are many variables to the equation such as the type
of score (musical style), type of instruments, size of orchestra,
length of score. However, some general guidelines would indicate:
- Feature film - four to six weeks
- Television movie - two to three weeks
- One-hour episode of television - one
week to ten days
On the average, a composer can write
approximately two to three minutes of music per day after
the main themes have been approved by the filmmaker.
Q. How
much money should a film score cost?
A. This question is difficult
to answer. There are hard costs such as the hiring of an orchestra,
recording studio, orchestrators, copyists, etc. The only
truly negotiable cost would be the composer's creative fee.
Overall, a typical music budget might range between 1.5% and 2.5%
of the film's entire budget. An alternative to this is the package
deal. These financial considerations should be worked
out ahead of time.
Q.
What is a package deal?
A. A very popular method of
providing music for a film these days is the package deal.
Under these conditions, the composer is responsible for producing
the entire film score for "X" number of dollars. The composer
hands over to the filmmaker a finished master tape. Bear
in mind that this type of arrangement requires the composer to
spend more of his valuable composing time as an administrator,
which takes away from the creative process.
Q.
What is ghost writing?
A. When a composer, for any
reason, cannot completely write a music score himself, he may
farm out some of the work to another composer who usually works
anonymously. This will most likely result in a disjointed
effort, lacking the cohesiveness that a great score requires.
When hiring a composer, it is recommended that you inquire about
his work ethics as this may impact your product's quality.
Q. What
is the difference between an orchestrator and an arranger?
A. These two vocations are
really very similar. A composer will create a sketch of
the score, with melody, rhythm, and harmony. The actual
amount of detail varies with each composer. The orchestrator
will fill in the dots, so to speak, and expand the score to include
parts for every instrument in the orchestra. The arranger,
on the other hand, works more in a composing capacity.
Taking a very basic melody and harmony, the arranger will create
the colors that the orchestra plays. This, more often
than not, applies to works of standard literature, such as utilizing
famous works to be used as source music.
Q. Why
doesn't the composer's synth preview sound like a real orchestra?
A. Understand that synthesizers
sound good, real good in fact, but will (probably) never replace
a real orchestra. When previewing an orchestral score on
a synth, you will have to use your imagination just a little bit.
To quote David Bell, "The directorial equivalent of judging
a synthesizer mockup of an orchestral score would be for the studio
financing the picture to ask the filmmaker to preview all scenes
using a home camcorder and a high-school drama club."
With this in mind, just lower your expectations. However, this
is still far superior (in most cases) than a simple piano demonstration!
Q.
A scene in my film isn't working...can the music save it?
A. Contrary to myth, no matter
how great the music is, if the scene doesn't work, music cannot
magically save it. It may help, but it can never save it.
In these cases the music simply becomes wallpaper.
Too many abuses of this nature will probably do more damage to
the film than if it hadn't been used at all.
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