Hi there! Here is an exhaustive beginner's guide to working with composers on a score. This guide starts with the raw basics, so it's perfect for directors who have never hired a composer before. It starts easy but gets pretty technical later on, so read it slowly and as many times as is necessary.
Throughout the post, I frequently discuss best practices for film scores, but almost everything herein also applies to TV scores and much of it is applicable to video game music.
Let's get to it!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TAKING THE LEAP!
(The Benefits of Working with Composers)
For up-and-coming directors, the idea of hiring a composer can seem daunting. Music plays a crucial role in cinematic storytelling, and musical scores often have the power to make or break a movie. Many new directors might hesitate to hire composers for the following reasons:
Fear of losing artistic control
Embarrassment due to lack of musical vocabulary
Limitations due to deadlines and budget
Availability of royalty-free music and stock music libraries
Of course, there are real risks involved with hiring a composer, but these risks are dwarfed in comparison to the artistic benefits and narrative possibilities that a well-crafted score brings to a film. Here are some reasons that directors choose to work with composers:
Score Enhances Narrative
Increased Cinematic Flexibility
Establishing a Setting
Enhancing an Aesthetic
Thematic Elements
It's Fun
PLANNING FOR MUSIC
Many new directors (and/or producers) treat a movie's score as an afterthought, something to be dealt with in post production. During preproduction, much of their attention is devoted to finalizing scripts, hiring crew/talent, booking locations, etc. and score can fall through the cracks because it isn't perceived as an immediate concern. This lack of preparation becomes problematic when it's time to score the film but there's nothing left in the budget for music, there's too little time, or (worst of all) the composer isn't qualified for the job.
On the flip side, directors and producers are far more likely to receive a quality product when they take the time to plan for score during preproduction. Planning ahead allows them to be more selective with the hiring process and it better enables them to imagine the film as a finished product, an advantage which I detail in the previous section.
Here are some important items to take into consideration when planning for score:
Style/Aesthetic
Budget
Timeline
Unique Creative Opportunities
SELECTING A COMPOSER
Quick Disclaimer About Money
Before you start reaching out to composers and/or advertising a composer role on job boards, you should determine if you can pay the composer a fair rate or if you're asking them to work as a favor. This will affect which composers will be willing to take the job. Essentially, you should know what you're willing to pay, and if it falls above or below standard rates <(there are some helpful charts about halfway down the page of this article). Be honest if you can't compensate your composer fairly, as there are often composers who are willing to score a film for reasons other than money.
Above all else, DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE. Always try to compensate your composer fairly, and don't lead them on with false promises of experience or exposure. If you are paying your composer with experience, make sure it's worth their time and be extra kind to them. Ideally, they're helping you as much as you're helping them.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A COMPOSER
Composers are weird. Make sure it's the good variety of weird because odds are you'll be spending an extended amount of time with them during the scoring process. When searching for a composer, try to look for these qualities:
Relevant Experience/Ability to Deliver
Understanding of Film
Compatible Personality
Interest in the Project
Some Level of Humility
Affordability
WHERE TO LOOK FOR COMPOSERS (the cool way)
Despite the convenience of social networking technology, the most effective way to find composers is through organic, person-to-person interaction. Here are some ideas for finding composers the cool way:
Referrals from friends and colleagues. (This is how most directors and composers get connected, especially in Hollywood. It's, BY FAR, the most effective method because there's an element of trust involved. You can ask your friends and colleagues to give you an honest report of the composer's character and abilities).
Ask around at your school or place of work. (This method is great if you're a film student and your college has a music department. Seriously, try it).
Look for composers at guild events and mixers. (I feel like this one is self-explanatory).
Be social in entertainment cities like New York and Los Angeles. (Lot's of partnerships have started in the park or at a bar).
WHERE TO LOOK FOR COMPOSERS (the internets way)
Still, the internets can be nice. Here are a few ways you can put out a request for composers:
Job boards such as LinkedIn, Zip Recruiter, or Staff Me Up
Facebook groups such as the Film Scoring Network For Composers & Filmmakers
Reach out to composers via their website (requires some research).
If you look for composers using the internets, you might mention the following things in your job post/website inquiry:
Name of production
Description of production and the type of score you're looking for:
e.g. Sense, Sensibility, and Cyborgs is a sci-fi dark comedy in which Jane Austin must travel to the future to save the world from a religious war by convincing world leaders that her writings are purely fictional. We are looking for a score that combines elements of contemporary electronica with the early classical style of Vivaldi.
Description of composer's responsibilities
Will they also have to record, produce, mix, etc. ?
Production website and/or social media pages
Paid/unpaid
On location/remote
CONTRACTS
Don't rush through contracts. Contracts are very important, and there are a lot of sharks in Hollywood who will try to take advantage of you because you don't understand the terms. In this section I go over the main points of interest in a Composer Agreement, the document that sets the terms for the composer, the paying party, and the ownership of the music.
I considered providing a template in this section, but composer agreements can have such a wide range of terms that any template I offer will have biases. Also, I don't trust myself to use proper legalese. Be careful when working with a template, as you might inadvertently screw your composer (or yourself) over by failing to understand the terms.
IMPORTANT ITEMS OF A COMPOSER AGREEMENT
Here are the vital elements of a composer agreement, items that you must negotiate with your composer so that there are no unhappy surprises down the road. In an actual contract, some of these items will be grouped together within sections and there will be differences in ordering.
Defining Special Vocabulary
Composer's Services
Deadlines/Delivery Requirements
Budgetary Requirements
Payment
Credit
***Grant of Rights/Exclusivity***
Royalties
Indemnification
Kill Clause
Soundtrack Album
This is by no means an exhaustive list of terms that appear in composer agreements, but it should be sufficient in helping you understand how to read/edit a composer agreement. I highly recommend you get help from an entertainment or music lawyer when you're drafting, editing, and reviewing the agreement.
THE SCORING PROCESS
Yay! The fun part!!! Every director and every composer has a slightly different approach when it comes to score, but there are some standard practices that you...well...you really should just do them. They make sense. Here they are:
Waiting for Picture Lock
***Spotting***
Being Specific
Delivering Video and Audio to Composer
Notes and Rewrites
Recording Sessions
Dubbing Sessions/Working with Stems
COMMON PITFALLS
Using General Terms
Over-scoring
Under-scoring
Demand for Themes on Short Form Projects
Overly-Eclectic/Schizophrenic Scores
Temp Love
Misuse of Musical Terminology
THINGS THAT MAKE COMPOSERS HAPPY
NORMAL THINGS DON'T MAKE THEM HAPPY (THEY'RE INSANE).
Good Communication
Budget for Live Musicians
Credits Suites
Diegetic Music
Sincere Flattery
THINGS I LEFT OUT
Temp Music
Cue Naming Conventions
Cue Sheets
Musical Terminology
Personal Anecdotes
Probably some other stuff.
CONCLUSIONS
Composers are crazy
Composers are worth the hassle
Plan for score during preproduction
Wait for picture lock to start scoring
Be Specific
Alright! Now that I've exhausted you with this guide, you should probably go to bed. Comment below if you have any questions or corrections or if you can think of anything important I left out.
Also, get excited!!! I know this guide could be snarky at times, but working with composers can be really fun. Now go make some new friends! Shoo! Shoo!
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