Scoring Films On a Shoestring Budget

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Addressing creative notes

Often filmmakers give notes in the form of a solution rather than explaining what they want. For example, “can we lose the trumpet?” But losing the trumpet may not be the best musical choice. Whenever you get these types of notes, always dig a bit deeper and try to understand why the filmmaker is giving that note. When you understand the reason for the note (is the trumpet stepping on dialog? Is it too heroic? Or something else?) you’ll be able to come up with the most musical solution to address it (move the trumpet line so it doesn’t step on the note, change instrument, rewrite/reorchestrate those bars). You may want to read my blog post Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should, which expands on this topic.

Whenever getting a note take a moment to consider if it means a rewrite, or just a revision. This may involve asking the filmmaker a few pointed questions to get a deeper understanding of exactly what s/he wants. More often than not, creative notes mean revisions, not rewrites, so always start by trying to make adjustments rather than starting a rewrite from scratch. Tweaking existing material is much faster and more efficient than rewriting.

If you do need to rewrite a cue, make sure the new cue is meaningfully different than the original cue. Creating what amounts to another version of the same idea won’t get you very far. If you’re not sure where to start try finding some temp music to help you figure it out as described above in the What to do when you don’t know what to do section.

Addressing picture changes

Ideally when working on shoestring budget projects, you’ll be working to locked picture. But sometimes picture changes happen and you’ll need to adjust your music to fit the new cut. It’s usually fastest and therefore most efficient to address such changes with your printed audio rather than by going back into the DAW and your MIDI.

When conforming, especially if just conforming audio, I prefer to do it in ProTools. Below are some screenshots demonstrating how I like to do it.

Step 1 - Import the new picture and guide tracks and place it above the old picture so it starts in the same place.
Step 1 – Import the new picture and guide tracks and place it above the old picture so it starts in the same place.
(click for bigger image)
Step 2 - Find where the dialog or FX match up and highlight a region the beginning and end line up on the exact same frame in both versions. This will show you by how much you need to move things, and in which direction (cut or add). In this case we need to cut 2:06) (click for larger image)
Step 2 – Find where the dialog or FX match up and highlight a region the beginning and end line up on the exact same frame in both versions. This will show you by how much you need to move things, and in which direction (cut or add). In this case we need to cut 2:06)
(click for larger image)
Step 3, move your selection to where you want to make the edit. In this case I wanted to make it earlier before all the edits I created to smoothly transition into the next cue.
Step 3, move your selection to where you want to make the edit. In this case I wanted to make it earlier before all the edits I created to smoothly transition into the next cue.
(click for a larger image)
Step 4 - Make the move (in this case cut 2:06) and you'll see things line up at the frame you picked as your reference point. Now that things are technically in the correct place find a musical way to make an edit.
Step 4 – Make the move (in this case cut 2:06) and you’ll see things line up at the frame you picked as your reference point. Now that things are technically in the correct place find a musical way to make an edit.
(click for a larger image)

Making the edit may involve nudging things a bit for musicality. Keep in mind sometimes you may have to sacrifice a hit for musicality and that’s ok. Don’t get caught up in trying to maintain everything exactly as it was, the picture has changed and it’s OK for the music to change accordingly. Pick and chose the key moments that are most important to really nail on the sync, and sacrifice less important moments if you have to for musicality. Great as they are, hits aren’t nearly as important as making sure the cue feels natural and isn’t awkward in order to make those hits.

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