Half the film is sound- bad audio is the other biggie in independent film that often screams amateur.
But half the soundtrack is spoken dialogue and SFX, the other half is the score... which means a director needs to be good at choosing a composer.
Your film needs a good score- whether it's one guy on a guitar, a synth track or a full orchestra- the score should establish mood and emotion for scenes and transitions effectively.
Sidney Lumet recommends in his book "Making Movies" not to "Mickey Mouse the score", by musically stating the obvious- but to go against the grain from time to time...
For instance, at the start of Lumet's ORIENT EXPRESS, instead of "chugga chugga" type train music with a mysterious murder mystery theme- the composer went with a grandiose, happy waltz, to capture the grandeur of the old train pulling away from the station and roaring through the countryside. It was perfect for that SCENE's emotion. That scene didn't have a murder in it- it had a nostalgic train starting off on a grand adventure. The murder comes later- if that type of music were up front, it'd be blowing the shock value of the murder later on.
A composer needs to be able to translate a director's vision- The director should make notes in the script margin (or hide them as notes in Final Draft software) to prepare for the "cues" or "spotting session". Jot down what the emotion of each scene or transition is... then try and convey this to the composer.
Equally important is theme... Maybe your scene isn't really about an emotion at all... You might have a guy being angry that an elevator isn't coming so he can't get to his job at the top of a skyscraper. So the emotion is anger... But perhaps the theme of the scene would be "unending commerce"- Business moving along at a busy clip all around him, leaving him in isolation, and unnoticed. These are two musical choices- the emotional one from the character's POV would have angry dramatic music, the "thematic POV" of the scene however, might have busy, chaotic music that builds to a frenzy and gradually overpowers and covers the sound of the actor swearing under his breath, frustrated.
It's also equally important to know when NOT to have music. You should be hearing some kind of sound track in your head as you edit- It will help you establish pace as you cut. It may be helpful to have a temp score (or "mock-up"). Some music supervisor's will prep this for a director while a composer is being sought, other director's will mock this up themselves, some will have the composer do a mock up first, before video lock, to help compile a rough cut.
When you DO have the print "locked-down" (or "video lock"), then you are ready for the spotting session and the time code cues with the composer- at this point, have the confidence to toss the temp score- and give the composer the freedom to throw it away and go with totally different ideas- the temp track was just there to help you convey emotion to the composer for the individual scenes, and to give you both a starting point for work. Think of it the way you treat your shot-list as a director... you still have the freedom to deviate from it and try different shots, but it's a good template to have to start with.
If you have a musical background, then it might be OK to suggest "Maybe we could have some sweeping strings here" or "perhaps some grandiose brass and percussion here"- but don't get too specific- orchestration is the composer's job, and if you are doing it for them, they will resent it, just as you would if your writer were on set suggesting shots or lighting set-ups as you tried to work.
Find a good composer- then stick with them. You will find them an invaluable part of your team, and your movies will hit higher notes of praise if they have a great score.
But half the soundtrack is spoken dialogue and SFX, the other half is the score... which means a director needs to be good at choosing a composer.
Your film needs a good score- whether it's one guy on a guitar, a synth track or a full orchestra- the score should establish mood and emotion for scenes and transitions effectively.
Sidney Lumet recommends in his book "Making Movies" not to "Mickey Mouse the score", by musically stating the obvious- but to go against the grain from time to time...
For instance, at the start of Lumet's ORIENT EXPRESS, instead of "chugga chugga" type train music with a mysterious murder mystery theme- the composer went with a grandiose, happy waltz, to capture the grandeur of the old train pulling away from the station and roaring through the countryside. It was perfect for that SCENE's emotion. That scene didn't have a murder in it- it had a nostalgic train starting off on a grand adventure. The murder comes later- if that type of music were up front, it'd be blowing the shock value of the murder later on.
A composer needs to be able to translate a director's vision- The director should make notes in the script margin (or hide them as notes in Final Draft software) to prepare for the "cues" or "spotting session". Jot down what the emotion of each scene or transition is... then try and convey this to the composer.
Equally important is theme... Maybe your scene isn't really about an emotion at all... You might have a guy being angry that an elevator isn't coming so he can't get to his job at the top of a skyscraper. So the emotion is anger... But perhaps the theme of the scene would be "unending commerce"- Business moving along at a busy clip all around him, leaving him in isolation, and unnoticed. These are two musical choices- the emotional one from the character's POV would have angry dramatic music, the "thematic POV" of the scene however, might have busy, chaotic music that builds to a frenzy and gradually overpowers and covers the sound of the actor swearing under his breath, frustrated.
It's also equally important to know when NOT to have music. You should be hearing some kind of sound track in your head as you edit- It will help you establish pace as you cut. It may be helpful to have a temp score (or "mock-up"). Some music supervisor's will prep this for a director while a composer is being sought, other director's will mock this up themselves, some will have the composer do a mock up first, before video lock, to help compile a rough cut.
When you DO have the print "locked-down" (or "video lock"), then you are ready for the spotting session and the time code cues with the composer- at this point, have the confidence to toss the temp score- and give the composer the freedom to throw it away and go with totally different ideas- the temp track was just there to help you convey emotion to the composer for the individual scenes, and to give you both a starting point for work. Think of it the way you treat your shot-list as a director... you still have the freedom to deviate from it and try different shots, but it's a good template to have to start with.
If you have a musical background, then it might be OK to suggest "Maybe we could have some sweeping strings here" or "perhaps some grandiose brass and percussion here"- but don't get too specific- orchestration is the composer's job, and if you are doing it for them, they will resent it, just as you would if your writer were on set suggesting shots or lighting set-ups as you tried to work.
Find a good composer- then stick with them. You will find them an invaluable part of your team, and your movies will hit higher notes of praise if they have a great score.
