Film Pre-Production

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PurposeDriven

Well-known member
Ok, this is a continuation from the Jobs catagory re: Hudson's wanting to find a crew and make a film. One person suggested that we score the film, and find the music before we start shooting whatever it is we shoot.

My philosophy on the matter is that you can find music that inspires you and your film. Allow that music to give you some ideas of pacing, mood. But, at no time can you score a film and shoot around that. The composer needs to write the music, once the film has been cut. You THEN go back, and look at your edits to make sure that they both compliment each other, as long as the integrity of the film is preserved. The film has priority over any score.

I am curious to see what you all think about this matter. Do any of you score your films before shooting? Am I off base with my theory?

I know some films like "Hook" had the film scored first, but for 99% of the time, the composer works with some of the preliminary assemblances to write the music.
 
Re: Film Pre-Production

In the real world. The composer comes on board about 2-6 weeks till the film is done. Just in case the production is shut down. And they hate it! 8)
 
Re: Film Pre-Production

scoring is generally done to a screening of the film. imho its as it should be, unless its a music video where the audio is more imprtant than the visuals.
 
Re: Film Pre-Production

There are many directors shooting with music on set. Stanley Kubrick for example used it a lot in order to get the pace and atmosphere on set, even during the shots. In the making-of of "The Shining" you can see him carrying a caddy with a tape player on it and shoot the labyrinth scene with the music playing loud as hell. Kubrick was a great manipulator. For him, music was a crucial part of storytelling, so he felt he had to involve it as soon as possible.

"Lawrence of Arabia" was shot with the main theme already composed (but not orchestrated). David Lean said it inspired him very much. David Lean was originally an editor, maybe this explains that : editors often like music to guide their work.

But what worked for them, as great as they were, doesn't necessarily apply to anyone. If it helps you, use it ; if it is a source of stress, forget it. I don't think anyone can dictate you any methodology concerning this particular (and so crucial) subject.

That being said, music on set can be very useful in order to sync actors and technicians — a lot easier than counting the seconds. And of course, if the music plays a dramatic role, it's better to have it composed when shooting.

Sorry to talk about an insignificant little jerk after having mentionned two Masters of cinema, but I personnally want to shoot my next short film with music already composed. Music here plays quite a dramatic role in the script, so it makes sense for this case. This will not be the final version of the music, just a rough demo giving the tempo and the global taste of what it will sound like. Then, I plan to go back into the studio and re-orchestrate it to fit the film in a more accurate way.

I've noticed that composers often have the tendency to be too close to the tone of the scenes, which sometimes lead to sonic pleonasm (I hated "The Lord of the Rings" score for that particular reason : I felt the music was ruining the emotional effect of most scenes because of its paraphrasing the action). Having your score already composed can be a remedy to that disease. But once again this is NO absolute recipe, just a personnal feeling.

On the down side, a very trivial side, using music on the set means your dialogue recordings will just be guide tracks — you'll have to dub them later on. In guerilla budget, this is something that has to be taken into account.
 
Re: Film Pre-Production

Generally I've been picking music AFTER most of the bits have been stuffed into the magic bottle, but our next production has all the music pre-composed and recorded prior to any video being shot. This is probably going to help everyone with the 'feel' of the project.
 
8)Re: Film Pre-Production

8)Re: Film Pre-Production

When I make my films, the guy composing the music normally gives me pieces before shooting, for the mood. But they're just tentative, and after the sequences are shot, he'll re-compose the music so that it works specifically with my cuts.

This would be a problem though, I guess, if you were spending a lot of money on the composer. Mine is the guy who also produces most of my films, lol. It's all about the few man armies 8) people are so much more willing to spend more time on the work it seems...
 
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