When does the soundtrack get written for a film?

H

Huy Vu

Veteran
I'm heading into post production on a feature-documentary I've been working on. I'm just wondering what the proper workflow is for adding music. I've found several artists who are willing to compose for the film but I'm unsure whether to finish editing and then have them write the songs or write the songs before editing. Can someone with experience help me out on this point?
 
Last project I did with a composer, I gave the guy a copy of the final edit (with titles). Simultaneously, I gave it to a sound editor. So at one point the composer was working on his music, and the sound editor was cleaning the sound and adding sound effects. They in turn gave their completed work to the film editor, who did what is called a "layback".....and poof! the film was scored and sounded great.

If you give the composer a rough cut he may be composing for things no longer in the picture and will be pissed to say the least.
 
You want your edit locked. Perfect time to color correct and finish/spfx while they write and produce music and do all post sound work.
 
The first thing you need to do is distiguish between "songs" and "score". Songs can be written at anytime throughout the process. If they are a "source" track in the movie. i.e they may be being played through a radio in a car or someone turns on a cd player in the bedroom just before the big sex scene etc. they can be added at anytime. The "score" which is the music soundtrack that plays up the drama, suspense, comedy, terror etc, should be composed after picture is locked, unless you have a budget for a music editor. For documentary work the score may not be as critical as a drama where music cues have to hit certain points so you may get away with having a composer starting prior to locked picture. A lot will depend on your project, budget and time constraints.
 
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