The odd thing is, most people that are not in the music industry, and actually many I've met through the years that are, haven't the slightest idea as to what a film scorer is.
Response's I've gotten when I say what I do:
"what? you keep a tally of films?"
"Music in the movie? Ohhh you mean like the songs they pick to put in a movie?"
and my all time favorite:
"what? there is music in movies?" -- uh yes there is...
I think one of the most frustrating tasks of being a film scorer, is that no one, except for other composers of film, have any idea what it takes to actually do what it is we do.
One of the biggest things...you really can't have much of an ego to be a film scorer...so if you're the type that is "my way or the highway" good luck. Your job is to get as close to what the director's vision, er i mean hears, for their film. If they say "I want a BIG sound here" you have to be ready to reply in Layman's terms...because 99.9% of the time, the director doesn't have a compositional background. So you need references that they'll understand AND most importantly, you can't come across as be-littleing the directors compositional concept. The last thing a film scorer wants is to have a ticked off director. Why?
Well..
a) it'll make the duration of the film unpleasant.
b) it will more than likely get you fired, if the director can find someone else to score the movie instead.
So with that in mind...the director is 99.9% of the time correct.
Now don't get me wrong, of course you are able to give your opinion, I mean they did hire you for the music! Most directors will take their film scorer's opinions to heart. Because of course, getting advice from someone that has experience and expertise in a specific field, will in the end create an overall stronger movie.
Another thing film scorers today find, at least I have found, is that you pretty much become isolated in your own studio domain.
Composing for film takes a LOT of time. You are not just writing little didie's and rifs, you have to watch scenes, make mock ups, send files and clips, get the response of the director, make changes (and i mean NUMEROUS changes, even for a mere 20 seconds and yes even 10 seconds of material.)
Ah and yes there is the lovely thing of modern technology. Which has made the modern day film scorer's life both easier and at the same time even more complicated.
Things like crashing hard drives, locked up software and plug ins, etc. can make a simple task turn into days worth of frustration and the creation of new curse words to exclaim when you are the only one up at 4am with a deadline that was 6 hours earlier.
Any early birds on my block have most likely diagnosed me with advanced turrets by now. I apologise, I should not poke fun at a medical condition. I didn't mean to, I literally mean that the amount of curses and comments out of frustration would make one THINK I suffered from such a condition.
The thing about being a composer of any sorts, and mostly that of a composer, is that your work follows you home.
Unlike a 9-5er or a doctor (that is NOT on call). Once you leave the "office" your work stays there and you can go home and chill. Watch TV, hang out, etc.
But you see, composers, when your studio and work are at home, you work NEVER leaves...especially when you work with people in other time zones, you can be working at say..4am, or be watching a program or having breakfast and have to stop and scurry upstairs to see why a file has yet to send, or re-score a 10 minute sequence that you thought was finally completed by 2am the night before.
A film scorer's work is never done....usually it's only done because a deadline for a festival is coming up and the film must be completed and mixed in time for submitting.
I must say though that despite the crazy hours I spend working and the isolation, yes I am much of a hermit, I do manage to keep my closest friends and social connections. Not that I was a huge social butterfly, BUT I do manage to see the sun every now and then...that is what they still call that yellow ball in the sky right?
There is nothing more satisfying to me than completing a cue and getting a response back from a director that they are thrilled with the music and that it was "exactly what they heard in their head"
One of the funnest (yes I Stephen Colberted a word aka made up a word) and coolest things to me about being a film scorer, is when I watch the film before and after. Meaning...watching the film without the music score and then watching it with it. The change in what is brought out in each scene is awe inspiring. It really shows what a difference music can bring to the screen. And it is something all of us movie-goers and TV watchers take for granted. The average person has NO idea the time spent just to get one little scene to work, or the reason why that tear jerking scene IS so much of a tear jerker!
It's because of us crazy little film scorers....working away at our studios in our little stations, clunking out music and staying up at all hours (even days at a time) coming up with music that makes these movies pull at your heart strings, get your blood flowing and get you cheering for the characters on screen.
I love composing music for movies...and if it means I have to go to bed at the hours the rest of the world is waking up...so be it.
and with that I bid you Goodmorning, and myself Goodnight!
