My experience as a composer has been primarily working with independent filmmakers with smaller budgets on short, feature, and documentary films. As I read through the articles from this month’s SCOREcast writers, I found similar scenarios that I also encounter in my work — one of them being the question of audio demonstration. Whether the project is with a local filmmaker or an out-of-town client this is certainly a factor to consider, and I have learned to ask many questions at the beginning of a new project.

Audio: Demonstrate in Your Studio and Ask Questions
Filmmakers usually have excellent editing equipment but often don’t have a good audio system, and sometimes they are unaware of what a quality system really sounds like.

If you can, try to schedule your first meeting with the director in your studio. Ask them to bring a couple of their favorite soundtrack CDs that apply to the current project or from one of their previous projects. You can demonstrate your great audio gear with their music and samples as well as playing your original music tracks. They should easily hear that there is a difference in audio quality from their studio to yours.
The ideal situation is for the filmmaker to always listen to your cues with you in your studio; due to scheduling conflicts, however, this may not always be possible. Their first time listening to your new cue may have to be in their own environment and out of your hands. If this is the case, be sure you know what type of system they will be listening on. Agree with “a one-time listening pass” of the music on their equipment, but further discussion and decision-making should be in your studio.  Don’t leave this conversation about audio to a later time.

If this is an out-of-town client, you need to create audio that will sound good on their systems. The questions you ask at the start will help shape what you deliver to them. Ryan Leach’s article, “Long Distance Scoring”, contains great advice on how to adapt your audio files to the filmmakers’ needs.

File Delivery
I send my files as AIFF, which has been a standard format for the filmmakers and editors I’ve worked with. And lately, I have been hearing about OMF files, which is next in my queue to learn.

I deliver my files through an online system, Box.net, an excellent file sharing and storage service.  You can sign up for free or pay a nominal fee for larger storage capacity, and it’s easy to use. The filmmaker receives an email with a link to the music cues and downloads your music. You can also send MOV files with your music synced to picture.  I also use Box.net as one of my backup and storage solutions along with several hard drives and Carbonite, another online backup.

A Quick Response
During the writing process it’s important to have immediate or near-immediate feedback on your work. Sometimes I think filmmakers may not be aware that you are really waiting to hear from them, and often with “bated breath”. You want feedback so that you can move on to make changes to the current cue or to start the next cue.  Let them know early on that you appreciate a quick response.

I remember a long distance collaboration I had with a director and editor.  I was brought onto the project to provide additional music. I would send several tracks for them to listen to and didn’t hear anything back for days.  The film was then accepted into a film festival, and we were approaching the screening deadline.  The editor was still editing and asking me for music.  So after I sent the new music tracks, I followed up with an email — email was our main line of communication due to time zones — and typed in the subject line: “IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK PLEASE”.  That worked.  I got a quick reply with great feedback.

I should have made this requirement much earlier, but at the time I thought everyone was on the same page.  Lesson learned: never assume anything.

Being clear at the start as to what your expectations are can create a great experience for you and your new collaborative project.

Award-winning composer NAN AVANT hails from the Pacific Northwest and has scored numerous independent films including UNREMEMBERED, ALISTAIR MACLEAN: Y’DID NEFESH (Silver Medal for Music at the Park City Film Music Festival 2009), the documentary POSTCARDS FROM TORA BORA, and an abundance of short films.

A graduate of California Institute of the Arts, Nan received her BFA degree in Piano Performance and studied at the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring program under the direction of Hummie Mann. Nan also serves on the Board of the Seattle Composers Alliance, and is a contributing editor at No Strings Attached E-News.

You can learn more about Nan and her music by visiting her website at www.nanavant.com.