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licensing deal that we'll do, as opposed to
just outright ownership for that level. So, if
we do a soundtrack, they would get some
benefit from that, but it's in that realm. And
as far as the in-the-box thing goes, I haven't
done a film that had live orchestration on it
yet, and I've worked with Ego Plum and
Danny Elfman and some major composers on
a couple of these films. We were lucky
enough to have them, but they did
everything with samples and tiny supplementation
of real instrumentation, and they
sound
incredible.
So, I'm not saying that there's not a need for
live musicianship and that the orchestra
" I've worked with Ego Plum and Danny
Elfman and some major composers on
a couple of these films. "
-Bernie Stern
shouldn't happen, but you can get really
amazing things at a budget level. But, yeah,
somewhere between $5k and $20k is where
you might land to score an indie film.
I've got a couple friends that are not involved in
the TAXI universe that are scoring composers on
indie films, and that's typically the range that
they work in.
Let's talk about the whole process. Actually, the
name of this is " How Indie Film Producers
Choose and Use Music. " So, you get hired as the
producer on the film. Is the director on board
before you're brought in?
In the films that I have made as a hired producer,
the director is usually already
onboard. And in fact, it's usually the director
who is bringing the project to me. That's
kind of where I get involved. I have plenty of
projects in development with writers and
projects where we are trying to attach a
director and then take it to a studio. But on
the indie-film side, the money and the director
are usually somehow related, and so the
director is on board first, and so are the
scripts. So, script, money, and the director
kind of happen all at the same time. It's rare
that I would be brought on before the
director.
Let's stick with scoring for a minute. When does
the first music conversation take place, and
how does that go?
Well, it does vary a little bit. I mean, we defi66
RECORDING July 2021
nitely try to have conversations in pre-production.
Because we look at our budget and
we go, " OK, we already know that we don't
have this kind of money for this, so let's lock
it in now and make sure that we're good for
later. " A lot of times, if there is music that
plays in the movie-like if someone dances
to it or sings along-we definitely have to get
that involved in pre-production to make sure
that we can clear a song before it's being
sung on camera. But with scoring, it's kind of
a cursory call. I just signed a composer for
the film that I'm about to do, and then I
won't speak to him for two months. Because
we've made our deal and we've signed, you
won't even need to speak to them until the
edit is done. But the conversation starts
early, but it doesn't become a creative conversation
until the film is made, until it's
seen.
Well, some form of creative conversation has
taken place because you have to choose the
composer, so you're not gonna get somebody
who scores like hybrid electronic stuff versus
somebody who does orchestral.
For sure. We read the scripts. I don't mean
that there is no conversation; I just mean as
far as dialing it in or saying that this is what
we need. But, yes, of course, if you're going
to pick a composer that early, you absolutely
pick somebody who can do what you want
them to be able to do. I will say I have had a
couple of seemingly different experiences
with composers that I feel like would be normal,
because in general it seems like I
wouldn't have the conversation with a composer
until I could show them the film, and
then say, " Make a sample for this. " But, like I
said, when I worked with Danny Elfman, his
brother was the filmmaker, and so we knew
from the get-go that he is going to make the
music perfect for it. He's gonna do it; he's
helping his brother out-and that led us to
Ego.
I've had certain conversations like that. The
other thing that you have to factor in, too, is
that on budget levels like this, it's about networking
and having connections to
individuals that you want to work with. So,
there is a little bit of, " I know this guy or this
woman will compose for us because we
worked on something before, or we're trying
to work on a bigger thing, but let's do this
together. " There's a little bit of that that goes
on to get it done.
But, yes, you are absolutely right. They read
the script, we know what the script is and we
try to pick somebody that can do the right
style. And then, once we edit it, then we can
really dial it in.
And do the editors put a temp score in to give
some sort of guidance to the scoring composer
eventually? Or is that more to just to make it
more palatable as they are watching the film
come together, and it doesn't really give guidance
as to the type of score, is my guess?
I would say it's absolutely both. You have put
some music in. I mean, movies without music
are awful. There has to be music, and so even
with just the editor to be able to stand their
job cutting the film, you'll add music in. You
want to try and capture a feel. Again, it's a
little tricky, because let's say you've a huge
suspenseful track and you're taking songs
from like Batman or something like that. You
will fall in love with it and then [you can't
afford something on that level, it's a
letdown]. It's tricky, you have to be careful
with that music not to put in something that
is so good or so recognizable that it becomes
an earworm. But, absolutely, you put something
in so that you can stand it, and then
you put something in so that you can show
the composer that this is the feeling that we
are looking for. Because, you know, there is
full orchestration or there is a single cello
and a tuba. You want to be able to indicate
the feeling of it, so you have to use music in
that way.
Again, it's great if you're working with a
composer and they just compose some kind
of raw-form stuff and you can play around
with it, all the better. But in my experience at
the indie film budget level, you're not going
to get months and months and 50 versions of
" Movies without music are awfu! "
-Bernie Stern
a score. So you want to be able to be as specific
as possible when you send it to the
composer so you're not wasting anyone's
time.
Describe what spotting is, and what a spotting
session is like, and like who is there.
Well, it should definitely be director and producer
and music supervisor all be in there,
along with the editor. They should all be
involved in that conversation, depending on
whether people are wearing multiple hats
that can be a singular job for one person. But
you definitely want a music supervisor
involved whenever possible so that they can
figure it out. But spotting itself is just going
through the movie and you count all of the
times that the editor and director have put in
temp music and you figure out, " OK, at this
minute, we need this song and it's gonna last
this period of time. " It's also really important
in the spotting sessions to outline what's
happening in the scene. You'll get that quesContinued
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Recording - July 2021

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