Researching the Music Supervisor Role 

Alice Rose Asbury / / Research

When researching the role of music supervisor I came across a useful interview of a women who works as a music supervisor. The article itself was part of a careers advice campaign and asked Gemma her roles and responsibilities and also what she liked and disliked about the job. Gemma Dempsey has worked in the industry for 20 years and has worked on some oscar-winning films such as Danny Boyle’s ‘Shallow grave’. Gemma gave an explanation here of the music supervisor job role:

“A music supervisor is the person who coordinates all aspects of finding and placing music to a specific production (movie or TV programme, for example). This includes making suggestions for songs or tracks, researching songs that are available, liaising with the people who own the songs to ensure they can be used (this process is called ‘clearance’) and to make sure the right people get paid for their music being used. Music supervisors will also make sure the music is purchased within the right budget and that enough music is acquired to cover all the creative and production needs.”

I have found this explanation alone useful, I already knew the main responsibilities of a music supervisor however having this short paragraph has worked as a check list to see if I am fulfilling the role correctly. For my production I have achieved all of the examples she made: I created the music cues for the film, suggested a style and any tracks through liaising with the clients. I have then followed up with PRS – discussing the use of a sourced piece of music and finding other options. My role differs slightly as we do not have a budget for sound, however I have found it good practice looking into what research needs to happen when it comes to music. At the end of the interview she also gave some great advice about how to get involved and pursue a career within this role –  which I am definitely interested in. She said the best way to get your name out there was through networking and contacting music supervisors who were involved in films you admired. She also said not to be shy and just ask if you can work for them to gain experience. This is something I will do after this project. It would also be great to see first hand how the job works and how it differs from what I have done within this term.

 

How To: Become A Music Supervisor

Mid-Assignment reflection (Aims and Learning Outcomes) 

Alice Rose Asbury / / Film Process

As we are well into the post-production process and nearing the end of the project I thought it would be useful to reflect on what has happened so far and also where we are in relation to our aims and learning outcomes. By doing this I can learn where I need to focus a little more and what we as a group still need to achieve.

My own personal aims have been achieved to a certain extent however do still need work. With the location sound – all that we collected was usable and there was no need for ADR. This is because we were prepared and worked hard to ensure we were efficient  – but also still got all the takes we needed. The post production process is also well on the way to being a completed, polished piece of sound design. This is because we prepared as much as we could before hand, by creating a session that would work with the audio lay out of the film – basing it on Grant Bridgemen’s template. However some sessions haven’t been as productive as they could have been. This is because a lot of time was spent moving our work around when we got new visuals, we have now learnt from this and come up with efficient ways of move the audio to fit the new visual’s. From now I think the way forward would be to work on getting all the sounds in there by doing any final foley and then try and work on making them sound how we want and then begin the mix down process. This may be better to do scene by scene, to make it a less time consuming process. The music is also well on the way to being completed. I have completed the core work for all but one section of music. I have also had frequent meetings with the directors to discuss my thoughts and ideas which they have agreed to. The only piece of music that is still yet to be near completion is the piece of source music. This has proven to be a longer process as I have had to get in touch with PRS. We now have most of the information we need however we now need to create it and give the director options.

I have also already achieved many of my learning outcomes. I now know and understand how a film production team work as a whole and how we as a sound team lease with the film crew. This is through being on set and through guest lectures. I also now feel confident with post work within film, I have managed to devise a routine and now realise my preferred methods of working (even if they haven’t been applied within this film). I have already researched extensively into how music works within film through various academic writers, this has enabled me to create my own ideas when it comes to what a score should do and sound like. This has also allowed me to attempt to capture the emotions and narrative through the use of music successfully. Through researching other compositions for film I have learnt what music suits our type of film and I now also feel confident in my own methods of composing music for film. However to achieve all of these learning outcomes I think some more research into the actual music supervisor role would be helpful in seeing whether I have achieved the role well.

As a sound team I feel we have worked well in communicating with the film team and have worked efficiently amongst them. Our sound design is also now feeling like it is coming together and making the film as a whole better. There is still a little way to go in all aspects, but I do not doubt we can achieve this by the deadline.

Music Composition Process

Alice Rose Asbury / / Film Process

This blog is to discuss and explain the early decisions made by myself to do with the composition of music for George. 

Starting the composition process was the hardest part. I found it difficult to create the music without seeing the visual layout of the film first. Perhaps this may have been helped by storyboards, however these were not provided. To start, whilst we were still filming, I came up with a short melody and key to work in. This enabled me create key features that would be apparent through out the film. As shown below:

Original Composition

This short section is set in G minor and plays about with Bflat Major chord as well (it being the relative minor). It contains some arpeggios and starts a main melody which will be recurring throughout the film as you can hear in the MIDI version I have attached:

Using a MIDI instrument reaffirmed my need for a real piano to record on – as you can hear it sounds quite robotic with little emotion. Having a short melody and key to go with helped me a lot when it came to later on in the process. I am also thankful I didn’t compose anymore music until after the film was shot as the script and film structure changed a fair bit whilst shooting. This obviously changed a lot of music cues.

Once we had some rough edits of visuals during filming I was able to see the structure of the film easily. This enabled me to devise a new music cue sheet (as shown on my music cue blog) of where I felt music was needed. This created four main sections of music for the film: Title sequence, travel song, dream sequences 1&2 and End credits. These pieces are to extend over the film to fit with the image.

For making these four pieces I re-recorded the original melody which became the opening title sequence, sticking to these melodies and arpeggios. However whilst watching the rough edits I felt it necessary to introduce another major theme right at the beginning before this starts. As shown below, it is a series of 3 chords:

3 Chords

Although simplistic I felt it important to attach this to George’s character as a sort of Leitmotif. This will occur when George is first on screen, when his character is sad and it also acts as a reminder of the George’s past. By doing this within the first 10 seconds of the film I have attempted to create a signifier for George as a person. Through also connecting this motif to other events it will hopefully begin to signify George’s story to the audience as not much of it is displayed in the visual.

The second piece is to go along with scenic shots of George travelling outside, the pace is a bit more upbeat and the key is very minor to signify George as being worried. For the dream sequence, what I came up with is at risk of sounding a little too dramatic for what the scene actually looks like. Therefor I have decided I will work on it further, then decide whether or not it is needed as we intend to do a lot with sound fx. This decision will also partly be down to the director. Finally with the end sequence I have decided to do a 4 minute section of music which is continuous until the end of the film. This piece changes pace quite a lot and attempts to display George’s changing emotions throughout these 4 minutes. Here I have played a lot with dynamics and tempo but still sticking to the main musical themes of the previous music. Then at the end, including the main credits, it concludes the way it began with the same arpeggios and slightly altered melody to conclude the film.

The next step from here will be filling out the pieces (if needed) using electronic sounds on Pro Tools. For this I had originally planned acoustic instruments but I know think electronic sounds will have the same impact in helping the melodies created by the piano fit the film.

Claudia Gorbman – Unheard Melodies

Alice Rose Asbury / / Research

Researching Claudia Gorbman’s Unheard Melodies

Like the previous research I have done this book talks about the power of music within film and the ways music can work within film. She begins by taking a semiological approach into music’s abilities within film. What I find particularly interesting about Gorbman’s work comes later when discussing music composition. Here are what she describes as principles to music within film:

I. Invisibility: the technical apparatus of nondiegetic music must not be visible.

II. Inaudibility”: Music is not meant to be heard consciously. As such it should subordinate itself to dialogue, to visuals – i.e., to the primary vehicles of the narrative.

III. Signifier of emotion: Soundtrack music may set specific moods and emphasize particular emotions suggested in the narrative (cf. #IV), but first and foremost, it is a signifier of emotion itself. 

IV. Narrative cueing: – referential/narrative: music gives referential and narrative cues, e.g., indicating point of view, supplying formal demarcations, and establishing setting and characters.

– connotative music “interprets” and “illustrates” narrative events.

V.  Continuity: music provides formal and rhythmic continuity- between shots, in transitions between scenes, by filling “gaps”. 

VI. Unity: via repetition and variation of musical material and instrumentation, music aids the construction of formal and narrative unity. 

VII. A given film score may violate any of the principles above, providing the violation is at the service of the other principles. 

(Gorbman, 1987, 73)

This list of principles is a good way of knowing what music can do. All these aspects are important to take into account when creating music for film – as these are techniques are aspects which make film music great. However, I do find with Gorbman’s ideas don’t take into account that people perceive films differently at the end of the process; therefore I think it is better to look at the ‘principles’ as a focus when composing not when looking at the end product of a film. It is also a great example of what music can do – which is what interests me a lot, especially when taking the music supervisor role. I have noticed my music already uses a fair few of these techniques for example signifier of emotion, continuity, narrative cueing etc. However from reading this I want to try and include as many as possible. One particular one of interest to me is ‘invisibility’, this will be able to test how well my music goes with the visual, as some of it is not there to be noticed – just help move the story itself along. I also agree with principle number 7, that although all these principles are important that they aren’t all necessarily needed as long as it is justified.

I found Gorbman’s work very insightful in separating what makes film music great and the overall capabilities of what music can do in relation to film. I will definitely be using some of these techniques within George.

Gorbman, C. (1987) Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music. London: BFI Publishing.

Kassabian – Hearing Film

Alice Rose Asbury / / Research

Researching Anahid Kassabian – Hearing Film

For a large part of my research I have been looking into different ways music are discussed within film to help gain a greater understanding of what to do musically with George. For this part of my research I took a look into Anahid Kassabian’s ‘Hearing Film’. I have previously read her book ‘Ubiquitous Listening’ and therefore thought this book may contain useful information directed more towards film. Kassabian first looks into music and ideology surrounding it, discussing in detail theories of music itself and the language of it. She then goes on to discuss it in relation to film in more detail; talking in depth about music relationships with different components of film. She then furthers this through looking at a number of case studies; which lead to one of the main focus’ of her book – tracking identities. For my research purposes I will proceed to looking in-depth into her thoughts on what music can do to a film as this is most relevant to my research.

Kassabian explains music’s ability on it’s own. One aspect I found particularly interesting was her description of music here – “It crosses over boundaries between unconscious and conscious processes; it contradicts or shifts what seem like heavy-handed meanings in the visuals” (Kassabian, 2001, 89). This to me is a vital part of what film music is meant to be. It can carry a story along without you even noticing it. Coming in and out of a film effortlessly and unnoticed, thus smoothing over the images on screen. This is something which is of particular relevant to me when composing and placing the music within my short film. Not only should it be heard but it should also be discrete and help carry along the story, leaving less for the visual and dialogue to do on its own. I will go into these theories of what music can do in a later blog more focussed on creating the music for George.

Kassabian also takes the approach of looking into music in the following ways:

  • “ How is the music’s relationship to the narrative world of the film perceived?
  • How do we perceive the music’s method within the scene? 
  • What does the music evoke in or communicate to us?” (Kassabian, 2001, 41-42)

These are of course important questions to the overall experience of a film. For me, making the music for a film, I think its important to keep focussing on what you want as an end product. Therefor these questions are important to ask when looking at the end product. People perceive films and music differently so what I am trying to do with the music may not always be the way it is perceived by a certain person. That is why it is important to follow certain guidelines to try and achieve music’s full potential; guidelines such as music as a narrative, the use of diegetic and non-diegetic music and also looking into pace, tempo and key. These questions are key when understanding what I want the film to do.

She also later goes onto discuss this idea of Leitmotiv which originates from Wagner music. This is a term used to describe a musical phrase which is connected to something like a place, character or idea. This is an idea I have taken up with George through attaching simple melodies/notes to the character through having them recur throughout the film. I will discuss this more on my blog about my methods used within the music.

I have found Kassabian’s insight extremely useful when thinking about the bigger impact music can have on a film and will continue reading this to further my knowledge. There is indeed a lot more Kassabian discusses in her book but these are a few of the aspects which I found particularly useful within this project.

Kassabian, A. (2001) Hearing Film: Tracking Identifications in Contemporary Hollywood Film Music. London: Routledge.