Don't Mess with the Music

Music Supervisor Tanya Sweeney gives essential advice to filmmakers working on modest budgets on how not to ruin a film with shoddy aural afterthoughts. [Extract]

Films are made in Ireland on a huge range of budgets. On one hand, we have witnessed epic wonders, like Reign of Fire, take over our soundstages and post production facilities, yet on the other hand, there is an ever increasing presence of low budget gems, made more likely with a smaller yet perfectly formed audience in mind. These films, among them Disco Pigs or The Crooked Mile, while arguably produced with slightly more care and affection than the Hollywood blockbuster, are made with an eye firmly on the purse strings. Often, problems and glitches are solved 'creatively', without the luxury of being able to spend money, thus creating the stuff of production legend. Furthermore, low budget productions and the crews that work on them seem to be more spirited and familial.

Having worked as a music supervisor on several low budget features for the past four years, I have seen my fair share of off-camera production dramas, not least in my own department. I have also been fortunate enough to be part of some truly amazing production teams, and in some cases have had a front seat while some truly remarkable films unfolded.

When it comes to low budget filmmaking, there is one particular aspect of production that will cause problems on the music front: the money. When creating a music budget, it is perhaps best to ignore the fables where a huge recording artist 'believed' in a film so much that he either did the score for free or allowed use of his signature tune for a nominal fee. Having worked with plenty of these artists, it is fair to say that they can be a pretty mercenary bunch, or at least their representatives are. It's easier to put a little more into your music budget so that the songs you want can be cleared without too many headaches. On a recent production I worked as music supervisor for Film Four: the music budget on a £1 million feature was roughly £15,000. Furthermore, the director wanted David Bowie, Blondie and lots of chart dance music to be featured in the film. Generally speaking, this can't be done without a host of miracles.
There are a few rules to getting the music right for a low budget film, and for getting the most out of your meagre budget:

Consider your music as early as possible
Ideally, ideas about music for the film should be brought to the table in pre-production, during budgeting. Many producers and directors tend to leave thoughts about music until post-production, so they can play with songs and match them to scenes during their time in the cutting room. The only problem is that timing becomes an inhibiting factor - often, the right composer might not be available at short notice, some songs take months of negotiation to clear, the composer is given a short window of time with which to create the score, there may not be time to correct oversights or glitches. It's perhaps a better idea to begin discussing music choices right before the shoot and have someone clear them while shooting is going on. Needless to say, songs that are being used during playback (for example, if an actor is singing a song) will need to be fully cleared by the song's publisher before the day of shooting.
Another advantage of considering music so early on is that securing the right talent can affect your chances of getting financed. Okay, so having Coldplay score your film won't get you a greenlight if the script, actors and other elements aren't attached, but it will go a long way in making your project more memorable to financiers, and will give your project some much-needed kudos. On another project I worked on for Film Four Lab, entitled Body Song, having Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead on board to score the film while searching for finance made a huge difference.

The full text of this article is printed in Film Ireland 91