Working with a Music Composer
by Julie Blue
How does a director get a great score from a composer?
1. Start thinking of music before post. I enjoy getting
on board and starting the conversation at the script stage.
I find some of the most skilled directors are shooting with
a feel for the music they want and leaving some of those
wonderful breathing moments because they know that at
certain points music and visuals are how they want to tell
the story. Too often music is treated as an afterthought
rather than being an inherent part of the creative process.
2. Clarify the musical direction with the producer(s)
before meeting with the composer. Some of my most
challenging moments have been feeling caught between the
very different visions of director and producer. On one
recent movie the producer had me rewrite almost the entire
score (9 days before the mix!) because her vision was so
different from the director’s. Needless to say it was way
more stressful than I would prefer and they would have
gotten a better score from me if I was working on a
comprehensive direction not being pulled between very
different concepts.
3. Talk the language of emotion and transition, as well
as playing any relevant samples of music in the spotting
session. Unless you are a schooled musician trying to talk
in musical terms is more confusing than not. Words like
beat, rhythm, minor, and other music terms are not what are
needed. I like to understand the emotional direction and
where you as the director want the transitions. The more I
can crawl into the vision of how the story is unfolding on a
feeling level the more I am guided to the right sounds and
instruments. Some directors will pull out different samples
and play them saying I like the first few bars for the feel
of this section or just this part is what I like.
4. Don’t fall in love with the temp score. I think
temping up the project can be a helpful devise for giving
the composer a sense of where the music is sitting and a
feel for the direction. It also provides a clear launch
point for the conversation with producers about musical
direction if this didn’t happen earlier on. The challenge is
often the temp music is realized by big Hollywood studios
with major budgets for live orchestras and everyone falls in
love with those production values and whines when they can’t
be matched for what may be a fraction of the budget.
5. Give the composer very specific feedback. I’ve heard
feedback from “Make it more yellow” to “I can’t put my
finger on it but there’s something just not right.” I am
passionate about the dialogue between film and music and
will happily stay in the process of rewriting and tweaking
until everyone walks away happy. That, as I see it, is my
job. Delivering the feedback using SMPTE numbers helps me
to know exactly where we are talking about if I am receiving
notes. Good feedback is given in some kind of term I can
relate too like – more intense, more of a hit point, pull it
back it’s too over the top… Also, I really like having one
point person who I am relating to rather than several
different people all giving input at once.
6. Leave enough time in the mix to make sure you get what
you want. I am often asked to deliver stems of my final mix,
meaning that there will be multiple tracks broken down into
rhythm section, lead instruments, percussion hits, strings,
as an example. Though there can be challenges this provides
you as the director with many last minute options to change
tonalities and simplify something or bring out certain parts
you wish to emphasize. Keep in mind that this can take some
extra time but there are a number of factors like the sound
effects and addition foley, that you may not have a chance
to hear with the score until the final mix.
7. Make sure your composer knows that you appreciate
their input, effort and dedication. I can tell you when I am
shown some appreciation for the massive amounts of time it
can take to compose and produce the music both my
willingness to do rewrites and my inspiration to excel in my
craft flow better. As a composer I’ll be appreciating your
hard work and visions as well because what is a film
composer without a film?
To me it is still amazing how in a great film with the right
score the experience can completely suspend disbelief. If
it’s done really well – you don’t even notice the music
except that you feel whatever emotion is coming off the
screen, and for that brief moment in time you are caught up
in the land of story and music.
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Julie Blue is a passionate and experienced composer and
songwriter. Her lists of credits include “Stolen Lives” and
“Close to the Heart” which earned her a Leo award for Best
Musical Score. She has composed the score for over 35 films
and television programs including movies Showtime movies
“Web of Desire” and “Sight Unseen”. She is a world class
pianist and vocalist with extensive training.
Julie is also a recording artist with 6 CDs selling
internationally. Her songs and score have been placed in the
Showtime/HBO series “Queer As Folk”, the feature length PBS
documentary “Moving Manmade Mountains”, and the television
pilot “The Rev”.
Julie Blue is an inspired musical being and brings her love,
inspiration, and commitment to excellence to every project
she is involved with.
mailto:julieblue@telus.net
Copyright (c) 2009 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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