Music Composer
Finding a music composer seemed a near impossible task initially. Most of the composers I could find came with a fee I was not willing to pay. My concerns were quickly overturned when one of our actors, Clive Woodward, emailed me about a friend of his named Tony Hepworth who was willing to compose our music without a fee. He would only expect travel payment which I was more than willing to cover.
Once I had received Tony's contact details, I called him to let him know that I was interested and informed him of what the film would be about and what music I would like for him to make for us. We both took some notes and I let him know that I would like to arrange a meeting with him so that he could see our rough cut of the film and discuss the music in person.
I sent him this email:
Hi Tony,
We spoke on the phone a few days ago about meeting to discuss music for our student short film, Condemned. I was wondering if you could possibly do Thursday next week (29th)? We will have a rough cut for you to look at as well and we’ll pay for your travel as agreed.
We can meet at the Maidstone TV Studios if that’s okay with you.
Kind regards,
Sam
Having discussed the majority of the details over the phone, it only felt necessary to write out a short and sweet email to confirm our interest.
1st meeting with our music composer
Having arranged a meeting with Tony the week previous, this screening would act as our first meeting in person as well as our first opportunity to watch the film on a bigger screen. The film was still in its early stages so the film was fairly rough round the edges with some sound still missing in places. Despite that lack of quality, the composer did mention that he was able to get a sense of tone from the film, though we explained that the film would feature more character tension in a later version.
I came with some notes to explain what kind of music I would like for the film. The film needed something ambient in order carry through the more sombre moments in the film such as the opening scenes before David meets with Nick for the first time.
Though the opening credits were not in place at this time, Troy explained to Tony what they would look like and what the tone would be like. I suggested that the music should be dark in tone with some ambience or some keys to give the music more character.
Feedback on music
Within a week of our meeting, Tony had sent us some music to work with. While I could see the approach he was taking, it did not fit the tone of our film. He had explained that this first batch would simply act as a stepping stone as to where he should go next as opposed to music intended for the final film. The music almost sounded like it could have come from a sci fi film rather than a Kitchen Sink Drama. I had explained this to him and suggested that the music took a more consistent tone.
The next batch almost seemed like more of the same but with better intentions. Tony had explained to us that this would be fairly similar in tone to last batch; only this time we could take small 1 second snippets to use for the smaller, more subtle moments in the film. While I was not particularly impressed with the music itself, I did like the concept of his idea and, with more of the same suggestions, asked if he could apply that same concept to the idea of dark ambience.
2nd Screening with music composer
This screening proved to be a particularly problematic day as the film we had exported was in full 4K and our laptop could not cope with that large a file size. With help from Ferg, we got the film playing for Tony, although it was still a very hard watch. This was frustrating as it left us with uncertainty as to whether the composer would be able to work from this film if has the same problems. Thankfully this was not to be the case.
Tony understood our situation and explained that his computer at home would be able to cope with the large file size so this was not an issue. The audio itself wasn't choppy in the viewing, however, which was important as we had included temp music to give him a sense of what we would like to hear in the film. Tony understood that the music was far more low-key than the stuff he had sent us and suggested the idea of making a track that would cover the length of the film. This was an idea that we had welcomed and made some further suggestions, such as some dark ambience.
Feedback
The music that he sent us this time around was far more to my liking and, with some minor adjustments, would work perfectly alongside our film. It was a mix of dark ambience with some drone. Some of the music was similar to the ones he had sent previously but were much darker in tone and far less random in sound composition. Overall, I am happy with the music we have received. Our films tone is clearly illustrated thanks to Tony's music. What's even better is that we go this music damn near free of charge.
Having arranged a meeting with Tony the week previous, this screening would act as our first meeting in person as well as our first opportunity to watch the film on a bigger screen. The film was still in its early stages so the film was fairly rough round the edges with some sound still missing in places. Despite that lack of quality, the composer did mention that he was able to get a sense of tone from the film, though we explained that the film would feature more character tension in a later version.
I came with some notes to explain what kind of music I would like for the film. The film needed something ambient in order carry through the more sombre moments in the film such as the opening scenes before David meets with Nick for the first time.
Though the opening credits were not in place at this time, Troy explained to Tony what they would look like and what the tone would be like. I suggested that the music should be dark in tone with some ambience or some keys to give the music more character.
Feedback on music
Within a week of our meeting, Tony had sent us some music to work with. While I could see the approach he was taking, it did not fit the tone of our film. He had explained that this first batch would simply act as a stepping stone as to where he should go next as opposed to music intended for the final film. The music almost sounded like it could have come from a sci fi film rather than a Kitchen Sink Drama. I had explained this to him and suggested that the music took a more consistent tone.
The next batch almost seemed like more of the same but with better intentions. Tony had explained to us that this would be fairly similar in tone to last batch; only this time we could take small 1 second snippets to use for the smaller, more subtle moments in the film. While I was not particularly impressed with the music itself, I did like the concept of his idea and, with more of the same suggestions, asked if he could apply that same concept to the idea of dark ambience.
2nd Screening with music composer
This screening proved to be a particularly problematic day as the film we had exported was in full 4K and our laptop could not cope with that large a file size. With help from Ferg, we got the film playing for Tony, although it was still a very hard watch. This was frustrating as it left us with uncertainty as to whether the composer would be able to work from this film if has the same problems. Thankfully this was not to be the case.
Tony understood our situation and explained that his computer at home would be able to cope with the large file size so this was not an issue. The audio itself wasn't choppy in the viewing, however, which was important as we had included temp music to give him a sense of what we would like to hear in the film. Tony understood that the music was far more low-key than the stuff he had sent us and suggested the idea of making a track that would cover the length of the film. This was an idea that we had welcomed and made some further suggestions, such as some dark ambience.
Feedback
The music that he sent us this time around was far more to my liking and, with some minor adjustments, would work perfectly alongside our film. It was a mix of dark ambience with some drone. Some of the music was similar to the ones he had sent previously but were much darker in tone and far less random in sound composition. Overall, I am happy with the music we have received. Our films tone is clearly illustrated thanks to Tony's music. What's even better is that we go this music damn near free of charge.
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