The Art of Film Funding
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The Art of Film Funding
Film Music for Filmmakers by Hollywood Composer - Part 1
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Love South Radiance.
SPEAKER_05Hi and welcome to the Art of Film Funding. I'm your co-host, Claire Capan. Along with Carol Dean, author of the best-selling book, The Art of Film Funding. Carol is also the founder and president of From the Heart Productions and the host of this show. David Rakelin began studying keyboard and composing at age five. He wrote, directed, and scored his first film at age nine. David's projects have been nominated for an Academy Award and one VME. David studied composition at USC and CalArts, later teaching at those universities. Among his mentors are Oscar winner John Williams and Pulitzer Prize winner Mel Powell. And David works for Fox, Sony, Disney, Sprint, Mattel, Warner Brothers, and PBS, in addition to many independent producers. He scored hundreds of films, television shows, video games, and live events, winning multiple awards, including an American Music Center grant, three Tele Awards, and a gold medal. And Carol, I understand that David Rakeland is a generous donor to the Roy Dean Film Grant.
SPEAKER_07Yes, he is, Claire. He gives of his time and creates for the grant winners. David, I'm so happy you joined us. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02Oh, you're welcome. Thank you so much for uh having me on a wonderful program. It's always a pleasure to talk with you and with the wonderful filmmakers who are listening.
SPEAKER_07Yes, we are so lucky. We have a lot of great filmmakers, and music is one of the key components to films. And your knowledge of music is so broad that I know that you compose scores for dozens of instruments. I wanted us to follow this brilliant outline that you created on music and films and start with the part about aesthetics and cover the functions of film music. How to tell the story and evoke emotions. Because I I've watched so many films that make you cry or laugh or jump with joy, and I know that the acting is good, but it really comes from the music, right?
SPEAKER_02Well, it comes from everything working together, and music is usually, although by no means always, the final step in putting all the elements together and getting them to flow in a continuous and immersive experience. Basically, the thing that is most characteristic of movies that uh makes them different from all other art forms that went before them is editing. You can have a performer or an interviewee do multiple takes, and you can choose the best part of the best takes and edit them all together. And there's many, many other things that editing can do that uh allow films to be a unique form, and this is also true uh to a large extent for television, even uh live television. Uh you can have multiple cameras and all of those different bits, all those different points of view might work on their own for a moment, but getting them all to flow together and seem like they all belong as part of the same show, that's something that really can only be done through music. And that's because it at least uh in theory can play more or less continuously and bridge between all of the different bits of film that are within a scene, all the cuts, and then between the different scenes, and even on a larger scale, can help create a bridge through the whole film, uh a story art. So uh that's uh kind of a a quick overview of how music can uh be the the final element but also the unifying element that holds all the little bits that you've so carefully found and and curated and and edited together into a complete unified experience.
SPEAKER_07Right. And it's all about storytelling. So you it's supporting someone telling me a story, and it tells me really when to get to be afraid, when to be calm, uh right?
SPEAKER_02Uh yes, and and then there's also that level of function too, where uh the music can be uh supportive and guiding. Uh you can look at uh many different levels that the the music can can operate on. Uh there's uh what used to be called mood music, where the uh the music has emotion that's intrinsic to the music, and you can add that uh like a uh like a magic formula, you can add that to scenes. So if you have romantic music, you can add it to a scene and the scene becomes romantic. Or if you have exciting music, you can add that to a scene and it becomes exciting. And many, many shows, movies, TVs, uh video games, live shows will do that. And that's uh a perfectly valid uh uh way to approach uh storytelling is that here's the emotion we want here, here's the emotion we want there, and that's a uh discussion that the composer and the director can have. Is uh what do you want the audience to be feeling here, what do you want the audience to be feeling there, and we structure the music to do that, and uh and that's a a perfectly uh valid way to do it. Uh but uh there's another level that we can strive for. Because you see, uh the story is more than just A happened, then B happened, then C happened. We want to feel emotionally invested in. We want to feel that we can relate to the characters and the theme. We can have a story that is highly engaging, one that keeps us on the edge of our seats, or uh we w really want to know what's gonna happen next. And uh that's something that uh w filmmakers uh strive for is to have the audience uh not only be told the story but to be invested and feel really strongly that this is a a story that they care about, characters that they care about, and they want to know what's gonna happen next and uh feel uh almost like uh they are part of the world. And uh to do that you need more than music that just evokes a particular emotion. For that you need something that's specific to that character or that ensemble of performers or these subjects or this group of subjects. That's something that is custom unique for each film.
SPEAKER_07And uh does that mean that you would have some music that would be the character's music that would be related just to that one character and then play that when that character is involved in a s important scene or something?
SPEAKER_02Yes, that's a very powerful tool. The the character theme. You can have character themes for individual characters, uh like uh let's say the it's uh a story uh about uh the Roosevelt administration. Uh the the uh uh themes might include one for Franklin Roosevelt and for Eleanor Roosevelt.
SPEAKER_07Exactly, and they would be totally different, of course.
SPEAKER_02And they would be totally different, even though they're part of the same family. So to show that they're part of the same family, you might you know, because it it was a very large and uh uh extended family. So uh you might have a family theme or a family sound vibe that lets you know that, okay, this is a big family, and I'm just being introduced to them, and we only have 90 minutes to tell you all about the the whole Roosevelt family. So how can we tell who's who? So in that case, you might want to have a a sound or a motif, something that lets you know that these are all members of the family. So when you're being introduced to all these characters, in addition to Franklin and Eleanor, you can know kind of intuitively on a uh subconscious level that you're talking about, or or you're you're uh being introduced to other members of the same family. And uh these are things that you don't get with library music. And this is something I've been seeing a lot of in uh in recent months, where uh people go to music libraries, you know, these are collections of uh tracks that are kind of generic, and you can uh uh rent that track and put it in your movie. Or they'll have multiple composers where each composer will uh get a few tracks placed in the film. And that works up to a certain point that okay, uh we have this uh uh quiet uh introspective scene, so I'll use this guy's quiet introspective cue. And then here uh uh there's uh uh a tragic, uh dramatic event. So we'll use uh another composer's tragic dramatic music. And on some level that works because you are helping to tell the story. But what you're not getting is something that bridges between the scenes and connects all the characters and not only tells you what to feel, but why you're feeling that way. So to go back to uh our imaginary film about the the Roosevelt family, it's great that you uh uh uh are excited when uh Eleanor Roosevelt gives her speech to the United Nations about human rights. But it would be so much more exciting and memorable if while we were watching that exciting dramatic moment, we realized that this was something that everyone and her whole family had worked for for generations, and this is wasn't just one event, but it was a culmination of many events. And part of that can be shown in pictures or exposed in dialogue. But with music you can tell people that this is all going on and make them aware on an unconscious level without having to explain it to them, which slows down the movie. Right.
SPEAKER_07Yes, exactly. It slows down the movie, right? You just get they can feel into it, they get to feel everything.
SPEAKER_02Right, they can feel all the and those connections may be there in the director's, uh the the writer's the uh the actors' intentions, but because of the process of editing and because it's uh difficult for people to pay attention to more than one thing at the same time, especially uh in the the context of a movie, there needs to be a way to convey all that information to them unconsciously. So you get layered feelings, and it's not just excitement, but it's excitement tempered with maybe a little bit of fear, or maybe it's excitement that's uh tempered or expanded with love. Uh or it it could be excitement that's also a triumph. And it's the great movies that give you multiple layers of meaning at the same time. So you're watching one movie, but there's more than one level going on at all times, and this is kind of what separates the the good from the great, is the ability to have those multiple levels of meaning. And music is a great way to give the audience a experience that's multi-layered, that's textured, that's rich, that is more than just a moment or a string of moments, but is a grand experience that they'll finish the movie, they'll finish the uh the episode uh the uh uh uh of a documentary series, and they'll go, Wow, I need to talk to other people about this and let them know because I really care about this and I really believe in it. And that happens by using these many different layers of uh composing skill and craft that bridge between the scenes and tell us which character is uh uh going through w which emotional state and why. In fact, uh my uh one of my favorite quotes on this is uh from a uh golden age of Hollywood composer named Hugo Friedhofer, who was actually born in San Francisco and is all American, and uh Hugo said that the job of the composer is to see a man running and let the audience know why he's running.
SPEAKER_06Whoa. That's pretty good.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. 'Cause you know the the the uh the actor and the cinematographer, you know, they they can show that the man is running. But why is he running and why should we care?
SPEAKER_07Yes. So wow, that's a great composer for that. Well let I want to follow your outline. You wrote a brilliant outline on music. And uh the function improvisation there. Right, right, you're not kidding. Well, let's go into source and uh digetic background and foregrounds in the scene. And how y I never thought music ever changed when you 'cause a lot of times you have these rack focus and you're looking way far away and then you're looking at someone's face or something. And is that what you mean about switching between background and foreground?
SPEAKER_02Uh yeah, that's the audio equivalent of uh racking focus. Um uh a common example, uh very useful, is when a character turns on their iPod or uh their their uh record player or whatever music player that they have. And the character in the movie is listening to music. Well, what music are they listening to? Are they listening to the same music that the audience who's sitting in the theater or is at home is listening to, or is it something different? And that's actually a really important question. Because uh, for example, uh characters might have uh just come home after work and they they're listening to some happy, upbeat music, but there's a uh a burglar that's in their house, and they didn't know that when they and they came home. So it's actually a very suspenseful situation. So uh what are we going to play? Are we going to play the suspenseful music that supports what's really going on, which is that someone is robbing their house, or are we going to support what's happening from the character's point of view, which is that they're uh home off of work and uh they're listening to their favorite song on their uh earbuds. So uh sometimes y uh we'll do a mixture of both. But uh a way to distinguish between those different very different kinds of uh musical experience is called source music or score. So source music is something that has a clear source on screen. The audience can see where the music is coming from and they are listening to, the audience is listening to the same thing that the characters in the movie are listening to. So uh uh the uh little girl sits down at the piano and uh practices her piano lesson. So she's hearing herself play piano, and we, the audience, are listening to her playing the piano. On the other hand, if uh the little girl is sitting at the piano playing her piano lesson and her mind starts to wander and she starts uh dreaming of uh the pony that she uh wants to have for her birthday, then we might segue, transition from the music of her piano lesson into her magic pony music. Because the uh music that she's playing on the piano isn't really what we're concerned about now because uh the story is telling us about what the character is feeling and imagining that's different than what's happening in front of us. Now, sometimes the uh the the source music and the uh underscore can have uh the same direction. And uh a very famous example of that is the uh opening sequence of uh film uh uh by Orson Wells. Excuse me, as an airplane uh going over uh so uh give that just a second. A film called Touch of Evil.
SPEAKER_07Oh, I love that. Yes.
SPEAKER_02It's a great, great movie. And if you like movies or if you uh just are interested in virtuoso filmmaking, it's uh it's got some amazing sequences, uh particularly the opening shot, which is probably the longest continuous shot that's ever been executed on film without the use of CGI. It's all done with practical effects. And we go from uh the high crane shot to tight close-ups and pulling away from those characters and moving in on other characters, and it's all one continuous shot, uh just uh amazingly uh well done. Uh but the the soundtrack has music playing that's all source music. That is the the music that the characters in the movie you're hearing is the same music that the audience is hearing. But because the camera is moving around to different groups of characters, the music is constantly changing. So it's also a real tour de force of composing and uh music editing because they have to record uh multiple uh uh types of music and uh have them sound closer and further and overlapping and then just uh to one and then overlapping to the next uh piece of music. And the uh the characters are listening to music that sort of uh fits them. So uh for example the Mexican characters are uh listening to uh very festive mariachi music while the detective uh people are uh listening more to uh cool jazz and you know this is the sort of thing that their character would listen to but it also tells us emotionally what to feel and uh gives us insight into the character so it works on all these different levels where it's source music and it's character themes and it's dramatic underscore it's telling the story on multiple levels at the same time all using source music but to actually make it happen was very complicated and uh the the the guy who did that score uh a composer at one time was very very famous named Henry Mancini said that it was one of the most difficult things that he had ever done was to write all those different kinds of music and have them segue, have them you know blend into each other so it sounded like they belonged together.
SPEAKER_07Yes, yes well that's it was walking down the street. They were walking down the street talking and it's what they heard as they walked by one place and it changed to another to another. It's one of my greatest scenes in a movie. Did Orson was that his idea to change the music, David?
SPEAKER_02Yes, in fact uh Orson Wells has left some amazing documents. He was a good writer and a very, very organized person. Uh and I know his reputation is larger than life and uh that he was uh supposedly uh difficult and and all that but if you look at his notes you can see that he's actually very respectful and very detailed in communicating to the departments. And he gave Henry Mancini very detailed notes about what he wanted in the music and why he wanted it and uh uh so uh in a way uh the uh the music was very clearly imagined by Orson Wells before they even shot the scene. He knew what he wanted the music to be doing and how and why and uh sometimes you can give people instructions that are too detailed and it uh kind of ties their hands uh because it doesn't give them any chance to be creative or to uh to do things that that make sense from their department's perspective. But Orson Wells was that extremely rare person who really had talent and studied all of the many different departments that he worked with. So he would give the cameraman all the the the same uh kind of uh several pages of detailed notes on how he wanted the scene lit and shot but they weren't crazy demands they were very meticulous descriptions of what he wanted and why and how he thought it might be achieved using the resources that were uh available um uh I'll just give one quick example uh huh uh after the music was recorded uh Orson's notes didn't stop there he also had a note for the mixer and he said uh to to the mixer that I know that ordinarily we want to have the the cleanest most uh uh high quality sound possible but in this opening sequence the characters are listening to music as they walk down the street and if the music sounds uh uh uh perfect like it was recorded in a studio that will destroy the illusion that the characters are walking down the street so uh what I'd like you to do is to take uh several loudspeakers from your studio and put them out in the uh alley that's behind the uh the dubbing stage and I want you to record the sound of the microphone traveling down the uh the alley behind the the stage uh on a dolly like the the microphone was the character's point of view and uh w we're following them down the street. And uh it's great. And and since I know that you have m multiple portable loudspeakers and portable microphones, I don't think that this is an unreasonable request.
SPEAKER_07Wow, wow that's why it's so good. I mean it's the best part that that first five minute clip is an incredible achievement and it's been copied many times in other films uh but I didn't ever realize how it I always thought how natural it sounded but of course he had to record it outside to get the outside sound.
SPEAKER_02How wonderful so uh this is an example of uh source music that's been uh specifically created for the movie and it creates a a magical environment where it's uh not just any piece of music but it's music that's been written for that scene and it's uh been processed in a unique way so the the sound of that scene doesn't sound like scenes in other movies but the difference isn't just to be different it the difference is because that's an important part of the story that the characters are walking down the street in a town where they have lots of live bands. Right a lot about the world that they live in and the characters and it it you know makes for a more entertaining thing because you know if you're walking down a a a street in a town uh that that's one thing and then if you're walking down a street in a town and there's a bunch of uh people having parties and uh live bands playing that has a completely different feeling to it so uh we're going into detail on a specific example but it shows you that this is something that you would not find in a music library this is something that had to be custom made and uh today we might do things a little bit differently. You know we might uh for example use uh software to try and process the uh the music so it sounds like it was recorded out of doors but people still use that same technique of uh having the the the music played back outside and then re-recorded so you actually are giving the audience the same experience that the characters would have. Now that's not always what we want to do. You know sometimes we want the audience to have a a different point of view than the than the characters. I mean there's a reason why most uh stories are told from the third person point of view there really is uh a great deal of narrative power to having the omniscient third person point of view and I I love writing that kind of music where we're telling this story in uh more profound terms than than just one individual's point of view but yes that's this is why it's important to sometimes have uh source music and the source music can be something that you uh create separately from the rest of the score. Uh source music can often be uh like a popular song and you license a popular song uh or uh you have a band that you'd like to work with and you think the music would work uh well in the film so uh you can license that song from them and put it in the film and that's what the characters are listening to. Is they're listening to your your band's song. And so y uh that's another way to to create uh source music. Oh and the fancy word for that is uh diegetic which just means that it's something that's in the scene.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_07Okay. Uh well now let's switch over and go to how you handle the performance of a uh on screen music or dance.
SPEAKER_02Yes well that's exactly the same kind of uh a thing where uh if there's a performance happening in the movie then it's good to have that performance be as authentic as possible. Uh so uh for example uh if you're doing a documentary about a music festival then you want to get the actual performances at the music festival recorded and they need to be recorded well enough so an audience that's listening to it in a movie theater or in their home will be able to appreciate it. So if you're planning on doing a documentary and a music festival you need to have a really great location sound person who can record the sound of the performance as it's happening so well that it can stand up to multiple playbacks in a movie theater. And that's not easy to do. It's a much higher standard of recording excellence than the uh the quality of sound that you often get right in the venue itself. So uh in a movie like uh La La Land they actually did uh record the the song and dance numbers using the uh the performers who were the lead actors so they did it like an old fashioned movie you know when uh it was sort of the uh the uh a part of the job requirement of being an actor is that you need to be able to sing, dance and act.
SPEAKER_06Yes. Triple threat they call it. They had two triple threats up there.
SPEAKER_02Yes. And but of course you know that was actually normal the standard everybody had to be able to do that because that was just what the uh the the movie studios thought was the the m sort of minimum requirement in order to be able to to uh uh be an effective performer in movies. Uh you know I mean even the great Betty Davis who's one of the two or three greatest dramatic actors in the history of motion pictures she's actually quite a good singer. You can check that out that you know she's known as a dramatic actor quite appropriately. But it turns out that she also can sing and dance really well but uh being able to record that uh properly starts to become a challenge and and this is one of those cases uh where it's very important to have the composer on board in uh pre-production because if you're gonna have a song and dance number then the composer needs to be there to create the music or if it's preexisting music to help organize and supervise the performance and the the the capture of the performance on set. Because uh now you're uh recording a voice that's speaking and recording a voice that's singing are are two different things.
SPEAKER_07Exactly right exactly well all right let's go back to your um outline for functions of film music and um let's talk about deciding what the commentary is to play with or against a scene how does that work?
SPEAKER_02Okay that is uh one of my favorite elements of filmmaking is where a story can have multiple layers of meaning so uh let's say that uh Joe is crossing the street to pick up uh a carton of milk but there's a car that's being uh recklessly driven down the street and it might hit Joe who's only thinking of crossing the street to get a carton of milk and he's distracted and isn't noticing that the car isn't slowing down and might hit him. Right well there's multiple layers of meaning in that scene and you could play all of them. For example you could uh have no music at all and you could just play it with sound effects.
SPEAKER_06Yes.
SPEAKER_02And yes you just hear the the sound of the street and you hear the sound of the car. That might be a little bit confusing uh 'cause uh unless there was only one car on the street you'd have a hard time uh telling just from the the sound effects the the car sound actually meant a car that was possibly going to hit Joe. Now you could tell that with pictures by focusing on the car. Mm-hmm but then you wouldn't be focusing on Joe. Or you could cut back and forth between uh Joe and the car but again that would have uh y you'd be losing focus uh on Joe. So if Joe is who we really care about then you probably want to spend most of your time with the camera on Joe. So how do we signify let the audience understand that Joe is in danger from the the car? Well this is where having some ominous music would help. And it just needs to be a little touch. It could be heavy dramatic foreshadowing or it could just be a little touch that something is wrong. But when you see him crossing the street and there's something slightly off something ominous or anxious in the the music then that subliminally tells the audience that something might go wrong here. So it builds suspense and tension that there uh whatever Joe is is doing that appears to be perfectly normal, well it might not be so normal. So in that sense you're kind of commenting on uh the scene but you know this could potentially be a scene and a comedy and that uh this is uh one of Joe's uh uh endearing traits is that he doesn't really pay attention to what's going on and uh that this causes him to get into all kinds of awkward situations uh and hilarity ensues because he's not really paying attention. So we might want to add a touch of something that's uh that's lighthearted and and nonchalant uh that uh there's something ominous happening but he doesn't know or care about it. And that is uh another layer of commentary or storytelling. So the kind of story that you're telling might have multiple layers of meaning that's necessary and music is a great way to do that. Now again uh you could uh try doing all this with uh with camera moves uh but even if you did you might want to emphasize and elevate the the proceedings so that if the accident is going to turn out to be tragic that you want to make sure that the audience feels that it's tragic rather than just shocking. Or if it's a comedy you want to make sure that people understand that this is funny and that uh nothing serious is is going wrong so that it doesn't feel uh shocking or tragic. So some people call this commenting and uh that can be true but it's also just helping the audience understand which way you want them to to take the uh events that have uh have multiple ways of playing it and uh this can be uh important even in uh something that's relatively uh objective like doing a documentary you might be doing a documentary on a subject that's very serious and uh and on some level is depressing to think about. So that music can help temper that sad or depressing edge so what you end up with is something that's enjoyable and easier for the audience to absorb because you're taking some of the edge off of it. Uh or as uh a filmmaker I was working with uh said that well yes there's some sad things that happen here but if the audience is crying in the first scene they're never going to you know be able to absorb the rest of the movie.
SPEAKER_06Right, right.
SPEAKER_07Right. Well you've done so much work for From the Heart on documentaries. We've had uh many winners that were documentaries and you wrote music for their films and I just have to thank you. You've done such a marvelous job. Do you like working on docs?
SPEAKER_02I love working on documentaries. In fact I again I have to thank you and the the whole From the Heart team for supporting so many wonderful documentarians and for selecting just uh important, beautiful stories like uh Mia a Dancer's Journey or Heist uh films that went on to win multiple awards and be seen around the world and uh they are among my favorite projects to to have worked on because they're beautiful works of art that also are uh documentaries.
SPEAKER_07You're right, right. And you did the music in heist uh so well because it was uh w the true tit the full title is Who Stole the American Dream and How Do We Get It Back? And it was uh just scene after scene of shocking information that you'd say, Oh no and then David's music would just relax you and you could take a deep breath and say, Wow. So that really happened. Okay, now and you could take a breath and then they could start to explain something else that happened, how we let uh our how we lost our unions and all of these things seemed to just slip away from us and it went from people control to corporate control over twenty years. But the music kept you alive, alert, and actually it kept you from wanting to jump out of your seat and start screaming, I'm bad as hell. I don't want to take it anymore.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Well uh that's an appropriate action at the end of the film.
SPEAKER_07At the end of the film. Uh yes, it was.
SPEAKER_02And you don't want people screaming out in rage in the middle of your film because that's you know, it's it's not that's not uh the what we we intended is that we have a whole story to tell, and so we have to uh keep the audience engaged through all of these uh the different episodes, uh and that's uh a good example where uh yes, there were there were many outrageous things that happened and it was important that the audience be able to feel the outrage, but at the same time they had to stay calm and focused enough so that they could go on to the next step. Because uh and the and the movie shows me uh possible solutions. So yes, you're angry, you're uh motivated to do something. Well, what are you gonna do? Well instead of screaming and shouting, there's things like, you know, you can take your money out of the uh uh too big to fail bank and put it in your local credit union.
SPEAKER_07Yes.
SPEAKER_02So we wanted to, you know, uh get people to that point and we wanted to emphasize the importance of the the positive things. So those uh those needed to have uh the positive constructive suggestions needed to have music that made them feel like they were important and interesting and uh uh uh motivating music to uh uh 'cause that's where w we want people to uh to feel strongly motivated is not to punch the CEO in the nose, but to to go out and uh uh you know, do something active in their own life in their own community where they can actually make a difference because you're probably not gonna get a chance to to punch the guy, and even if you did, it wouldn't work out very well. But it wouldn't. So you know, once again we're uh we're not so much telling the audience what to feel as is guiding them through the story. So th the the larger um meaning of the story is the uh is the focus that we're building up to uh a experience rather than a bunch of moments. And there are there are always a bunch of you know exciting moments in a good movie. But we want all those exciting moments to add up to something. So you want to, you know, talk to the the person that you went to the movie with and you know have a big conversation about that or tell your friends about it that wow, I saw this great movie and uh you have to go see it and uh and uh that level uh of engagement, uh a lot of that comes from uh the score. And I also have to say that in uh or at at least I think I should say that in the in the sections where uh the that movie went into the details of the workings of the banking system, some of that got uh a little bit uh dense and difficult. And so uh the part of the the challenge was how to make the the details of how the banking system works sound interesting so people would continue to pay attention.
SPEAKER_07Yes, yes, because it was complicated, but it was important.
SPEAKER_02You know, you need the kind of music to uh help people focus and stay focused on something that they ordinarily wouldn't perhaps uh be that interested in. But in the context of this film, we can make those things seem interesting and relevant, and hopefully at the end people will believe that, oh yeah, that thing that I didn't know anything about, actually that's really cool and it's interesting, and I'm glad that I I learned about it. So that's another uh kind of public service that documentaries can do, and hopefully uh composers can can add to the the the documentarians uh services and skills is to help the audience remain engaged in the subject matter.
SPEAKER_07Exactly. Exactly. Because I love it when uh when I'm watching a doc, uh I do at home a lot, that I won't uh the phone rings, forget about it. I'm into this film, I'm not gonna put it on pause. I'm holding all this information, I've got this energy, I don't want to miss anything. And usually you only treat A films like that. Those are the ones you want to see in the movie houses. But you will find a lot of good docs you feel the same way about. You you want to stay inside that film until the very end. And so that's music has a major major uh purpose there. Well n now the point is, um I I know that on of the documentaries you've worked on through us, you got uh involved very early, sometimes when two years before they finished uh the film, and it was always beneficial to the filmmaker. So the the question is, when should documentary filmmakers contact you?
SPEAKER_02My recommendation is if you're thinking about music at all, it's good to contact the composer then.
SPEAKER_07Yes, when you start thinking about music, start talking to the composer.
SPEAKER_02If you have any ideas about music, then it's good to start thinking uh about uh talking to composers. Uh even if there's just a song that you want to have in your movie, and that's the only music idea that you have, is that uh, well, I think this song really helps tell the story, it makes a point, it uh reveals something important about this character, so I'd really like to have that song. Well, having a composer or music supervisor on board early can help you get that song. And this is something that uh uh even experienced filmmakers will uh sometimes uh uh unintentionally overlook, is that uh getting uh the rights to use a song can take months. Uh six months is pretty normal for for uh uh uh getting a uh a clearance on uh a song. Not that it always takes six months, but you should allow at least that much.
SPEAKER_07Okay, that's important to know, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so you might be able to write the uh the score for a movie uh in a few weeks, but it will uh take a few months to go through the older bureaucracy to license the song. So uh you know, as as soon as you are thinking about that, then it's probably good to bring in someone to get that process started so it's ready when the rest of the film is ready. And then of course many editors like to cut to music. And this goes back uh generations. It's just uh music is part of the film and the editing process often uses music as a kind of guide or template to make the uh film rhythmic and have an emotional arc. And you can have a composer write uh original music to cut to. And many great filmmakers have done this, from Steven Spielberg to Christopher Nolan to Alfred Hitchcock to uh the some of the documentary filmmakers that I work with uh through uh from the heart, where I've been brought on before the film has been completed in its editing, I will write music that helps the editor cut the film. And uh that has multiple dividends uh it it's really worth investing in doing that on many films because it allows you to create a unique identity for the film in the soundtrack right from the beginning.
SPEAKER_07In the soundtrack, right. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02And that's a big part of having your film be unique, and that's something that we all really want to strive for is to have a unique film because there's lots of lots of films out there and there needs to be something unique and different about your film and uh that's just the the way it is if you want to attract an audience or attract a a distributor. So having a unique custom score is a is a good way of uh doing that. On the other hand, you know, if uh the s film is being uh uh put together with uh multiple songs or or library tracks and there's just a handful of scenes that need to have custom music because they couldn't quite find anything that fit, then I'll do my best to make sure that that music fits perfectly and flows from what came before and perfectly sets up what's about to happen next.
SPEAKER_07Excellent. Well, there's talking about libraries of music, you have uh some libraries, so tell us about what you have.
SPEAKER_02Well, I have uh retained rights to many of the scores that I've done. Plus I've done uh original library music that has uh a whole variety of uh moods and situations uh atmospheres. So uh we have uh Americana and uh Bollywood and Action Adventure and uh RB and hip hop. Uh there's uh beds, you know, uh soft simple music that goes underneath narration or or dialogue, many, many different kinds of uh music that are available for filmmakers to license or to use as a uh as a starting point. So they can put that in their film and say, you know, this all works except for right here, so can you fix that one part? And of course always glad to.
SPEAKER_07Oh, that's wonderful. Now tell us how people can reach you, David, please.
SPEAKER_02All right, well, you can reach me through Cinematic Music1 at gmail.com. That's C-I-N-E-M-A-T-I-C M-U-S-I-C, and the number one at gmail.com. Or you can reach me through Facebook at uh slash DavidRakeland, D-A-V-I-D, R A I K L E N. Or you can just Google my name and you'll find my contact information come up at the top.
SPEAKER_07Okay, that's great. Well, David, you were right when you said, I think you have too many questions, Carol. I do. I've only covered one third of my questions, so I'm gonna title this part one, and maybe you'll come back in a few months and we'll do part two because I think you're going to have a lot of fans waiting to hear more about how music benefits films. We we have so many wonderful things that we can cover in part two. Is that okay with you?
SPEAKER_02That sounds terrific, yes.
SPEAKER_07Okay. So thank you for this, for sharing all your knowledge with us, and Claire, thank you for the show. And David, you should listen because we we always run a little clip about your music because we love it. And at the end of the show, you'll hear uh an advertisement for you. So that should be fun.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that sounds uh great fun. I I'm uh so appreciative of uh your help and uh what you do for the film community, and uh I I hope that uh some of this information is helpful in making people's dreams come true.
SPEAKER_07Oh, I'm sure it will be. Thank you, David. Thank you, Claire. Thank you, Claire. Oh yes, thank you.
SPEAKER_05I just want you to know, David, every time we have you on the show, you expand my view even more on what sound is, not only in the film world, but in our you know, in our daily lives even. I think about some of the things that you say. So thank you for the wisdom that you share, for your experience, your skill, and uh the wonderful music that you bring to the world.
SPEAKER_02Yes, well you can go to my website or to uh cinematic music on SoundCloud and get instant gratification.
SPEAKER_07Okay. Okay. Lots of regards to Sterling, your lovely son.
SPEAKER_02Oh, uh uh thank you. He says hello right back.
SPEAKER_07Okay, all right. I hope I see you soon. Thank you, David.
SPEAKER_02Take care.
SPEAKER_07Okay, bye. Thank you, Claire.
SPEAKER_05Now, in its second edition, Carol Dean's popular book, The Art of Film Funding, has 12 new chapters to cover all areas of film financing and how to avoid expensive pitfalls. Learn how to start with an idea and end with a trailer. How to make an ask for money. Create your story structure and your trailer, legal advice, fair use, successful crowdfunding, how to ask for music rights, and what insurance you can't shoot without. Available on Amazon under Carol Teams and at FromTheHeartProductions.com. I want to remind our listeners that David Rakelin is a brilliant and talented award-winning musician who scores films and can compose music for a trio or for a full orchestra. David is a very good friend to the independent filmmaker and comes highly recommended by From the Heart Productions. If you need music to help tell your story, please contact him at DavidWakeland.com. That's David R A I K-L-E-N.com. And Carol and I want to thank you for tuning in to the Art of Film Funding. Please visit our website at FromTheHeartproductions.com. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. Good luck with your films, everyone.
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