Christian Filmmakers

Google the quote. 

Alex, you are right in your assumption that i have not worked with a composer before.
(The family-friend is a musician but not a composer)

After hearing what it might cost to secure one, Calix, your idea sounds great!

I already have a good bit of our music incorporated into the film (but I can always add more).

There are several “sketches” that our music won’t fit for.

Probably, I can make do with 15-25 minutes of composition. All I know, is I can’t go $5,000 in debt on this project. Alex, can you give me your best bet as to an average time span required to compose 20-25 minutes.

I will go through the doc one more time and pinpoint places where I must have original composition and get back to you on that. Thanks for the advice guys.

Caleb Allen - Director
Straightway Pictures

@ Caleb - the more specific and precise your spotting is, the easier it will be for the composer; the easier it is for the composer, the more money and time you’ll save!

“Spotting” is the process wherein you (the director, the producer, the composer, the music supervisor, the editor, any combination thereof) go through the film piece-by-piece and make a detailed list of exactly where you want to music, how you want to music, what style of music you want, if it’s underscore (the thing Alex does) or source (music playing where the “characters” can hear it - in your case, it would be mostly sweetening/dubbing performance and other source music) or song-as-underscore (where you use a pop piece under a montage or some such silliness.)

So, start spotting!

If I were you, I would work really, really hard to use pre-composed music (by your family) as much as possible.

Cheers,
Calix

(@ Alex & Eric - this is the second Caleb thread we’ve derailed… come on, we should give the poor guy a break, he might get a complex or something!)

Caleb Allen wrote:

I can work out a deferment (as all costs are coming out of my pocket right now) if necessary.

Give the composer a peace, you are asking a lot, and they will add a lot of value.

If you are worried about not being able to sell enough to cover costs, you are in a good position, just ask the Joel Jost, people who like your families music and story from the stage will buy your DVD, also if you are trying to get in to a film festival, and you get in, you will be able to sell copies as a result.

Good call, Calix, except that Caleb’s spotting will only be preliminary; I strongly believe that a composer should have at least some say in the spotting process, as when there’s music (including how it enters and exits) and stylistic approaches are as much a part of the composer’s creative contribution as the music itself. 8)

(I don’t think this is a derailed thread! We’re providing valuable, on-topic information to anyone interested while simultaneously keeping his thread up top ...)

Alex Beard, composer
Original music for film and TV!
http://www.composeralex.com

Thanks for all the advice guys!

The position has been filled.

Thanks

Caleb Allen - Director
Straightway Pictures

You’re welcome, and congratulations!

Might you share with us by who stepped up to the plate?

Alex Beard, composer
Original music for film and TV!
http://www.composeralex.com

It was me.  I was totally like “Pfft!  If Alex can do it!...” 

Eric Boellner wrote:

It was me.  I was totally like “Pfft!  If Alex can do it!...” 

Awesome! Are you going to release a soundtrack CD?

Alex Beard, composer
Original music for film and TV!
http://www.composeralex.com

No, I’ll just post my stuff on YouTube.  I’m selling the rights to a music library, though.  Figured that would be the Alex kind of thing to do.

The main theme of my score is a mix of these tunes…

[youtube]EbU5CzPi0zM[/youtube]

[youtube]zYxkezUr8MQ[/youtube]

and

[youtube]Bk7Sxpmr7wI[/youtube]