Written By Tony Halliwell
Working with a student or beginning composer?
Deriving from my experiences working as a startup composer, I’d like to share with you some quick tips for improving your workflow and collaboration with newcomers who are just starting out or who have only a few films under their belts so far and building up. Or— maybe your project is one of their firsts!
Tip #1
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
It sounds obvious, but filmmakers and composers need to be on the same page— all the way. Keep the composer updated on any plot changes or creative decisions, even if they don’t directly impact the footage itself, and make them fully aware of any alternate scenes, cuts, or endings. You’ll get the most relevant scores when you give your film composer the most relevant information. Equally, it’s important to allow and encourage the composer to reach out and communicate with you— no matter how busy you might be at the time.
Tip #2
Start Communicating Early
Most of the time, I’ve only been invited to compose and thus have only had the filmmaker-composer dialogue opened after picture-lock. This is silly. If the composer has not been briefed, prompted or inspired until 3 weeks before the picture premiere, you’re going to get a rushed, falsified soundtrack accompanying your cinematic masterpiece. Get the composer on the job from day one! Invite them to coffee or an online video call as soon as you know you want them on your project, and then, send them the key materials.
Tip #3
Send Your Composer All of the “Key Materials”
Music composers may act coy sometimes— we might say, ‘Leave it with me!’
But please, just send your composers the script, mood boards, musical reference tracks, and relevant or similar films / TV series as soon as possible.
Tip #4
Get Used to Hearing Demos
The majority of Film/TV composers I know don’t come up to the surface after the first creative ‘dive’ with solid bars of gold. Just like a script, cinematic music soundtracks take a lot of revision and refining whether they’ve been composed to the project’s visuals or not. Preferably, get the composer sending you demos before you’ve even shot a second of footage, and give constructive feedback on them.
Tip #5
Refine the Soundtrack Together
I’m totally aware that not every film director will have time to work as a project mentor to the music composer. However, if your composer has contacted you with a question or thought about the soundtrack that they’re not too sure about, it would not be wise to advise them that, ‘It’s up to you!’ You and/or your team created the brief for the entire film, right? How are your composer’s demos, sketches or ideas so far going to grow into a perfect component to your creative vision? What are the fundamental ‘seeds’ that need to be captured in your production? These could be thematic topics, moods, dramatic techniques, or references to artistic / cultural movements, etc. Are those exact ‘seeds’ there in your composer’s drafts, ready to blossom?
Tip #6
Be Prepared for Scrap Metal
If your composer has come up with something, maybe they’ve slaved away day-and-night for a week to create it, and you don’t think it fits, or you simply don’t like its sound, style, or vibe— I’d advise you to still encourage and support their feat. First of all, they’ve provided material, which can usually be very easily transmuted, tweaked, and cross-referenced to fit the themes and topics of your project. Secondly, they’ve put in an awful lot of effort to create something for your film or series. There are far too many filmmaker-composer relationships I’ve witnessed which have involved demoralizing each other, sometimes rather heavily, and maybe even without realising it. Avoid these dynamics like the plague!
Tip #7
When It’s Right, Reproduce It
If your composer has touched on a sound, style or vibe that you think is absolutely perfect for the project, positively encourage him or her to inhabit that creative space for the rest of the process. This doesn’t mean coming up with exactly the same thing for each scene, but rather, it means inspiring them to seek that same motivation and creativity that you hear in their super-awesome sample that they’ve just showed you and encouraging them to call upon those strengths whilst composing the full soundtrack. Did they have a specific character in mind? Or a specific film, TV show, song, soundtrack, dance, sculpture, painting, poem, or colour? How did they hit the spot just then? Ask them!
Tip #8
Don’t Worry Too Much About Temp Tracks
I know full well how nerve-wracking it can feel to get a new project going, and filmmakers might use their favourite or most relevant pieces of music as a temp track to directly convey to their composer the kinds of moods and styles they’re thinking of the most. However, a solid description or treatment of the project and its narrative or cinematic shape will actually do more to help the composer out than references to existing music will. If your composer is creative and intuitive, they will naturally know which musical notes, chords, instruments and tempos to pick. This is only truly effective, however, once you’ve described the pace, shape, narrative and general attitude of your upcoming production to them with as much clarity and depth as possible.
Tip #9
Don’t Hire More Than One Composer
I would advise against hiring more than one composer usually. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross work together like a dream. But they’re super-seasoned, experienced guys that have known each other (and their regular directors) for years, if not decades. They’re well-equipped with rig and co-compatibility and can churn out a score which provides more than the sum of its parts. But if you’re thinking about hiring two or more composers who have never met, or even two or more composers who just don’t seem to click as insanely well as Reznor and Ross, I’d say, in the politest possible way, forget it.
Tip #10
Enjoy the Process
Remember this is enjoyable work. At times, working with a music composer can be frustrating. I know that for sure. There have been times I’ve been frustrated with communicative differences. But ultimately, we’re doing what we love for a living. Don’t let the imagined pressures of success distract you from thoroughly enjoying the collaborative and creative aspects of this awesome job. Don’t even let real-life deadlines ruin the fun. We’re incredibly lucky to be doing this. 
Tony Halliwell is a versatile and impactful composer, producer, guitarist and vocalist from the UK, paving the way for a new generation of cinematic music. With his revitalising take on music composition and an eclectic host of genres and styles at his disposal, Halliwell, a recent Master’s graduate from the University of Southampton, has set his sights on a lifelong journey to simultaneously embrace the way music is heard in our day and age, and turn it upside down.
Visit Tony’s artist profile at SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/3BFL8jg) and Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3LfLcto).
