Welcome back to Scoring For Films with Vito Lo Re and Fabrizio Campanelli. Today we are focusing on a sub-category of "What lis underneath" that we thought of calling "They don't tell us!" which has the presumption to tell you some dynamics that are not found written in the manuals... We believe that what we will tell you about certain types can be interesting for those who are not professionals But above all, we believe that for professionals and even more so for those who would like to become professionals it is important to learn certain dynamics, especially those concerning the relationship between the composer and the director. But do you think the director really matters? Well, in cinema usually he does, if you please the director, in 90% of the cases you're fine. Because he is like an artistic director.

So the one who in front of the production takes on himself the responsibility for the actions of everyone. In television and series, especially on digital platforms, there are other figures that we will explore more in a separate episode. Today we are focusing on the misunderstandings between the composer and the director. But what does this director want? Sometimes they reach for the moon. In fact, one of the ideas we had for the subtitle of this episode was "When the director reaches for the moon." So, there are a some cases that Fabrizio and I have verified by comparing notes, and I had made a kind of shopping list.

And we found that the first case is when the director doesn't know what he wants. So, let's make a disclaimer otherwise the directors won't hire us anymore! No directors were harmed during the making of this video. This is not at all a video against directors. But we are telling you about our work, obviously from our point of view. Then directors, if they want, can make their own YouTube channel and let's see how many subscribers they get!

So often the director doesn't know what he wants. And even worse, they don't know how to convey what he wants to you. But that's okay. I mean, how is it okay? Well, it's okay. If the director knew what they wanted, they would be the composer...

And in some cases, they would have wanted to be... And that's a worse scenario. In many cases, the director doesn't know what he wants, and for the composer to do their job is extremely difficult. Or the director gives them a free hand. Like "do whatever you want" and then I'm okay with it. And then we go back to Alex North: "See you in a year and we'll talk about it." In other cases, the real difficulty is that the director, who is obviously not a musician, conveys to you in his own way his thoughts, and you have to translate into notes on the staff what this person got in his mind.

And it's not easy. Because the big problem with music is that it's not a language in the strict sense. And so, not being a language, to describe the emotional states that it should evoke, we refer to all the other fields of perception and mood states. So: "I want something a little more harsh, a little more bright..." But nothing, obviously, that has to do with music. We describe music with everything except music! So a composer should know not only what thematic, or harmonic, or sound, timbral level the term "harsh" means.

Then you have to see if this thing you made really coincides with the intentions of the director. Or with those intentions that he thinks he has. Another category we've seen is when they ask you for music "à la Zimmer." What does "à la Zimmer" mean? Excuse me, but which film? "The Gladiator"? "Inception"?...

"Interstellar"? "Driving Miss Daisy"?.... "The Lion King"?..... The most difficult thing is always trying to read inside the skull of this gentleman. Often there is a lack of a platform for linguistic exchange between the different worlds: the musical world and the visual one; that is, the emotional states that a director would like to describe at that moment, but that sometimes we can't even describe ourselves. Another problem is when they tell you: I really liked the soundtrack that X composer did in that film...

but maybe what the director loved about that film is maybe just one scene. And he doesn't tell you "I like the use that was made of the music in THIS scene." The director remembers the feeling he got watching that scene and he wants to replicate it but replicating a feeling is not so simple and immediate... Another type: when the director gives you some comments that in his mind should be musical. Let's remove this flute. I didn't use any flute... That thing that goes "fifi..." Or even better when they go like: "here I need something a bit more harmonic." Okay, what does "harmonic" mean?

Do you want chord blocks? No, no, no, not chord blocks! Something that, you know.... that seems a bit... You know.... when.....

the chords... What are you telling me?.... This misunderstanding also happens in advertising. Sometimes agencies summarize a brief with some adjectives, which are sometimes exactly the opposite of each other. So what do you do? What would you do?

I would ask you for help! I would ask for a reference. What is the reference? It's an audio reference taken from another soundtrack or maybe even from another piece of music that the director says: "I like something like this." And by itself it can be useful to guide you. The notorious temp track. What is really the risk of the reference?

It's that you go to the psychiatrist after a week because you obviously can't achieve what the reference had achieved in the fragile and sensitive soul of the director! The director's soul is so sensitive that there's another category of directors we particularly love which is the "visionary director." A "visionary director" - and also a bit naive - is completely removed from the dynamics and the practice of recording a soundtrack, and makes absolutely unrealistic requests for timing or budget reasons. Maybe they say: "I heard this piece" and he plays something performed by the London Symphony, with 120 orchestra members and you have a string quartet in your budget... So, they have no idea of how much it might cost to achieve what they have in mind; And you - who cannot achieve it because you don't have enough budget to do so - are to blame. Another fairly common scenario: if the film is weak, obviously, it's the music's fault. Since the composer is the last one to arrive in the production chain.

If the actress is terrible, you can't call her back and reshoot the film... Come on, let's give her a little help... So... If the film doesn't work, maybe the producer didn't like it, the distributor is not convinced, the co-producer wants to have a say... Where do you think we can intervene? In the last one who is arrived in the production chain: the composer.

"The film doesn't work because the music doesn't work." Let's find for another composer! And hence, why we have often talked about the famous rejected scores. There's also the insecure director, who has last-minute second thoughts, after having many earlier ones... What would be the solution for all these misunderstandings? Killing them all?... After finishing the film, of course!

I believe it is always essential to listen each others as much as possible; to let the director talk as much as possible. Then: bring many examples and do many, many demos. You rarely get it right on the first try. If it's a director you've known for a long time, so you know what he's looking for and then it's quite simple. And anyway we've seen how many cases, even illustrious ones, have miserably failed. Otherwise, you have to bring many proposals.

Because don't forget that in some cases, besides the insecure director, there's the director who, due to last-minute pressure, changes his mind. He had approved all your work and at the last moment - due to his own decision or sometimes due to induced decisions - he makes you do again a large part, or even all, or they even fire you. There is also the difficulty of considering the film in its overall arc. This is a problem not only for the composer, that is, writing a soundtrack that has coherence and a homogeneous discourse from beginning to end. But the director must have it too! Because if he doesn't, he works by blocks of scenes.

The soundtrack must have its own philosophy, its own fil rouge, its own concept, as someone would say. Something that ties the film together in a homogeneous way. What do many directors do? They ask you score a single scene and maybe that scene by itself can even work. But then within the whole film, one standalone scene plus another standalone scene, becomes a mishmash of pieces without rhyme or reason, without their own internal coherence. This happens when the director gets anxious and wants to finish a scene, without considering what comes before and what comes after.

When you have to make a demo for a film and the director gives you a scene to score, ask to do something more organic, broader, to show that there is an idea underneath. Because one scene can be scored correctly, but then not have its own coherence within the whole film. So maybe let's give some elements to navigate this complicated world. Now, we always reason from the composer's point of view, but let's put ourselves in the shoes of the director or those above them. Their requests - when they make sense - are essential for the composer. You can have your own idea, but actually your idea is always refined by the right comments.

It is useful for everyone, even artistically. So what are the guidelines one can follow? I wouldn't say the usual "sad" or "happy" or "melancholic"... Maybe I would emphasize those characteristics we have already mentioned when we talked about Thomas Newman, how he sees the soundtrack; that is, do we want to stay inside the scene or outside? To narrate outside or narrate the psychology of the characters? Do we want to describe it as if we were spectators watching a world in front of them or as if we were on the protagonist's side?

And also the dynamism that exists within the scene, because each scene has its own tempo. So even the music within a scene has its own tempo. What tempo do we want to give this scene? So I always allow myself to give a tip and ask the director a question which is a very dangerous question. What do you want this scene to communicate? Be careful, this is dangerous because the director obviously believes that what the scene communicates is clear and if you ask such a question, you're an idiot fundamentally.

So risk looking like an idiot, but really find out what he can draw from that scene. It might be interesting to one day make a video showing how different musics on the same scene completely changes the meaning. No spoilers, but who knows if tomorrow a director might sit where Vince Tempera once sat... We have given you some ways to navigate the mists of this strange job, but in the next episode called "Have a say" we will delve even more into the mechanisms of all those people who - rightly or without any right - influence music production. If you haven't done so yet, subscribe to the channel, leave a like, leave a comment and we'll see you in the next episode.