Adventures in music for advertising land
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:58 pm
Lately I have been inundated with composing jobs for advertising campaigns so I
thought I would share my experiences with all my fellow TAXI composers.
First things first, I count my blessings for being able to get those gigs because
they are very lucrative both in upfront money AND backend payments. I got into the game after a TAXI piece I wrote for an unrelated listing ended up in a European ad campaign-one thing led to another, and now I have become a sort of 'go to guy'.
Like I said, I pinch myself and count my blessings.
Anyway, in big budget campaigns there are 3 constants that the composer
has to deal with: the ad agency, the production company shooting the ad (the director), and last but not least the client who is paying so that their product or service ends up on TV and possibly radio. There's always the initial briefing with
hopefully a storyboard. Even though all the 3 constants have the same objective-to produce the best ad possible-they are almost always in disagreement on how to
get there. You see, everyone has an opinion! The film director has his vision of the script, the agency theirs, and the client want something in the vein of so and so 'who had a cool ad campaign'. The composer is in the middle of all this, constantly
revising, editing, copying and pasting, trashing, re inventing, cursing his fate… The only words you long to hear from everyone, not just one or two of the 3 constants, is: 'the music works'. Even if you hear those words, you will still re edit the crap out of everything because the director decided to chop out 10 frames before locking to picture. So your perfect intro needs to be in 7/8 instead of 4/4 and still make musical sense. If the ad has sound effects you need to be aware of them both in the composing AND the mixing stage. Your timpani roll will almost certainly have to be
taken out if they add SFX in the same frequency range. Voiceovers…aaargh! they
are a curse and they ought to be abolished because they always get in the way of our music!!!
So what constitutes good ad music? anything that creates the right mood for the visual. You are always dealing with moods, whether you are scoring to picture or just
licensing a song. it's very hard work and your people skills are paramount. You check your ego at the door and try to be a self respecting team player. It's the kind
of gig where everyone is accountable to everyone else.
These are my experiences so far. It's cool being in the game but it's a tough game
all around.
regards to all
Adonis
thought I would share my experiences with all my fellow TAXI composers.
First things first, I count my blessings for being able to get those gigs because
they are very lucrative both in upfront money AND backend payments. I got into the game after a TAXI piece I wrote for an unrelated listing ended up in a European ad campaign-one thing led to another, and now I have become a sort of 'go to guy'.
Like I said, I pinch myself and count my blessings.
Anyway, in big budget campaigns there are 3 constants that the composer
has to deal with: the ad agency, the production company shooting the ad (the director), and last but not least the client who is paying so that their product or service ends up on TV and possibly radio. There's always the initial briefing with
hopefully a storyboard. Even though all the 3 constants have the same objective-to produce the best ad possible-they are almost always in disagreement on how to
get there. You see, everyone has an opinion! The film director has his vision of the script, the agency theirs, and the client want something in the vein of so and so 'who had a cool ad campaign'. The composer is in the middle of all this, constantly
revising, editing, copying and pasting, trashing, re inventing, cursing his fate… The only words you long to hear from everyone, not just one or two of the 3 constants, is: 'the music works'. Even if you hear those words, you will still re edit the crap out of everything because the director decided to chop out 10 frames before locking to picture. So your perfect intro needs to be in 7/8 instead of 4/4 and still make musical sense. If the ad has sound effects you need to be aware of them both in the composing AND the mixing stage. Your timpani roll will almost certainly have to be
taken out if they add SFX in the same frequency range. Voiceovers…aaargh! they
are a curse and they ought to be abolished because they always get in the way of our music!!!
So what constitutes good ad music? anything that creates the right mood for the visual. You are always dealing with moods, whether you are scoring to picture or just
licensing a song. it's very hard work and your people skills are paramount. You check your ego at the door and try to be a self respecting team player. It's the kind
of gig where everyone is accountable to everyone else.
These are my experiences so far. It's cool being in the game but it's a tough game
all around.
regards to all
Adonis
