Composing for Film: The Whole Process
- James Smith
- Nov 19
- 4 min read
Creating a soundtrack for a film is a fairly involved process that requires collaboration with a number of people at each stage. It is important to always keep in mind that a composer is usually the audio lead for the soundtrack but in the grand scheme of the project they answer to the director and producers of the film. They have the expertise but the final say can be altered at any point by the directors and leads. It is our job as composers to bring to life their vision.
Pre-Production
From script phase until shooting begins
Script Breakdown (Early Development)
Identify scenes requiring music such as emotional beats, music centric scenes such as dance/party scenes, diegetic music and on camera performances, montage sequences and moments of musical storytelling.
Flag any requirement for licensed tracks early. This usually occurs at this point so it can be included in budgeting.
Budgeting
Determine percentage of total budget allocated to music and estimating costs for each expense:
Composer
Live musicians (if any)
Recording
Licensing
Music editors / supervision / mixing
Booking and hiring key music crew
It is so important to schedule and book crew early on as the music world is a busy one and waits for nobody. As a result planning and keeping to schedule becomes increasingly important with the scale of the project.
Pre-spotting analysis
Director & composer discuss requirements for the film, outlining tone and aesthetic, potential themes, key concepts and reference material alongside the storyboard. Getting this in early allows the composer time to research and sketch potential themes ahead of production. This is also the point where requirements for in-shoot music is set out; if this is needed.
Production - During shooting
On-Set Music Needs & Early Sketches
This is the point where in shoot music is approved and created, and on-camera music is cleared and used.
The composer may also use this time to roughly outline key thematic material and demos for the director to compare with what they are shooting. This can help capture tone and help align character traits from the outset.
There is a BTS commentary where Hans Zimmer sends over 9 hours of gritty cello textures to director Christopher Nolan to help set the Joker’s theme in The Dark Knight.
Post Production
The picture editor begins assembling the film and the temp score is created by the music editor. In shoot music and licensed music is inserted and flagged. Test screenings are commonly performed following the early edit.
This is the point where the composer sets to work in earnest, writing full themes to identify character, locations, leitmotifs etc. and sets out the framework of the key concepts.
Main Spotting Session
In hopeful optimism this is when the picture is locked and ready for scoring. In every score I have worked on this hasn’t happened at this point, something always changes. This session includes the director, composer, editor, music supervisor and producer but could also include additional writers and orchestrators depending on the size and scale of the production.
Decisions about which scenes will have music, the start and end points of cues, what emotions and themes are going to be present and the musical narrative is all covered during this session.
This locks the creative map for the score. A cue sheet is created from the decisions made in this session and a scoring schedule is set.
Finally the composer sets to and is able to start scoring each cue. Themes are already outlined so it is now a case of writing cues, usually mocking them up with virtual instruments and checking in regularly with the director for their approval.
Revisions and checks are frequent and contain multiple rounds of director notes throughout the process and final approvals are usually given cue by cue for feature films.
Once the cues are signed off, the scores are produced for any recording and preparations for recording sessions start. This is an indepth process in itself but can be summarised by making sure the musicians have the right sheet music, the right people are booked and the recording is accurate to the mockup audio.
Once the recordings have taken place it is back to editing the music, compiling which takes are the best for mixing and mastering and stitching everything together. The music team will have multiple rounds of checks for balance, synchronisation and quality before delivering the music to the final mix stage.
Final mix sessions will include the music editor who are generally wizards when it comes to balancing dialogue, FX and music. The composer may have some input here but they have, in most part, done their job at this point.
More quality checks and test screenings will be carried out for any last minute edits, sync issues, any missing cues, or pops, clicks and artifacts.
All being well, the final mix masters are delivered and all audio assets are handed over. Cue sheets are registered, soundtrack mixes are created, and it is on to marketing for the film release!
