A lot of people think films are more about what the audience see's on screen. It is important that your shots, colors, and actors are correct but there is one element that can save your film. Even though your film might not be in the best shape you would like. The most important and crucial element to any film no matter how big or small. That element is sound design and music can save your film. It's not an opinion or a theory it's a fact.
What is Music & Sound Design? By Film Riot.
In my opinion, when it comes to music and sound, this element can help your projects stand out so much. Not only your film will stand alone, but your viewers will also be engaged in your content!
Copyright System of Music and Sound Effects
Let this gif be the reenactment of every time I hear the word Copyright. The Copyright system is a very scary topic to talk about. Because if you use a sound effect or music you don't own. You will get sued and your career will be one hundred and ten percent over. Just because you wanted to use your favorite song for your film. This also goes for video games, videos, and any multimedia platform you can think of. If you got the rights for said song, that's awesome, lets talk about the ways you can use music in your projects.
Keep in mind this list is my experience. So there might be a proper way of doing networking with another artist that has a music profession. The best website I have seen that are great to network and find artists is Backstage and Linkedin group pages.
Hire a musician to work on your project. I recently hired a musician to work on my short film that's debuting this March. If you are working on an original idea or got the right to adapt a novel, you have more room to play with music and establishing the tone of the project.
Buying the rights for the music. Let's say you want to use "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons for example. Recently my Professor in Film Concepts and Practices at Full Sail University told me a story on our third week of class. A student tried to use a song he really liked and wanted to use it in his film. They replied back saying "Yeah, that's fine, the bill for you use that song is ten thousand dollars." Just for a student? Yeah, it doesn't matter if it is a student film, full feature, or short film. This route is the most expensive anyone can do. If you got money to burn by all means go for it! But for the artists that might be struggling with funding, you might as well go with option one and option three.
Networking With Other Artist - Recently I posted on numerous Facebook groups. Dropping my log-lines for the next short films I have been working on recently. And I had four people reaching out to me that are recording arts students at Full Sail University. Two out of the four students are working with me on the next short film! There are people that are students that need experience in their respected fields. Let people know this is either paid or non-paid and work with what you got!
Inspiration From Sources Material
I will leave some examples of good sound design and music. Including examples that suffer from a lack of creativity.
The Good
Fun fact this is one of my favorite Star Wars trailers ever. I love the Last Jedi a lot and this trailer sums up the overall concept of "This is not going to go the way you think." This trailer does an awesome job using different sounds from different sound effects and music from previous films in the Star Wars Universe. If you listen carefully you can hear palatine's yell from Revenge of the Sith and the Imperial March mixed with an original score from John Williams. Especially when the lightsaber ignites grabbing our attention. Wondering where is this trailer is going and having viewer wanting to know more about the film.
This trailer does a good job using the familiar sounds and converting them into something new and that stands out from trailers that may seem generic.
How First Impressions Matter.
I watch Power Rangers when I was a kid and I still do to this day! I feel we all have that one show we still support even though we're adults. You're never told old to watch cartoons! Cartoons have awesome opening themes.
But recently I noticed stumbled onto Power Rangers Dino Fury, which debuted on February 20th, 2021 on Nickelodeon. I saw a lot of negativity when it came to the theme song for this season.
For clarification this season they are adapting a Japanese tv show called Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger from the Super Sentai Series that debuted in 2019. Rysoulger is a Dinosaur Knight theme show, and in the American show, they kept that concept but made it their own way.
If you watched these two videos, you can understand the different tones these openings have. Ryusoulger was more fantasy while Dino Fury was more Science fiction. While some people were conflicted with Dino Fury's opening, the fans loved the score and the first episode of Dino Fury when it debuted.
It goes to show that music means everything in this industry. Because it gives an impression of what this project is going to be about. But there are trailers out there that just feel generic and not really exciting.
What is your favorite trailer? Lets us know in the comment section below!
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