We all love music. We all love movies. If you are a filmmaker and try to make a film, the music you choose can either make or break your entire movie. Let's talk about this...
A long time ago, when I was filming for a football team, the partner I had (who always wanted to take credit for everything) thought it was a good idea to put metal music in every highlight video that was made for the team. Although, I'm not one to argue with that kind of music, even I knew that metal music wasn't always a good choice for videos like that. When I saw the final product during the banquet, all I could do was shake my head in disappointment. I love Static-X, but that music doesn't really have a place for video like that, especially for a Christian school. I looked around and most of the adults had that look on their face that you know in your bones you don't like what you're hearing but don't want to disrespect the people who made the video so you just keep your mouth shut. I look back on that video today and I still cringe at some of the choices that was made in the music selection process. Granted, I didn't have any say in the editing process, so I can honestly say that it wasn't my fault.
That's the kind of thing I'm talking about, the music can either make or break the whole project. In that project, we didn't get anyone that came up to us and said it was an amazing video and was actually genuine about it. If we had took the time to actually try to put some effort in the music selection, it would have ended up looking and sounding way better than it did. Some people are always in a rush where they have to get things done in a small time frame and end up cutting corners which always end up showing in the final product. The music is definitely one of those corners you don't want to cut.
Let's look at Hollywood for a second. If you have a movie like Queen of the Damned and ended up having a country artist singing a song for Lestat, the movie would have tanked. The soundtrack is one of the best parts of the movie. You have tons of guest vocalists like David Draiman, Chester Bennington (RIP) and Wayne Static (RIP) filling in for the music that Johnathan Davis created and it sounds amazing. If you would have the same vocalists pop up on a movie like Wild Wild West or Free Willy, it wouldn't have the same effect. It's all about choices and Hollywood knows how to choose the right people for the right project.
When you are planning your next project, try to remember the mood you're setting and what kind of music should be playing. Obviously, you won't have any music from Korn or Carrie Underwood unless you pay tons of money for licensing and play rights, but you can at least buy some stock music or hire a friend to compose the music for you. Be sure to be clear on what you want that way no one wastes their time on something that you'll just end up being ok with later. No one likes to be told, "Oh just whatever you think will be ok with me.", because when it's all said and done, you won't be ok with it. Trust me, I know all about it.
There are tons of places you could look online to get free audio clips and songs that are royalty free and you can do whatever you want with it. All you have to do is do a Google search. Remember, keep the music in mind. You already love to listen to it, why not think about it while you're filming? It could make a huge difference later.
Adam