Hey Composers: Spotting Session Etiquette

[trueindie]

Hey Composers,
I'm done editing my film. But I'm not sure that the picture is locked yet. I have 12 songs in my movie, but I do want some music scattered here and there. I have a composer who's interested in helping me, but if the price is too high, I'm probably not going to go with her, and might sprinkle some of my own music in.

But I've never been in a spotting session, and I was thinking that it would be nice to to through the movie with an actual composer to see how her mind works as she goes through the film. Now what is the procedure here? Am I beholden to somebody, because I asked them to take part in a spotting session? Is it proper to change my mind and decide to go with a different composer (probably myself) if I think that our tastes are not the same, or if I think that the price is too high or some other thing?

What's the proper way to move forward with a composer? And I'd like to err on the side of transparency.

Thanks
Aveek
Let's not forget that the picture isn't locked yet, as I think I need to shave off some minutes.

 

[asrdoc]

Hey there,

I'm a film composer.

The spotting session is an event that usually occurs after the composer has been hired. It would be incredibly unreasonable for anyone to expect a composer to go to a spotting session for a job they are not locked into. I would certainly not even consider it-- you're asking me to give you hard learned professional advice and knowledge for free.

If you are unsure of whether you would like her to score your film, a reasonable method of testing her out would be to have her score a short 2-3 minute scene, and decide whether you like her approach. Or, you could get together and have a spotting session for a small portion of the film.

In my opinion, asking her to do any more than that without any sort of guarantee is not right.

 

[trueindie]

Hey there,

I'm a film composer.

The spotting session is an event that usually occurs after the composer has been hired. It would be incredibly unreasonable for anyone to expect a composer to go to a spotting session for a job they are not locked into. I would certainly not even consider it-- you're asking me to give you hard learned professional advice and knowledge for free.

If you are unsure of whether you would like her to score your film, a reasonable method of testing her out would be to have her score a short 2-3 minute scene, and decide whether you like her approach. Or, you could get together and have a spotting session for a small portion of the film.

In my opinion, asking her to do any more than that without any sort of guarantee is not right.

Awesome!! Thanks so much for that info. Makes perfect sense.
Much appreciated
Aveek

 

[asrdoc]

No problem! Happy to help out.