Student Interview

[nathancroucher]

Hello, this is my first post on this forum I am a third year Film Production student at Sheffield Hallam University.

For my research module I am to interview professionals from several media companies in the relevant department to my specialism which is Sound, I have a particular interest in the radio.


I would be most grateful for any help anybody could give can give me because as well as helping me with my University task it will also hopefully show me how a Sound professional deals with professional practice, the methods you use and how you got where you are in your career.

These are the questions.


1.First things first - what exactly does your role entail? What happens in your typical working day?

2. What paths put you onto the career you are currently in? Was there an early love for sound? Did you you go down any traditional routes?

3. Is it easy to keep up with any technical advances, how do you keep up to date with the contstant changes with technology? Is there much training every so often because of this?

4. What is the pay like for your job? How do you set your prices?


5. Are you part of any unions? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to this?

6. What the is the creative process of your work from planning to the final product?

7.Can you ever influence or change a directors decision if it's important to the sound of the piece? If so do you you have any examples?

8. What are the more interesting projects you have worked on?

9.What projects are you currently working on?
10. .What's your best advice for someone interested in a career like yours?


Thanks for your time, I am ever so grateful.

 

[JoshL]

Well, not yet professional, but I'm on my way, so hopefully my answers will help!

1.First things first - what exactly does your role entail? What happens in your typical working day?
Composer. I write the music, arrange it, record it, etc. At this point in my career I'm doing a lot of the spotting for each project as well (deciding where the music goes). My working days vary wildly from watching a film or sequence a few dozen times in a row, to creating and editing MIDI sequences, to recording and playing live instruments, all of which require their own skillset.

2. What paths put you onto the career you are currently in? Was there an early love for sound? Did you you go down any traditional routes?
No traditional routes here! Always loved music, started playing guitar in high school. Played in rock bands, ambient/noise bands, traditional folk bands, electronic bands. Have a bit of a reputation around town as a guy you can call to do pretty much anything. My diverse tastes and skills serve me well in film scores, so a few years ago I made the decision to work towards that being my day job. Self-taught, for all the good and ill that implies.

3. Is it easy to keep up with any technical advances, how do you keep up to date with the contstant changes with technology? Is there much training every so often because of this?
To a degree I do, but I don't chase the newest gear/software. I find what works, and use it until I need to upgrade. I learn quickly, so upgrading to new tech does take some time to master (never EVER use new gear on a project you are in the middle of. Learn it when the project is done).

4. What is the pay like for your job? How do you set your prices?
It's on a per-project basis. I've done a lot of work to build my portfolio, which in turn will help get better paying gigs. I am pretty flexible at this point in my career, but the next stage will be a cost-per-minute of completed music, weighted by the complexity of the project.

5. Are you part of any unions? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to this?
I'm not because my incoming cash hasn't exceeded my expenses yet. I haven't fully explored the pros and cons at this point in my career, so I don't know if I would be inclined to join one or not.

6. What the is the creative process of your work from planning to the final product?
It varies, but basically this:
-watch the film, decide where the music goes
-write a rough draft/basic arrangement
-mixdown and send to the director/editor (depending on who my point of contact with the project is)
-revise rough drafts until both the director and I are happy with the general idea
-flesh out arrangements, polish performances, record additional instruments as necessary (I tend to leave live instruments until this point, unless the music is built upon, say, a guitar)
-mix the cues, and master them
-upload to a directory the director can easily access (I've been using google docs these days. Very handy)
-catch up on the several weeks' worth of missed sleep

7.Can you ever influence or change a directors decision if it's important to the sound of the piece? If so do you you have any examples?
I try to fit what the director wants, as far as music. I did work on a short where the director had two characters walking through the woods, with no dialogue and nothing really interesting happening for over 2 minutes of a 15ish minute short. He didn't want music there, and I felt music would really drive the scene. So I wrote a piece and sent it to him. Not only did he like it, it's one of the stronger moments in the film. Again, reaching a point where we were both happy with the end result.

8. What are the more interesting projects you have worked on?
I do a haunted house each year that's pretty awesome. Also, last year did a couple neat shorts with IT's own Flicker Pictures. Sheryl's Keyosk (http://sherylskeyosk.info) has me playing toy accordeon and stylophone (some of that harp is live rather than sampled as well, and of course the guitars). And Scream of the Screaming Screamer (http://thescreamofthescreamingscreamer.info) was done on a crazy-short deadline, but it's having a nice little festival run! Still makes me giggle every time!

9.What projects are you currently working on?
Doing the score for the Legend of Cooley Moon (http://cooleymoon.com/) which is an awesome film and proud to be a part of it. Have a couple webseries themes on my plate to do, and setting up some regional shows for my band this summer (http://www.facebook.com/ghostestate)

10. .What's your best advice for someone interested in a career like yours?
Never stop learning. Push yourself to learn something new from everything you watch. Study theory, and use it. Be as flexible as possible (and learn to be as quick as you can).