Greetings to the community involved in filmmaking and film scoring!
I am composer who composes for film and concert music. Stage32 is giving its members the opportunity to create a post as an introductory vehicle. I have chosen to elaborate on the business of scoring for a film. First of all, I have seen that filmmakers appear to hire the people that they know and trust which indicates to me that first a relationship needs to be created with the filmmaker so that they don’t feel like they are a means to an end, but a true, trustworthy individual. Who else would they want to trust their film which took so much hard work and sacrifice. This is where patience comes into play. The film composer, therefore, needs to first create a relationship with total strangers before he or she has a chance of being accepted in the inner circle of a filmmaker’s team. This is very psychological in nature. Trust and trustworthiness comes after knowing that a composer has the credentials to do the composing work. And even the credentials are called into question because how many people call themselves composers? What makes them composers? Then, does the filmmaker have the time to research the person that is claiming to be a composer to see if it is true? As a composer, I ask myself what does a filmmaker need to know to actually believe that I am capable to compose the music that he envisions? And who will a filmmaker know that the personality of the composer is one which is conducive to a friendly camaraderie to participate in an enjoyable exchange of working ideas? Yes, filmmakers want to work with people that they like! In other words, we, the composer, must develop a friendship with filmmaker as well.
Each of us composers needs to answer these questions because they are not taken at face value, and this is because the society of people who call themselves composers each has his or her own personal definition of what they believe qualifies them to give themselves this title! Hence the irony of the situation that we find ourselves in. Without a universal definition of a composer, people can invent whatever they want to entitle themselves. In the United States, we do not have a national union of composers with standards. Therefore, I am not surprised of all the skepticism that filmmakers may have when an unknown composer introduces him or herself. The situation is very difficult for the aspiring and emerging film or concert music composer no matter what is their education, age, color or ethnic background.
I have taken the time to compose this short essay as a testimony of my own personal journey which I hope some of you will read and perhaps derive some benefit and also be generous enough to provide some advisory comments to bring to light their own experiences to help the community of film composers sacrificing their lives in one of their pursuits of happiness which for them comes in the form of a collaboration with a filmmaker to make his or her film a classic with their music.
Helmut C. Calabrese, Ph.D.
