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Working with a sound designer
Hi everyone, I have a question about the workflow between an editor and a sound designer. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
In the past, as an editor, I have picked out my own music (royalty free) and edited around that piece for promos, shows, etc. In the final stages, I would send the final edit to a sound designer and they would add any effects, mix and master the audio and send the files back to me. Since then, I have switched jobs and now have a sound designer in house and am wondering the workflow others have whilst working closely with a designer during their edit. Mainly, I edit short promos and overview videos, anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes long and generally pick out my music and shape the edit around that. Now, having a designer in house, its hard to picture how my edit will look as they will change the music in the end and add there own score. Recently, working on a promo, I began editing to a piece, and the designer saw different music throughout the sequence, which kinda screwed up the way I was shaping it. He gave me just a drone and a ambient track and the edit had a lot of cuts and fast cuts throughout, but nothing there to cut to. My question is, Is there an easy way for an editor and designer to work together on a project at the same time, or should I just edit to my music choices and have them change it in the end? If anyone has any expertise in sound design or has worked closely with a designer, I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks, Kevin M. -
4 Replies
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I don’t know where you’re working, but it seems to me that the choice of music is critical to the pace of the edit, and anyone who would just throw their own music on a piece is either an idiot, or not worthy of the term “sound designer” If you’re getting the music/SFX cuts at the start of the project, that’s another thing, but I’m used to cutting to the music, not having it thrown on as an afterthought.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
I’m with Joseph…however, since you have to try to make it work…maybe you can show him the raw material and have him help you choose a temp track from a music library that will be similar to where he wants to go with the piece. Then you will only have to make minor (hopefully) tweaks when the real music is ready.
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Thanks for your reply guys, the designer is not just throwing the track on, rather, he is using a different track as a build and adding effects, risers,etc, afterwards, ‘Scoring’ the track rather than using stock music. My question is, Should I establish a Tempo with the designer, before I even begin the edit? Use my own choice of music and edit entirely to that, and have him score afterwards? Or, as you mentioned John, have him choose the track I edit too?……The Problem that I see here is, it seems like the BPM/Tempo need to match on both my end and his. So If he chooses a temp track that is just Ambient/drones, adding the score later, and I have an edit I want that is fast cuts intermixed with slower shots, its hard to do without shaping it to the music. So do I establish that myself and have him build around it? So essentially, I would finish the whole edit with music myself, and hand off to him to score…..Or is there another way that designers and editors work together throughout the edit?
Thanks Again -
Kevin –
Here’s a good discussion of the issue:
https://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=44211
In my opionion, and the way I work, I start with the treatment from the client, which will determine, at least roughly, whether the finished piece will be quick moving, slow moving, content driven, music driven, or any number of other options. Then I start looking at music styles/cuts which might fit the project, and present those to the client; sometimes I don’t, if there’s no specific opinion from the client; but you can usually bet in that case, that there will be input from the client on the music, especially if they hate it. Once the music and voice-over are locked, I proceed with the edit, especially if the visuals have to fit a voice-over.
In some other types of productions, such as documentary or pieces where the visuals don’t need to be tight with a voice-over, I might do a rough visual cut, then try the music on for size. But 90 percent of the time, I want final music and VO before the first shot hits the timeline.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com
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