Proposal

WRITING MUSIC FOR A SHORT FILM

In this project I will be collaborating with the film students in the creation of their film, Frequencies Unseen. I will contribute by creating music for this film and syncing my original music and incorporating some licensed music. I will get as involved as I can with the production of the film. This means keeping up with the writing of the script and the development of the film and on-set observation. This will give me a better idea of the film and make sure my music aligns with their creative vision.

I may need to conduct research into the specific genres of music that the filmmakers want, as I haven’t created that many different styles of music. I have a good foundation for film music, as I created film and theatre music earlier in the academic year. As I am part of the development process, I will be getting constant updates about the style of music and inspirations they have for the songs. In a bigger budget and scale film, the music is usually made and synced during and after the film is made. We don’t have as much time as a feature-length film has therefore, I will start before and continue to make it during the development process, and will have it finished by the end so all I will have to do after is sync it with the finished film. This will help me with time management, making sure I don’t fall behind with my project or the schedule of the film. It will also lead to a higher quality of music as I will have more time to make it. In this project, I hope to improve upon my skills at making music on a DAW as well as my mixing and mastering skills. I also hope to get better at liaising and communicating with my collaborators as this was an issue I had in my projects earlier this year. This will also improve upon my film music skills which I developed in a project earlier this year. As I only got a small look into film music, I hope this project can help me decide and figure out whether film music is something I would like to further pursue.

This is the team composition so far:

Ash – Director, scriptwriter, screenwriter.

Amar – First Assistant Director (AD), cinematographer.

Adam – Composer.

Ash is the visionary behind the project, who is responsible for writing the script and directing on set. Amar is the one who will make his vision possible by planning a schedule and sorting out the filming. As he is the cinematographer, he will be in charge of the camera work on set. I will be making the music and syncing it up. Their roles are clearly defined, so when the process starts it should work well, and they are both very passionate about their side of the project. However, it is a lot of work for two people so it could get too much work for them in the short time we have.

The resources that I will be using are Logic Pro. I will create the music on here, as well as mixing and mastering it. Even though I am more comfortable with Ableton, I will be using Logic Pro as I can do the synchronisation on this software. I will do this at college on the Macbooks, to maximise my time I also be will generating ideas at home using Ableton Live 9. I will be using a MIDI keyboard. This is time and genre-dependent, but I may record the tracks I make with real instruments as it will sound better. I would record the drums and bass, and I would collaborate with Pav, a teacher, if I needed keyboard or piano, as well as some students from the L3 or L3 Extended if I needed guitar and for vocals I could collaborate with Bea or Sinead from my course. The resources I need are all available to me at college as we have a fully working recording studio with all the instruments I need, as well as all the mics I need. To sync the music to the film, I will use either Logic Pro or Adobe Premier Pro(Mike from Scorecraft Academy , 2023). I will most likely use Logic Pro as I will be making the music on there so it should be the easiest way to do it. If needed, I will use Adobe Premier Pro.

The equipment that the filmmakers will be using are:

  • Sony A7 Cameras
  • Lighting Panels
  • NEEWER lighting kits
  • SHORE shotgun microphones
  • Boom Arms
  • RODE lavalier microphones
  • Camera tripod
  • iPhone 13
  • DJI Ronin 4 gimbal
  • DJI OSMO gimbal
  • High vis jackets for darker filming
  • Lighting diffusers
  • SD cards to store the film
  • Headphones
  • Lens filters
  • Nikon D3100 camera
  • Camera ring light
  • Shoulder mount/gimbals
  • Phone tripod
  • Sony A7 micro, mid-range and macro lenses
  • Possibly a drone
  • Camera crane

The schedule of this project shall be:

20th January – 17th March: Pre-production & test shoots. This includes creating a production schedule, writing a script, scouting shooting locations, test shoots, casting, preparing the camera and equipment. During this period, I shall start to make music.

17th March – 14th April: Production. This will include rehearsals, table reads, and filming. A table read bring the team together to discuss the film and go through the script(Ridgway, 2024). I will continue to make music at this point and will have the music near completion by the end of production.

14th April – 5th May: Editing & Post Production. This can include: adding VFX/foley, sound mixing, colour grading and correction, generating titles, credits and graphics, and syncing the music to the film. At this stage, the music will be completed or nearly finished, so I will sync the music to the final edit of the film. I will also help with the foley creation, time permitted and if that’s what the filmmakers would want.

The outcome of this project should be a finished short film with 3-6 original tracks that I have made and 2-6 licensed songs that I will sync to the film. I am looking forward to working on this project. It will develop my skills in music production and my collaborative abilities, supporting my career aspirations.

Moffatt, N. (2023). Screenwriter vs. Scriptwriter | What’s the Difference? [online] Celtx Blog. Available at: https://blog.celtx.com/screenwriter-vs-scriptwriter-whats-the-difference/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2025].

ScreenSkills (2024). Assistant director in the film and TV drama industries. [online] ScreenSkills. Available at: https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/film-and-tv-drama/production-management/assistant-director/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2025].

Mike from Scorecraft Academy (2023). Syncing Music to Films is the Art That Adds Emotion. See How? [online] Scorecraft Academy. Available at: https://scorecraftacademy.com/the-art-of-syncing-music-to-film/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2025].

StudioBinder (2019). Pre-Production Checklist — Preparing for Success. [online] StudioBinder. Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-pre-production-definition/ [Accessed 27 Feb. 2025].

Ridgway, S. (2024). How to Prepare for a Table Read | Spotlight. [online] Spotlight. Available at: https://www.spotlight.com/news-and-advice/the-essentials/table-read-tips/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2025].

Maio, A. (2019). Every Step of Post-Production Explained. [online] StudioBinder. Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-post-production/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2025].

I have used ChatGPT to help write my work in a more professional and concise manner. The work was written by myself, AI was used to make it sound better.