Music 'N Movies

Limited To Just Film & TV…?

Ben Johnson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:02:58 +0000

Now I don’t want any of you to get the wrong impression that music supervisors are only used in movies and shows. Music supervisors are being used more and more every day for projects like video games and commercials to find that best music that matches the media. There is no better way of promoting your band then to get one of your songs in one of these video games or commercials. Apple iPod commercials are some of the best examples of how powerful a half-minute of ad-time can boost a band’s popularity. Apple lets the music speak for itself. They don’t include any audio other than the featured track. Here are some iPod commercials being used this year…

2009 iPod Nano commercial using: Miss Li – “Bourgeois Shangri-La”

2009 iPod Touch commercial using: Tommy Sparks – “She’s Got Me Dancing”

2009 iPod Shuffle commercial using both: Phoenix – “1901″ and The Virgins – “Rich Girls”

James Hyman

Ben Johnson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:31:02 +0000

Check this guy out. He is another great music supervisor with a lot to say about music supervision. Here is an interview of his on myhitonline.com…

James Hyman Interview

Music Supervision At It’s Best

Ben Johnson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:43:22 +0000

Guy Ritchie is a director that loves to use popular music in his movies. For Snatch (one of my favorite movies and soundtracks), Ritchie had Ian Neil as his music supervisor, as well as having several music researchers including Karen Elliott and Matt Biffa. Ritchie always makes sure to use current, and classic songs that accentuate his shots. There is no scene that better demonstrates this than the fight scene in Snatch. Ian Neil and Ritchie used the music (along with sound effects and background sound) to energize the audience and get their hearts pounding along with Brad Pitt’s. You can tell the director and music supervisor really had to work together in order to create such an intense scene. Listen to how the music goes in and out at the perfect times to match the visuals…

Born To Be Wild

Ben Johnson — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:58:20 +0000

This is the opening scene from Easy Rider. “Born to be wild” by Steppenwolf is notorious for it’s role in the film. Again, watch how the music goes hand-in-hand with the video.

On A Lighter Note…

Ben Johnson — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:49:49 +0000

Easy Rider is one of the first major films to use popular music as a tool to accentuate the visuals on the screen. It is a classic and has a classic soundtrack. The movie was made by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schnieder, who were the creators of The Monkees television show. They understood the power of music used in a visual medium and transferred this idea to a full-length movie using now-classic songs from Steppenwolf, Jimi Hendrix and The Bryds. Check out this scene from the film (not as dark as the previous scene), and notice how the music pulls the images together.

“Naw…I Didn’t Insult Nobody”

Ben Johnson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:48:53 +0000

Check out this scene from Martin Scorsese’s hit film Goodfellas. It is one of my favorite movies, and this is one of my favorite scenes. Scorsese always makes sure to have an incredible soundtrack to his films, and this is no exception. The music in this scene goes perfectly with the images on the screen and the emotions they they bring out. See for yourself…

George Howard Explains Music Supervision

Ben Johnson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:37:17 +0000

George Howard, a professor at Loyola University gives a great explanation of music supervision on the Artistshouse website. If you are interested in knowing exactly what a music supervisor is and what one does, check this out. Howard on Supervision

Gonna Meet Gary!

Ben Johnson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:08:31 +0000

So…I am very excited. I am going to the Midem music conference in Cannes, France in January and I just figured out that Gary Calamar is going to be there. He is actually hosting a music listening session at the conference to get up-and-coming artist’s music in his shows and films. He will be one of many music supervisors at the conference hosting listening sessions. I’m definitely going to hustle my way into meeting him and hopefully get a job or internship. Wish me luck. Check out what’s going on at the conference at the Midem website… Listening-Sessions At Midem

One Of My Favorites

Ben Johnson — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:37:56 +0000

Gary Calamar is one of my favorite music supervisors. He has been the supervisor on numerous hit shows that require many different styles of music. Gary has been, and still is the supervisor for shows like: Entourage, True Blood, Dexter, Weeds, House, and Six Feet Under.

Here’s a video of Gary and Garth Trinidad (music supervisor) talking about their job on Entourage. It is very telling of how hard it is to get the licensing for songs when on this type of project.

What The Hell Is A Music Supervisor?

Ben Johnson — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:19:18 +0000

So this blog is going to be all about music supervision. But some of you don’t know what the hell music supervision is….so I’ll tell you. Music supervisors are the people that first: are contracted to work on a film or show. Second: are given a budget by their studio. Third (this is the best part): go through all different genres and styles of music and choose the best songs that fit the film or show. Fourth (this is the hard part): bargain with the publishers of the songs going to be used to get the licensing, hoping they don’t ask for more than what you can afford from the budget. And finally, the last thing music supervisors do is: using their artistic ability, fit the songs to the film to give emotional feelings to various scenes and then send their finished work into the studio.