Choose Your Music Supervisor Carefully
Twice this weekend, I was brought out of a movie’s story line to confront some less-than-stellar music choices. One was simply unfortunate, and one was egregious. They’re both lessons to music supervisors to choose carefully.
The simply unfortunate was the use of the Beastie Boys track “Sabotage” in “Star Trek.” The scene had a too-young-to-drive (even in the future) James Kirk cruising along in car screaming along to the track – a track that would have been hundreds of years old by the time of the shooting. Would a young child appreciate (or even have access to) music that old? It was a misstep in an otherwise decent movie. At least they managed to avoid the trap of putting in generic-sounding nu-metal to signal the dark, dystopian future.
The egregious example came from Rosie O’Donnell’s documentary “All Aboard.” In one scene, following the touching marriage of two gentleman aboard the cruise ship, we’re treated to Harry Nilsson singing . . . “Sail Away.” Yes, that Randy-Newman-penned song that extols their new country to groups of African slaves, sung from the perspective of the slave merchant. They conveniently left out the part about watermelon and buckwheat cakes, and they never put into context the arrival of the ship in Charleston Bay – home of the slave auctions. The whole point of the song is glossed over for this one moment. Using the song in this way totally undercuts the message of tolerance and acceptance the documentary is trying to communicate. Everything I’d seen up to that point was ruined by one song.
Please, music supervisors – be careful. The wrong choice can be just distracting, or it can take down the entire project.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Did you see Watchmen? The use of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” was a little odd and way overdone.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:26 PM
Agreed – it just stood out a little much.
There’s something to be said for licensing the right song for a scene, but I think the time and effort put in to an original score is always worth it.
May 30th, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Keep in mind that a lot of the music selections are performed by the director of the film. A music supervisor can bring the issues you mention to the director, but many times they’ve fall in love with the song and can’t imagine another song over the scene.
As a music supervisor, I’ve encountered this very situation. I discuss the oddity of the song but they usually do not sway from their initial decision to use the song.
Since it’s my job (I’m under contract) to clear the song, I have to honor the directors choice. Too many people think that all music is picked by the music supervisor. As a result of this misconception, my most recent blog, “The Real Job of the Music Supervisor,” explains this in more detail. You can read my blog here http://filmindustrybloggers.twi.bz/a
Dominique Preyer
Music Supervisor
Hear It – Clear It Music Supervision
http://www.hearitclearit.com
dominique@hearitclearit.com